I'm Actually Doing This

On Wednesday, I had a kind of surreal experience. (One that is going to become a regular thing though.) I was coaching a girls varsity basketball team. In a game. Like for real. Well, almost for real, since it was a scrimmage. But it was me on the sideline leading the pack. I was calling out plays, yelling at my players, making subs, using the white board, giving words of encouragement, etc... I was really actually doing this. And it was so freaking fun.

After weeks of practice, my team finally had our first real test with this scrimmage. Full uniform, with a referee and running our plays. Even though I have coached a real varsity team before with flag football (and bowling), this was different. A gym basketball court is a much more intimate environment versus the football field. Saying my loud voice carries in there would be a great understatement. And lets not forget, basketball is one of my great loves so this is a big deal for me. This is special to me. I literally cannot wait for the regular season to begin. With a few more practices and one more scrimmage to go, we still have some learning to do and kinks to work out, but we are looking decent.  This whole thing is certainly a learning process for myself and the girls.

Some New Great Things, Some Old Issues

It's been two whole weeks since I ran the New York City Marathon and five weeks since the Chicago Marathon. Between the two marathons I was in a bit of a funk because of the disappointment of not PRing in Chicago. And although my head wasn't totally in the game for NYC, I knew I would have regretted not doing it and I was right. I was so happy to have done it and don't know how I can NOT continue to do that race every year. (Does that mean I sign up for both again next year? It just might.)

Anyway, as it usually is for me following any big race (or even big trip), there is feeling of "Now What?" afterwards. When you look forward to something and have spent so long working toward a single goal and it has now come and gone, it's hard to figure out what the next step is. I treated myself with a SoulCycle package and two new pairs of gym shoes to help with some of the post-race funk, but there is still a little void. I know it will go away soon though; it always does and life will resume back to normal.

New York 26.2: A Recap

Two marathons in three weeks! Chicago and New York. Numbers 8 and 9. I can finally take a sigh of relief and give my body a rest. And perhaps chill with all the crying too. Yikes. As I lay here in bed with sore legs and a full heart, I think I can actually say that I am proud of myself. This is quite different than the feelings I was having three weeks ago after the Chicago marathon when I was a big ball of disappointment. Sure, I ran this race slower than Chicago, but I wasn't running this race for me and wasn't concerned about getting a PR. I was running this race for a fantastic cause (Team IBDKids), wanted to enjoy the ride, and really just wanted to finish it (in under five hours). And that I did with a time of 4:42:50. I'll take it because once again, it wasn't an easy road to the finish line and I am just so happy to be healthy enough to make it there once again.