I'm nervous..... Holy (insert colorful metaphor here) I am nervous. First, I have never been a blogger. I don't really read blogs, and I'm not sure about the "blogging rules."  I'm definitely a wordy person, I love to write, and I have volumes and volumes of personal diaries dating back to when I was 10 years old, so I think that blogging may eventually make a lot of sense to me. So I ask you be kind to me as I bear all to you about this amazing journey that I am about to undertake over the next few months on my quest to conquer the Triple Crown of Running.

But, back to my nervousness.  Garden of the Gods 10 Miler is  5 days away. Dun dun duuuuun!!!  This is my second go with this race. I ran it in 2013 and had a blast! I do recall making a turn, and seeing the sign for mile 8, and then wondering why, oh why, were we going back uphill again? So here I am, 4 years later, anticipating the hills that will befall me on Sunday. However, I am not as ready as I want to be. I injured myself at the Cheyenne Mountain Trail Race on 30 April. It was that day when we received one of those delightful spring snowstorms where the snow is thick and wet and I would find out later, makes really great mud at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.  I had just started feeling good on the run. I was 5K in and  I was loving the beautiful scenery, and BOOM! Down I went and the pain in my ankle began. It was that awesome pain that makes you sick to your stomach immediately and takes your breath away. Thankfully no one actually saw me in the midst of my fall, although I will say that I bet would have made a stellar picture or video on Youtube.  Anyway, I limped out with this really nice boy named Nick accompanying me. I got to my car and sat there and cried like a baby. I sent a text to my coach and told her that I didn't finish the run and my ankle was screaming at me, and thus my road to healing began. Here we are 37 days, 4 various ankle boots, 1 pair of crutches, 2 doctor visits, a PT consult, 1 really cool freezer gel pack,  and countless ibuprofen later. I'm not advocating for running when you are injured, so let me preface this by saying that I have been cleared by the doctors in my life to participate this weekend. I am not feeling "ready". These past 37 days were supposed to be me running sprints/hills/long distances, losing some weight (because let's be honest, I always feel much better when I am lighter and I run),  and me just enjoying the training process. Well, it wasn't,  it was 37 days of me healing, and "behaving" with my training so that I can run in the Garden, and complete the Triple Crown of Running. Sadly they still haven't created a time machine, so I can't go back and catch myself on that giant boulder that caused me to fall and roll my ankle (it really was only about 4 inches tall, but me twisting my ankle on a giant boulder just sounds cooler).   So, this week I shall run in the pool, and ride my bike, and do some sauntering, low maintenance stuff,  so that I can be as ready as possible for the race this Sunday. I likely won't PR,  and I may even finish in a slower time than the time I got 4 years ago. I could go on and on about all of the things that I may not be doing during this run, but why bother with that? In all honesty, writing this now, the PR's and the timekeeping that I'm constantly doing seems a little silly. But heck, I like improvements, and I like to get better and faster. However, after this injury I have learned the lesson of just enjoying the run for the run, during a race.   And I grow more appreciative every day that the injury wasn't worse, because it really could have been much worse.

I do everything I can to search for and find the good in situations. Sometimes the good is easy to find, like finding a rainbow at the end of a storm. Other times, finding the good is difficult, albeit nearly impossible,  like trying to find a unicorn. I like to say that I am in search of rainbows and unicorns; the obvious good, and the not so obvious. And I really like color and unicorns, so my phrasing works out well. Isn't my blog picture spectacular???

This Sunday is not going to be exactly what I expected/ hoped it would be, but there are still some rainbows and unicorns forthcoming.   I get to be in the Garden of the Gods early in the morning, giggling with hundreds kindred running spirits (I always get giggly before a run), wearing the Mighty Marmots singlet that I have been hoping to get to wear this year. I GET TO RUN!!!  I will cross the finish line and probably get tears in my eyes a little bit, and I will be super sweaty, breathless, and oh so happy. The best part is that this is just the beginning of this Triple Crown of Running journey! I'm looking forward, anxiously, to this weekend and all that is to come!!! See you out there!!