Reflecting on the past year...

So as I begin the next cycle of training to prepare for another run @ Chicago, I wanted to reflect on the past year. I accomplished a lot, even though there was a lot changes. One, I trained hard while taking a Grad. School class. Two I pushed forward with my job while it was really advancing my goals/career. Three, I got married in September. Four, I ran a PR in Chicago last year (2:57) which I was estatic about. Five, I switched jobs in December. Six, I have been making some major enhancements to my house. But the thing I have a hard time adjusting to the most was tearing my right knee's ACL, the surgery that followed on Feb. 9th, and then the DVT blood clot I got post-op. As part of my Chicago Marathon plan was to get back to Boston and redeem myself for a poor performance in 2004. The knee reconstruction obviously held me back...but in many ways it was a blessing. The night I tore my ACL, I remember going down on the turf and immediately began to pity myself. Why me? Why now? Why...why...why. I knew at the very moment what I had did, for I have been through this before with my other knee. But the next day my faith pervailed. I let my worries go, and I pushed the unto God...for I knew He has a plan. I wasn't that worried about surgery and I knew if I could rehab well, I could be back to my old self in no time. 4 days after surgery, I couldn't understand why my calf hurt so bad. Afterall, the operation was on my knee. Thinking about it, I said...'This sounds like a blot clot.' So I called my doctor, and they suggested I get an ultrasound done to be safe. Good thing...it was a blot clot. DVT can kill. This was a scary moment and the next few days were concerning. But I did not faulter. I quickly realized...again...this was all in His plan. For the first couple of weeks, I had to give myself a shot twice a day. Ugghh, I hate needles. But it was funny for as I was mostly lethargic since the ACL tear and because it was winter, I was putting on the pounds I lost from all the training. This helped when I had to give myself my shots, for a had a gut that could handle all the injections. This is funny to me, for I realized His plan was for me to gain weight for this very reason. At least that is how I am looking at it.

I have since migrated from the shots to a coumadin pill (blood thinner) that I take daily. The problem is I have to go to the lab frequently to get blood work done to monitor the blot clotting levels. Ugghh. So now it is 3 1/2 months since surgery. I have been attacking therapy as aggressive as I can. I have been given clearance to begin running again (albeit slow) and I hope to be off the Coumadin soon. So I have developed a training plan that starts May 21st that will get me to Chicago in the best shape of my life, and ready to run a sub 2:50. That's right. All this only after 8 months since surgery. When this happens, I will have really surprised myself. So I have a new found outlook on opportunites. I truly believe we should never take things for granted and give everything worth doing your best effort. You just never know if the opportunity will be around 'next time'.

So here I go again...can I do this?