Run, Lucy, Run

November 5th, 2006

This morning while I sat on the couch, recovering from my first night out in a long time (I didn’t get drunk, but our baby boy made sure I didn’t sleep well to punish me for abandoning him so callously) I watched the hour-long highlight show of the NYC Marathon on TV.  First of all, I was disappointed that such a remarkable race only got a piddly hour on TV but I could change the channel and see a football game on every other station. I guess watching long distance running isn’t really appealing to everyone.  Anyway, I enjoyed watching the finish in both the men’s and women’s elite groups, I always find it inspiring-they are just amazing.  Then they turned their cameras to Lance Armstrong and followed him as he finished in just under 3 hours, accomplishing his goal.  It was pretty cool-even though Lance is not always my personal favorite, I admire what he can do as an athlete and a humanitarian.
So I guess this is all leading up to the inevitable.  I think it may finally be time for me to start running again.   As long as I get cleared by my doctor this week I think I”m gonna try it.  I’m terrified to think how hard it will be-although nothing can really compete with how it felt to play the violin again this week after 6 weeks off.  This has definitely been the longest break I’ve had from the violin in my adult life, maybe even my whole life!  I had a moment when I started playing for the first time the other day where I thought to myself, “Am I doing this right?  Does the bow go in my right hand?”  For the non-musicians out there, that’s tantamount to trying to remember if you’re right or left handed.  It felt unbelievably foreign.  I momentarily considered a career change (stay-at-home mom?  chef? veterinarian?) and then realized that if I can just get through the first few weeks of getting back into shape, I’ll be ok.  Here comes the epiphany-running should be the same, right?  I should be able to get back into it after some pain and suffering at the beginning.  And god knows running is a hell of a lot more natural than the contortions required of your upper body to play the violin.

My deadline for violin preparedness is January-that’s when I go back to work and I’ll be doing some chamber music concerts by the end of that month so I have to be ready (chamber music concerts require a bit more since I can actually be HEARD as opposed to orchestral work where it is more on the honor system since there are so many violins).  I am reluctant to set any deadlines for the running, such as entering a race, etc. because I just don’t know how it will feel, it’s much more uncharted territory.  Let’s just say I won’t be running any marathons by January.

Of course, the one little glitch with all these plans is that I am effing TIRED.   Here’s some proof:

My eyes, I can barely keep them open.  So all my plans may be for nuttin.  Ashok, please let mommy sleep.  She loves you.

Entry Filed under: Running, Music