Humility

Sometimes, the world lets you ride on top of it for awhile. And sometimes it needs to remind you that you are mortal, you are vulnerable, and you are a work in progress - you ain't arrived yet, sugar. This week, was my week to be humble.

First, there is the ongoing Battle of the Cranky Butt. I saw my Doc on Wednesday, he did some stuff to hurt me and sent me home with permission to run and a cautionary statement that "It might be a little sore for awhile." The next morning, I went for my proscribed run and ohhhhh mama - it was . . . well, it wasn't sore exactly, it didn't exactly hurt, but it wouldn't really move right - bringing my left leg forward was just so much work. I hadn't gone two miles when I realized that five miles was out of the question, so I opted for three. And walked about a mile of it. Yikes. Iron Woman, I. Am. Not.

Next - the pool yesterday morning. It went well, don't get me wrong. But I was sharing a lane with a woman about ten years my senior who was faster than me. Not considerably, but faster. I got out about ten minutes before her and watched her swim, thinking she must be on a Master's team or something, she just kept going at a decent pace and didn't seem to tire. Later, when I was chatting with her, it came out that no, she only swims a couple of times a month, she started a few months ago for therapeutic reasons - and she learned how to do a flip turn by talking to her son who was on the swim team. Sigh. Humility.

Then, the bike. We went for a marvelous ride yesterday, along a bike path about 45 min from home that follows the river along beautiful bluffs, through woods. Wonderful. The first lesson was pretty hilarious, I was talking to Hubby, watching the river, starting to relax on Red Molly The Beast, and my tire went off the trail onto the soft dirt, sending me bouncing on the bike into a muddy, rocky ditch hollering "ohshitohshitohshitohshit!" The good news: I didn't fall, I stayed on the bike and kept it relatively upright. The bad news: The incident happened right behind this guys house. Said guy and a number of friends were hanging out on said guy's back deck, having a couple a beers. I had an attentive audience. It was incredibly funny and I was laughing the loudest - but, alas, it was humbling. Especially when, after the bike ride, we sauntered into a local bar and grill to get a bite and some beverage and - a group of people that looked vaguely familiar asked "Hey, are you the folks on the bikes?" I just can't get away from my fans. We all shared another good laugh and I swallowed the tiny, jagged bits that were left of my pride. Oh, humility. And lest I come away with any illusions that I'm a bad ass (after all, we were out there biking into a strong headwind in 30 degree weather with impeding snow) we tracked our mileage with the car (my bike computer didn't work - apparently, I installed in incorrectly - oh, humility) wondering what incredible distance we had covered on our "grueling" two hour ride. 16.5 miles. 16.5. There will be a brief visitation this Wednesday for my Poor Pride with a private cremation on Saturday. We loved her well while she was alive, though she did get us in a heap of trouble at times. She will be missed.

But wait, she may have left a seed behind because, after the two hour ride, I ran about a mile and a half negative split - not far, but I was able to run hard and I felt great. Somewhere, from the depths of the ashes, something stirs.