Running Vicariously

Happy 2010!!! It's been too long since my last blog. In fact, I almost forgot I had started one. Shame on me!


I must start that I am now Jacqueline Cooke, a newly married woman to the love of my life, B. He has not only become my husband, my close confidante, but also my running idol --- All in One!!! It has been an amazing journey the last 2 years, and I look forward to all the fun & exciting things ahead of us!

I regret however that I have momentarily retired from running/training. I injured my right glute since my last marathon December 2009 and it hasn't improved much to this day. I tried complete rest, physical therapy, and weekly massages ---nearly $1,500 worth of physical therapy and 6 months of treatment and still very little results.

My better half, however, has taken marathon training to a whole new level this year. He is currently rigorously training for his second marathon this coming October targeting a sub 2:35 marathon time. I can not be more proud of his talents, commitment, and discipline to train all by himself 7 days a week with absolutely no rest time.

Of course every newly married couple has 2 different worlds to mesh, including life goals, dreams, family planning but also everyday mundane things such as work/sleep schedules, habits, lifestyles, etc. Along with all of this, I also learned to just stand on the sidelines to support & encourage my husband. This was a brand new role for me and a part of me was initially a little sad about it---mixed with envy and a little jealoulsy that I'm not in healthy enough form to join in the experience. It took some time for me to realize this, but now that I have, I am able to move pass and learn to run vicariously through my husband. It actually has been a really neat experience, following my husband's progress and witnessing him getting stronger as a marathoner in the last few months. I get to feed off of his runner's high when he comes home from a long run or speed work, similar to winning the prize (or aka free lunch) without having to put the hard work and time into it. It's actually a pretty good deal for me, come to think of it, i get to travel to Portland 4th of July weekend and Minnepolis in October for the big race, without the anxiety and pressure of running a race.


I should really prolong running vicariously as long as I can. =)