Choosing my "B" race

By Jessi Richardson:


The coaches challenge for the 26.2 Divas (for the record, I did not choose that team name) was to follow our marathon training plan. I know, seems obvious, but the challenge was to follow it exactly for two weeks to earn our points. Lots of mileage in those plans, so it was actually a pretty tough assignment! As it turned out, many of us ran into challenges along the way (work schedules, family illness, injury etc.) Although Karen was happy with what we did accomplish, we asked for another coaches challenge post-marathon…just to feel like we were honoring the spirit of the challenge. The new challenge was to pick our “B Race,” (the marathon being the “A Race”) and get moving on our training plan…and that is the subject of this blog…

My B Race hasn’t happened yet, and in fact it won’t. Well the race won’t happen anyway, but I do have a “Plan B.” It doesn’t really have a name yet, but it involves rest, recovery, relationships, family and fun. I guess that would be the R.R.R.F.F plan. Sounds like “ruff,” which is interesting because this plan all started with my dog.

My six year-old dog Kane is sick with terminal cancer. He has been symptomatic since sometime before the marathon, but the diagnosis wasn’t confirmed until last week. If you’re a pet owner, you understand…devastating news, especially for a dog that is so young. This also happens to be the dog I brought back from Hurricane Katrina. We’ve had quite a journey together in our four short years as a family, so this is certainly a tough one for me.

This blog really isn’t about the dog; it’s about my “B Race” and my decision ultimately not to do another “big race” until sometime next year. Training has been an incredible part of my life, but as Angela always points out, sometimes things can get a little out of balance. I think marathon training has a tendency to do that to you, especially due to the amount of training time required for this type of event.

So, my “B Race” is actually about not racing at all and I have Kane to thank for that. Hearing the diagnosis last week I sadly realized that we didn’t have a lot of time left together, so Mike and I packed up and took a spur of the moment weekend trip to Ocean Shores with the dog. We had a fabulous weekend, lots of outdoor activities and quality time together! It’s been a long time since we’ve done something like this and I realized how much I miss this part of life.

My “B Race” is really about getting things back in balance. I’m going to focus on staying active; in fact I still manage to work out on a regular basis and plan to get back to the gym to resume Karen’s torture training. I’m also going to focus a bit more on healthy eating and try to peel off that last 10 pounds. And I’m going to do things with my wonderful boyfriend Mike, my dogs, my family and my friends. In fact, Mike and I are taking off on a two week road trip in August. I have never in my adult life taken a two-week vacation, so this is quite exciting. And no, the laptop is not going with me! Along the way there will probably be a smaller race or two in the summer schedule, but I’m going to keep it real (no pressure), choose wisely, and focus on racing for fun with all of my RTB/RTH friends!

We’re out here training for a lot of reasons and developing healthy habits is one of them. When I got the bad news last week about my pup, I went to the gym instead of porking down a gallon of ice cream. And even though I’m not following a training plan right now, I’m still getting in a lot of workouts without even thinking about it. I can personally confirm that all of the hard work over the past 4 years has paid off and I can say with confidence that I am now living a healthy lifestyle and very proud to continue doing so with friends, family and the four-leggeds at my side!

So, there you have it ladies, my “B Race.”