smart vs. stubborn

and so, saturday morning i got up and headed to central park for the 5 miler, injury and all.

i met sk8 and demps and we squeezed our way into the corrals around the 9 mile mark. i was feeling pretty good about my leg - encouraged and optimistic that michael said i could run on it, and only a little nervous. it was a beautiful running morning. just chilly enough, and enough sun to warm you up.

it was fun to be out there with the both of them - i hadn't run with my pals in quite a while. sk8 and demps had never met, but i had neglected to introduce them because i thought surely they knew each other. but silly me - it was only that they had read about each other in the blogosphere.

we started out at a good pace, running along with everyone else. i gave them both the freedom to leave me whenever they wished due to my gimpy leg, but we ran, chatting and enjoying the morning. some where in the 1st mile, beck decided to move on ahead and i wished her luck. demps and i continued on, hitting the rolling hills of the west side...

my left quad, the bad one, suddenly started to tighten. i tried to ignore it, and focus on the chit chat, but as we crested a hill, i could feel the tightness constrict my thigh, and move down in to my calf. my right calf cramped up, and as we reached the top, my left followed suite. my left leg was aching...and i decided not to push it.

"demps, i'm sorry...but i think this is just not good for me right now...i have to stop."

he wished me well and i pulled over at the southern part of the resouvoir.

normally i would have felt disgruntled and discouraged for giving up. but today, my legs were hurting so that i knew it was the right thing to do. i stretched and made my way across the park to the tnt cheering session. luis, our bk coach, agreed it wasn't worth it to push at this point.

so i called it a day and lent my voice to the crew, cheering in the tnt runners. it was fun to see how all the newbies lit up when they saw us all cheering for them. sk8 had thought she was going to get to cheer me in - she did really well and finished strong! - and we laughed that i was standing there when she came up.

my leg has continuously felt better from then on...and i'll try a run on the treadmill tomorrow. michael emailed me to see how it went, and i told him that i stopped and he said he was glad i was smarter than most in that situation, so i felt even better. i had made the right decision and smart had won over stubborn.

more tomorrow my friends...