If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

Last Tuesday, I returned to the doctor to see how my foot was healing. (I almost typed heeling. That would have been really funny, right? But, not, because it's not my heel that hurts.) It had been a week in the funny shoe.

I mean, I knew it was getting better, but it wasn't quite better yet, and when someone with a diploma and an x-ray machine tells you that you should keep wearing a funny shoe, it's a lot easier to swallow than when you admit to yourself, "Self, I should keep wearing this funny shoe."

So, off to the doctor's I went.

Returning to the doctor to reassess a healing injury is a bit like groundhog day isn't it? You are all full of anticipation. Will the sun be out? What will my x-rays show? Will there be a shadow? Does that spot on my foot really hurt or just kind-of-sort-of hurt? Am I a hypochondriac? Maybe I'm fine? Or am I lying to myself so I can start running again? Will there be 6 more weeks of winter?

Long story short, the shoe remains, but I did get authorization to add some biking back in. And add some biking back in, I did.

Easy ride around the neighborhood Tuesday: Check. All systems go.

Computrainer workout? Check. Wednesday I had the best ride in a while. Probably because my legs aren't trashed from running. Hmph.

Spin around Hains Point after work in the sunshine? Check. Thursday. Perfect weather. Intervals. Friends. Tour buses. Pollen. The usual. Awesome.

One more computrainer workout Friday? Check. Crushed it.

Rock'n Roll Half Marathon Bike Course Lead? Check. Filed under, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em (or something like that.) I signed up because I thought it might be kind of a cool way to see the race and participate since I couldn't actually crush those 13.1 miles myself. This was So. Much. Fun.

I suited up with lots of neon, an all access pass on my bike and suckered my friend Catherine into joining me.

We clipped in just in front of the start line and headed out with a crew of rowdy bikers to lead the runners, check the course for any problems and report some splits back to the announcer.

Rowdy.

I got assigned to the lead females for the half marathon. We were instructed to follow the timing trucks out the first mile or two and then find the 2nd place female in the half and stick with her, feeding her splits back to the finish line.

I don't usually get to see the timing trucks. They are cool.

After she finished, we looped back by the DC Tri tent along the course for a pit stop, some high fives to our fast friends who were finishing up the half marathon and then we headed out along the marathon course to try to find our friend Janie, who was gunning for a PR. We had lots of good cheers in our heads that we needed to share, such as:

Yay Janie!
Good job at running!
You are running a marathon!

See? Proof. She was running a marathon. Also: she is really tiny.

Woop!
Keep running!
Holler!
Way to go, keep it up!
Well done, Janie!
Stay on course!
Don't go on 395!

Wrong way.

Good job at sportz!
Keep running the marathon until you finish!

I'm almost certain we were why she finished so strong. If I were her, I would have wanted to kill my two friends on BIKES when I was running a marathon, but not Janie. No, she LOVED seeing us ride bikes in loops around her.

Inspired by Janie and hopeful for a recovering foot, I'm going to try to go for a walk tonight. In real shoes. Probably in the direction of pollen and tour buses. I know, I'm really living on the edge. Hopefully someone out there along the course will give me a "way to go, keep it up!" I'll report back.