Running Quotes and Reflection.

I get tweets from @RunningQuotes on Twitter.  The ones that really make an impact I tend to retweet.  In the last few weeks, I have retweeted the following quotes:

• "Whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last you can say, 'I have finished.'"
• "Often I hear someone say I'm not a real runner.  We are all runners, some just run faster than others.  I never met a fake runner."
• "Some have natural talent, others make up for it with tremendous heart."
• "It is amazing what you can accomplish when you decide you can't be stopped."
• "Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still."
• "You present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start."

I've thought a lot about these quotes in the last few days, especially as I wondered whether I will be able to get back to where I was before the injury.  The thing is, I am walking pretty well with the boot.  In fact, I am pretty quick with it.  I'm walking so well with it that people are forgetting that I just had surgery 3 weeks ago.  Sometimes I even forget.

When I am allowed to take the boot off and start doing things like the elliptical machine, biking, swiming  --- and even running --- I have to remember that the surgery simply where I start but not where I can go.  I may end up doing even better than I did before.  That is what I am hoping.

As my friends start training for the Chicago Marathon I am, admittedly, a little jealous.  But that will pass as the heat and humidity continue to increase in the New Orleans summer.  Soon enough I will be able to run.  It will be a journey, but I will keep the quotes above in mind.  In roughly a year I got to the point of doing nothing from finishing a half marathon --- 13.1 miles.  That isn't something I can ignore.