Go ahead and jam out to it. I know you want to!
Do you believe in signs? I do not. I believe in good judgement, intuition, following your gut, etc.... But I do not believe the universe or anything else sends me signs.
HOWEVER, if I did believe in signs, I would believe that the universe was telling me to not run Boston in April.
Case in point....
Sign #1 - The hotel I booked in Boston (MONTHS ago, before I was even officially registered!) went out of business. And by the time I was notified they were going out of business, all of the other moderately priced places were booked. Since I was unable to pay $400+ a night, I did what anyone else would do. I bawled all the way home from work! But I did not give up. I put out a Facebook plea and my cousin, who lives like 2 miles from where the buses pick you up to take you to the starting line, offered to take us in!
Oh, but there's more...
Sign #2 - My dumb knee. I have gone through so much in the past 5 months to try to get this knee thing taken care of. It may be the biggest "sign" of all that I shouldn't run Boston...I won't rehash the whole knee thing, but I literally needed surgery to make the pain go away, and at this point, I am unable to run at all. HOWEVER, I did elliptical for 20 minutes yesterday morning (pain free!!!) and intend to do 30 minutes today! If things go the way my doctor claims they will, I'll be running in one to two weeks... Take that, UNIVERSE!
YET THERE IS MORE!!!
Sign #3 - FREAKING SNOW DAYS!!! As you know, the Boston Marathon in on a Monday. Luckily, my school was scheduled to have off that Monday because it was the Monday after Easter. I say luckily, because I don't have any personal days. (I had to use all my personal days when my husband was in the hospital having brain surgery.) Well, mother nature decided to shit on us one to many times this year, and now we are using that Monday as a snow make up day. My only other option to have off that day is to request a day without pay... which apparently they do approve sometimes. I hope they approve mine, otherwise I CAN'T run Boston, unless I want to lose my job. Which I don't.
So there you have it. Some very persuasive "signs" if you will, alerting me to stay the hell home this April. But luckily, I don't believe in signs! All that crap that happened was just a bunch of random bad things that happened to happen. At least, that's the way I see it!
I'm not going to request a day without pay until I know for sure I am strong enough to run. I will probably make that decision 3 weeks before the race, after I attempt and/or complete a 20 mile training run. If I can't complete a 20 mile run on April 5th without pain, I will not run Boston because I don't want to re-injure myself. NOT worth it!
Do you believe in signs?
Did you ever think the universe (or other) was trying to convince you NOT to do something?
Tell me about a time you followed your "gut" and ended up making a very wise decision!
Oh no, the snow day thing is the worst! I hope it all works out, Boston is such an amazing race!
ReplyDeleteThanks Em!
DeleteI so hope your knee is better and you will be able to get that day off! I definitely listened to my gut last year for the Boston Marathon. I booked a hotel (yes, a very expensive one) so I could watch my sister run. I was stressing how I was going to navigate myself around Boston on Race day seeing what a "mad house" it would be. I just broke down when I found out the subway that I needed to take (straight from my hotel to the finish line would not be operating that day. Now what?) so this and a few other "bumps" along the way made me feel a little uneasy about traveling to Boston. I cancelled my hotel reservation at the last minute (just in time to get a full refund). I think it is a good thing I did too. I don't know if I would have been in any danger on race day, but I know for sure that I would have been near that finish line holding my race sign for my sister like I had done for every race prior to this one! Sometimes I think things can just be an obstacle to see how much you want something but then there are other times that maybe the universe is throwing you a sign. I guess it's up to us to figure out which it is! (ok, sorry this was a super long response)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the long and thoughtful response! It is a very good point- sometimes obstacles help make you prove how much you want something. I am going to chalk these "signs" up to that. Thank goodness you cancelled your hotel and did not go!
DeleteI kind of sort of do believe in signs, or at least I kind of joke about it. But in the end I think it comes down to gut feeling. I once ignored my gut feeling and moved from Seattle to LA (the first time-I've been here twice) for a job I wasn't excited about but everyone told me I "had" to do it. It was the worst six months of my life and ended up quitting and moving back to Seattle with no job. I think you'll know what to do when the time is right. And as far as I know, Boston or the marathon are not going anywhere, so it's not like you can't do it next year, despite how disappointed you may feel this year.
ReplyDeleteGood point!
DeleteI don't usually believe in signs but WOW those are a lot of very good signs telling you not to run it haha. I know there have been times where there have been signs telling me to do/not do something, but I can't remember of any right now! .....I suck.
ReplyDeleteHaha I know right? I am currently choosing to look at them as obstacles to overcome ;)
DeleteHmm I don't know if I believe in signs or not. When I get an idea to do something in my head I pretty much will do anything to accomplish it regardless of any "signs" I'm so stubborn sometimes. I hope everything works out and you are able to run Boston! I can't wait to hear all about it.
ReplyDeleteI am the same way- I get stubborn too!
DeleteYAY elliptical!!! :) I hope that you get to run Boston, but I also think it's great that you're looking out for that fixed knee!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marissa!
DeleteI think the "signs" we see are based on how we're really feeling deep down. We look for what we want to see, ya know? We look for excuses if we don't want to do something, or we seek the positives if we really want something. It looks to me like you're being optimistic which means deep down you feel ready to take on Boston. If not, you would definitely be looking at the hotel and the snow days as easy excuses to just drop out.
ReplyDeleteWhew I thought you were going to say the signs meant I really didn't want to do it!
DeleteI don't know if I believe in signs, but I do believe in the universe working things out for us the way it should happen. And I very much believe in instinct. We should all listen to our gut a little more often.
ReplyDeleteFor sure! Have you ever read The Gift of Fear??? It illustrates that point exactly- how our instinct saves our lives sometimes.
DeleteYes! I do believe in signs like that too. But I tend to overthink things. As of late, I've been thinking of those sorts of 'signs' as obstacles to overcome that will make me stronger. I don't know if it will work, but I'm certainly going to give it a try!
ReplyDeleteUsually when I listen to my gut, it's right.
If I were in your shoes, I'd base my decision on my health and ability to take a day without pay...that part sucks. I had to take three days without pay last year to run Boston, but with Easter this year I will only have to lose one. Which still sucks, lol...but isn't as bad as 3! This year, I said I'd run Boston no matter what since I grew a fear of never running it again when the field got so tightened with super fast times. Now I plan to take the opportunity whenever I can. We're staying in Newton, which has lower hotel rates. $400 is Crazy!!!
Thanks for providing the ultimate Saturday morning jam while I read. :) hehe
DeleteHaha no problem!!!! I def have the ability to take 1 day without pay... so I will end up basing things on my ability to run 20 miles 3 weeks before the race! That is great that you got a reasonably priced hotel room. This goes without saying I am sure, but if I am able to run Boston, I'd love to meet you! Maybe we can have a "wait in line for the port o john" date. :)
DeleteI don't believe in signs from the universe. Usually. Does your job have a "sick day bank"? Mine does ... basically, everyone donates a sick day at the start of the year, so if someone has an emergency (like your husband's surgery), they can dip in. Might be worth looking into!
ReplyDeleteWow, that is so generous that your company does that. :) I would definitely donate one of my sick days to something like that.
DeleteI totally believe in signs! I have had two signs happen to me in life that I asked for and I am a total believer.
ReplyDeleteEven if you don't believe, you should totally listen to your GUT and your heart!!!
I hope you will be able to run! Sending lots of happy thoughts your way!
Thank you! Good point- and I think sometimes how we choose to read "signs" is just us following our guts!
DeleteI DO believe in signs but also take them with a grain of salt. Like if things just fall into place or opportunities arise at just the right time I take that as a sign that I'm in the right place and doing what I should be. However, when things get tough and don't work out I don't take it as a sign to give up - I just see it as an obstacle to get through.
ReplyDeleteSo then you only believe in the GOOD signs! :)
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