My "Achilles Heel"

My freshman year in high school we spent the first semester of English class studying Greek mythology.  I read The Iliad and The Odyssey, however, it wasn't until I got to college that I realized how important those studies had been.  There were important metaphors in those tales.  In the last few days I have thought of one in particular --- the story about Achilles.

The story is that when Achilles was a baby that it was foretold that he would die in battle from an arrow in the foot.  To prevent his death his mother took him to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers on invincibility.  His mother dipped Achilles' body into the water, however, she held him by the heel.  His heel, therefore, wasn't washed over by the magical water.  Achilles grew up to be a man of war; he survived many incredible battles and was thought of as a hero.  One day a poisonous arrow was shot at him and was lodged in his heel --- the arrow killed him as his heel hadn't been protected by the water.  It is from Greek mythology that the expression of an "Achilles heel" came to be known as someone's area of weakness,

For me, at least in relation to running, my "achilles heel" is my achilles tendon.  My achilles tendon holds me back and I always have a nagging sense of fear (well, maybe not that strong) that I am going to hurt it again and really be out of the game for a long time.  My achilles tendon starts to cramp after 5 or so miles  and no matter what I do or how much endurance I have, the cramps come.  Then comes the inflammation, the stretching, the ice baths, and a little bit of limping.  My achilles tendon was doing pretty well post-surgery until my mileage started to increase.  Now, as the half-marathon is just about 2 weeks away I am feeling the training more than ever.  I want to do well in the race but at the same time I don't want to push myself so hard that I hurt myself.

I have honestly grown to love running.  Mind you I am not saying that I'm good at it, but I truly like it.  The last two weeks it just hasn't been as fun, though.  I've been logging the miles because I know that I have to in order to train properly but I can't say it has always brought a smile to my face.  I can't wait for the half-marathon to be over because then I will be able to go back to running because I want to and run the distances that I want to when I want to.  Sure, I will likely still wear my watch but that is more to feed my "inner geek" with the stats than the actual time on the clock.

I've also been frustrated because I am about $600 away from my fundraising goal.  I really want to meet my fundraising goal.  I am sick of sending out emails asking people to donate to a cause that i deem worthy and meaningful.  I know that my friends and colleagues must be sick of getting the emails as well.  (Hint, please give any type of donation and I'll stop bothering you.)  I think that if I am able to start the race knowing that I have et my fundraising goal that I will feel a lot more relaxed about the race.

As Thanksgiving approaches (can't believe it is in a week) I think back to this time last year.  A year ago this coming Saturday I was in Los Angeles with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece.  My sister and I went for a run that was about 3 miles.  It was the first time that we had ever been able to run together.  It meant a lot to me because it showed me how far I had come in the previous 6 months.  This Saturday I am going to run 10 miles.  There is a little piece of me, though, that wishes I was going to be taking that same 3 mile run with my sister.  Last year, there was no doubt that she was a better runner than I was.  This year I know that I could take her --- even with my "achilles heel".

While I am getting in my 10 miles on Saturday I am just going to think back to last year and the feeling of complete joy that I felt by simply being able to keep up with my sister on that run last year.  Remembering that feeling of pure exhilaration may make 10 miles seem like an exciting run instead of simply logging in miles.