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Eat & Run: Valencia, Spain

Eat & Run: Valencia, Spain

Post published:November 25, 2019

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beckyswade

Mother’s Day highlight: watching @ricewtfxc win

Mother’s Day highlight: watching @ricewtfxc win the @conferenceusa championship (and @ricemtfxc take 3rd)! It’s one thing to talk to Wade about strength, confidence, and heart, and another to show him real-life examples. No better classroom than a track meet, in my opinion! 🦉💙

#GoOwls👐 #mothersday #futureowl

I wish I had a fun running update to share, but th

I wish I had a fun running update to share, but the truth is that I’m 3 years into this Achilles issue and still trying to claw my way out. I was hopeful that surgery last October would finally set me straight, but unfortunately it was not that simple. I’m running some, but persistent pain makes meaningful volume or quality a challenge, not to mention is an absolute buzzkill.

What’s crazy is that this body—that withstood 7 years of marathoning without serious injury, that stacked triple-digit weeks like it was nothing, and that birthed a baby and bounced right back—hasn’t been able to do something as simple as heal a small area of my foot. For once, hard work, patience, diligence, and every other quality distance running is supposed to instill have come up short.

The hardest part of all of this has not been watching from the sidelines as my friends and competitors chase the same dreams I have. That’s definitely tough, but parenting, coaching, writing, and rehabbing keep me busy enough that I can tune it out when I want to. The hardest part is knowing what it feels like when everything’s clicking and running feels like the most natural thing in the world. It’s watching my boys roll out of our driveway while I head out for another cross training session. It’s wanting so badly to show Wade what it looks like to be in my element, pursuing something with my whole heart the way I hope he someday will.

I don’t know what my future as a runner looks like, or whether I’ll get another swing at racing at a high level. But as stubborn as this Achilles is, it hasn’t beat me yet 😤

*If you’re also struggling with chronic injury, I know how isolating and emotionally turbulent it can be. I don’t have answers for you but I do feel you!

Wade is one lucky dude to grow up with this crew 🤍(still working on @mattkwade and Annie) A hectic and happy Easter for sure!

#easter #cousinlove #familypic

Someone’s been kinda naughty this year 😈 bu

Someone’s been kinda naughty this year 😈

but his son’s on the nice list for sure 😇

Struttin into year✌🏼 Part of me is like Yay

Struttin into year✌🏼

Part of me is like Yay! We did it. Another part is nostalgic for the first year already. But mostly I’m excited to see Wade’s personality continue to shine through. Currently he’s obsessed with cups (can’t stop won’t stop stacking), food (boy can HOUSE it), giggling (especially at Will), waving (at humans, dogs, inflatable Santas, etc.), “reading” books in my lap, DJing from the stroller (just 3 songs but all bangers), and letting Tina lick his hands between bites (I know.).

He’s messy, he’s wild, and he’s stubborn, but he’s our everything. Happy 1st Birthday, sweet Wade! 🤍

Photo by @sarahshannonphoto

#birthdayboy #1stbirthday #1yearold #slowdowntime

Wade’s rookie season 🐻🏅❤️ #crosscount

Wade’s rookie season 🐻🏅❤️

#crosscountry #coacheskid #strollerbaby

❤️‍🩹 On the mend, with a caregiver who’

❤️‍🩹 On the mend, with a caregiver who’s much cuter than he is capable 🙃

It has been a LONG road to this morning’s surgery. My last pain-free run was the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials, nearly 2 years and 8 months ago. Some insertional Achilles pain popped up the next week and just never went away. Since then, I’ve continued training as much as my body would allow while searching high and low for the root of the pain: 4 MRIs, 18 healthcare professionals in 5 cities (that I can remember, many of whom I trust with my life!), and an obscene amount of rehab, rest, cross-training, and treatment.

Only recently did a higher resolution MRI reveal a partially torn Achilles and a small but potent bone spur, neither of which were likely to heal on their own no matter what else I did or didn’t do. Surgery is always my last resort, but usually I don’t wait THIS long to book it.

Major mixed emotions right now: grateful for a solution at last, sad to miss out on the next couple months of daily runs with my boys, thankful for the ultimate support team, and optimistic that my best running days are still ahead. 🙏🏼💓

#postop #achilles #achillesrecovery #achillesrehab #injuredrunner #surgery #onthemend #castlife

If I get mistaken for a high school runner one mor

If I get mistaken for a high school runner one more time, I might just go with it 🏃🏻‍♀️😉

Cameraman: @jcorratx

#crosscountry #coaching #gobears

10 years ago this week I was embarking on a year-l

10 years ago this week I was embarking on a year-long solo trip around the world (made possible by the Watson Fellowship), hoping to connect with and learn from runners and coaches in 5 countries. Little did I know, those 5 countries would balloon into 22; the hostels and apartments I’d planned on would be replaced by homestays; the journey would spawn careers in writing, running, and coaching; and many of the people I ran and crashed with along the way would be among my most cherished friends a decade later. 🧳🏃🏻‍♀️🌍

#watsonfellowship #runtheworld #globetrotter

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