I’ve always felt very fortunate that the Caveman was so supportive of my running:
He alerts me to new products, websites and sales on running gear.
He and the kids traipse to many of my races.
They spend countless hours braving the elements along the sidelines, schlepping signs, balloons, my lotions and potions, cheering until they’re hoarse, ringing cowbells, waiting for me to pass, only to scramble to the next viewing site as soon as I do.
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| Fuel hand-off near the foot of Heartbreak Hill in Boston. |
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| A sneak peek of the signs they made for the Columbus Marathon |
While I hobnob with Meb, Ryan and others at race expos, he and the kids quietly raid booth candy bowls with minimal complaints.
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| He fans me and feeds me recovery bars as I recline after a long run…ok maybe not that…but I’m sure he would…if I asked…er…kind of sure…maybe… |
In short, the Caveman and the kids are the very reason I put the Team before Marcia for Teamarcia. Without them I’m just…well….Marcia.
So with my recent hip fiasco, I was a little, shall we say, deflated by this:
Me: “My hip’s bugging me, I think I need to go see Dr. Miracle.”
Caveman: Crickets.
Me: “Did you hear me? Do you think Dr. Miracle is the right guy for my ornery hip? Or maybe a PT…”
Caveman: Eye roll and more crickets.
Me: “Did you just roll your eyes at me?”
Cave: “No.”
Me: “No, you rolled your eyes. You aren’t taking this seriously. I need a treatment plan for this hip if I have any chance at all of running Twin Cities in five weeks.”
Cave: “You know how much a diagnosis will cost. I’d rather not spend the money.”
And there it was. A crack in my foundation. It’s causing me to rethink this whole running thing. I can attribute some of Sunday’s uber workout to the fact that I was angry. In my world, anger is great exercise fuel. Am I being selfish? Is this running hobby of mine too much of a drag on the rest of the family? To be fair they haven’t come to any races since last October and that’s perfectly fine with me. Outside of running and a rockin’ pair of boots now and then, I am far from extravagant in any other facets of day-to-day life.
In the end, we talked it out and I will see a doctor. So the boat rocked but is far from capsizing over this.
