Learning Patience

"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet."

- Jean Jacques-Rousseau

 

I had a good phone conversation with my dad this morning. I called to do a quick check-in on the status of my grandfather. Just two weeks shy of his 96th Birthday, he fell in his home a few days ago and has been suffering both physically and mentally in the hospital since then. His children, one being my mother, are all anxiously deciding the next move. During the 15-minute talk with my dad, the theme of patience came up many times.

 

Undoubtedly, my mom is summoning up her greatest patience in dealing with her bedridden father, whose mental capacities are slipping and mistook her for his own mother. She is asking the patience and wisdom of God to relieve his misery and take him to be with my grandmother (who passed away a few years ago).

 

Sometimes all we can do is wait, be still and know that there is a plan for us. We must be patient. I have to admit that while I may be good at preaching this, I am not skilled at following through with it in my own life. Outside of raising and working with kids, I do not possess so much of this coveted virtue. (Thankfully I have been told by many that I have the patience of a saint when working with young children.) When it comes to my own life and personal decisions, however, I am impulsive. When I decide that I want something, I want it yesterday. Anything. Take this morning, Alan asked me to pack up the girls' lunches while he showered and packed the car for their trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo this morning. I started taking out Tupperware to fill with snacks and then noticed there were little clips hanging in that particular cabinet. Yes, we have lived in our house for over 5 years now and these clips have been here since the day we first saw the house, but I never paid much attention to them. In that second, I had to reorganize the cabinets. Our house is a mess, I thought. Moving the coffee cups to these hanging clips will save us so much space. Before I knew it I had emptied the entire Tupperware cabinet, started reorganizing a second cupboard to store the Tupperware, began to move around the coffee/tea we order in bulk and then remembered that, Oh shoot, I need to make those sandwiches! But I want to finish cleaning the kitchen.

 

Ideas for cleaning out the girls' room popped in my head and within minutes my free day with Isaac was quickly being filled with grand plans for a Spring Cleaning! The moment the idea entered my brain, I wanted it done. I needed it done. Running around the kitchen, up and down the stairs, in and out of rooms, I had a plan and had to get it done NOW. Right. This. Second. There was no waiting. Clearly, there was no patience. (Luckily Isaac enjoyed watching me run around like a madwoman as he crawled and dashed after me in circles, while simultaneously making messes everywhere he went.)

 

My running life does not know that patience even exists. Running, patience and Caitlin have never met. On the day I decided that Oh, it would be fun to race again, not only was I registered for the Calabasas 10K by nightfall but I also had a training plan for the next 3 months typed up and running clothes lied out for the next morning's sunrise run with the kids. I was ready. Oh, and I wanted to run fast, too, win my age-group, and PR while I was at it. Yes, I am laughing at myself right now. That is one skill I do possess: the ability to laugh at myself.

 

Two months later and I am nursing a stress fracture. Stress fractures happen when one does too much too fast. Who, me? Patience, patience, patience. Perhaps I will get a tattoo of this all-important word sketched across my body to help remind me. Not really, but if I do decide to get a tattoo rest assured  that I will rush out the door to the nearest tattoo parlor and have it done first thing. : )

 

Reflecting on the most accomplished runners I know and I know of, nearly everyone has this one important skill: patience. I have held this theory for years that the best runners out there are those who have been able to stay injury-free. I believe that avoiding injuries comes back to patience. Listening to your body, but more than that. Building up slowly, over the years, knowing that you don't have to be the very best runner right now. From the moment I started running, I wanted to be better. I always wanted to be faster, stronger. The drive to succeed is crucial, but so is the patience in getting there. Looking back, if I had run half the mileage that I did during my first few years of running I may very likely have been able to avoid years off due to injury. If I had built up more slowly I could have let my body adjust to the physical demands rather than pushing through a wall until it all crumbled down.

 

Though (I think) I was at least a little smarter this time around, I still pushed too much too fast. I have been dying to run a marathon for years now, and every time I am running healthy for just a few months I start to think, This is my chance! I have this belief that I need to jump on the situation and run the 26.2 miles as soon as possible.. before I get injured again. This is silly. I could have run a marathon by now if I had built up slowly. I have to stop fearing getting hurt and actually do something to avoid getting hurt. Maybe my marathon training plan needs to be a long-term plan. Maybe a 2-year plan (or more, though I admit the patience involved terrifies me) of slowly building up, letting my muscles and joints and bones adjust to the demands. Most marathon training plans are 3-4 months in length, but I now know that my body is going to need more time. Two years seems like a lifetime away, but if I had made this plan just two years ago, I would have run a marathon by now. 

 

Are you a patient person? In running and life? How do you stay patient when you know what you want and feel ready to do it? Tips, please? I'm ready to listen. I know that I want to be a runner for the rest of my life. This latest injury has convinced me of that more than ever before. I am ready to be patient. Right NOW.

 

A photo snapshot of our week below. Happy Saturday All!

 

Monday was a sick day for Cesia. Sweet baby passed out on the couch at 9am.

Tuesday lunch date out with my favorite little girls (and Isaac, not pictured)!

Cesia used Wednesday morning's 5 min drive to school to cover herself in stickers.

Friday afternoon nap in the stroller and

discovering that my heel feels better when running vs. walking.

Saturday morning run with Isaac in the Bob.

First run with the Bob. First run in shoes. Pain free = happy everybody!