I Live in Iowa: Week 193

Work is winding down. We are not finished with the trials of this project, but it is the marathoner bursting into the Olympic stadium feeling strong with no one in sight behind him (I'm thinking Sammy Wanjiru style). The race is not over, but it kind of is. I did not work overtime, for the third consecutive week and I spent three days in the office and two and in the factory, by far the most time I have spent in the office in 2015. That being said, a number of people are still in the factory full time five or six days a week because the way my company distributes responsibility is very much non-linear with a select few getting more than some of the rest of us. In short, work is going much better for me. I'm not thinking about it continually. I even spent a few hours beginning to work on the next project, which will take 2+ years.

I realize that my lamenting over my injury has consumed a fair bit of real estate the past week and I want to get a few things out there.

• My plane tickets and hotels have been paid for, and my uniforms ordered, I'm going to Italy.
• I may have the propensity to blow things out of proportion sometimes, and some issue in my fibula (which is basically a non-weight bearing bone) is not going to stop me from competing in my first world championships, or training for it. I can probably do 200 km on it no problem.
• All of the evidence so far points toward a bone problem, although the visual evidence of that has not been confirmed, the doctor I am seeing in 10 days is supposedly the best sports medicine guy in town, and comes recommended by multiple sources in my medical community.
• After my exhortations on this blog the last week I retreated to reading the Bible and praying and I've come to the understanding that ultimately this race is not what defines me, it is a blessing, and an opportunity to share that nothing is impossible with God. That is not to say I'm going to win this year as I would like, but my journey from a quite slow middle school and high school runner to national champion and international competitor despite the injuries, and other priorities that sideline so many more physically talented runners, is an example of what is possible. 

The world IAU 24 hour championships is like the human Le Mans race. Basically, I feel like I am going into it with a crack in the frame in a non-critical area and a worn out suspension rod. Or you could say no headlights, although my eye sight is fine. The point being everyone comes to this race with the baggage of years of training, a history of injuries, and for many of us, less than stellar winter training weather the past few months. I may not get the world road record of 290.221 km (180.33 miles) like I had hoped a few months ago, but that doesn't mean I can't compete. 

I only ran 16 miles this week, but I did get out cross country skiing once for a few miles and I bought a bicycle trainer and did two hours on it to break it in. 

In other news, I've been going to sleep especially early. I went to bed before eight once this week and before nine, two other times! I think the emotional drain of work the last couple months, and now the emotional drain of this injury have conspired to exhaust my mental desire to stay awake. 

I hope you had a good week. Although, I hope that in some way you might also have bad weeks sometimes, like my past week, because the hard times help us appreciate the good times so much more!