The Waiting is the Hardest Part

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part
Tom Petty: The Waiting

(Welcome newest Followers Whitney, KeriRose, Karen, Beth, and NY Wolve)
Well, my PT appointments are done for the week. Next Monday I go see "Nemo" for a "re-eval," meaning he has to do another PT evaluation on me to see where I stand. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This past Monday I arrived at the PT facility, expecting Nemo to perform his WWE moves on me. Instead, I was greeted by "ADHD Dave," the gym guy. I work in a school for students with learning disabilities, autism, ADHD, etc. It took me about 30 seconds to realize that Dave falls into the diagnosis of ADHD, which he confirmed when we were talking about my job. From Mayoclinic.com: "ADHD has been called attention-deficit disorder (ADD) and hyperactivity. But ADHD is the preferred term because it describes both primary aspects of the condition: inattention and hyperactive-impulsive behavior." So that meant I was more tolerant of ADHD Dave knowing that his constant pencil tapping as I exercised, appearing to not listen to what I was saying and not making eye contact, having on and off conversations with the nearby receptionist, repeatedly referring to his written notes, and having difficulty explaining what exercises I was going to be doing, and how to do them, and walking away and coming back repeatedly was alright because of his ADHD. But, ADHD Dave's quirky behavior also made PT more tolerable and entertaining. Seeing Hot Chick leading the aqua therapy session in the pool also helped make my gym sessions more tolerable. Yes, Hot Chick is the aqua therapy babe. Now I just need to figure out how I can have aqua therapy! I have about a dozen exercises to do while lying on my back or stomach. They're all aimed at helping me stretch and strengthen my lower body, legs, pelvis, and groin areas. Monday I felt like I was wasting my time doing them. I really was in denial, and assuming that ADHD Dave was going to have me do some lower-body, macho man, weight-lifting type stuff. Instead I ended up on the mat doing what I felt like were a ridiculous group of exercises; things like pushing my ass down into the mat, flattening my back against the mat, laying on my belly and picking my upper body up off the mat (and looking like a seal). Today I actually felt like the original six exercises along with the new six exercises were helping me. I felt looser and more flexible, and the ones from Monday were easier to do. Overall, it did 3 sets of 25 reps of each one, so it was a productive 50 minutes of exercising. I asked ADHD Dave if I would be able to run the NY City Half Marathon on March 21. He said it wasn't his call, but in his opinion I shouldn't do it. His main reason was that I wouldn't have enough time to train. Also that I still wasn't properly aligned and as loose as I should be. I told him that I've been running "unaligned" for three years; and tight, so that wasn't going to prevent me from running the half. I told him what I had told Nuno 3 weeks ago: With or without their approval, I am still running the half, since my groin pain is no longer an issue. I asked him when he thought I'd be able to resume running. He again said it wasn't his call, and that it would be Nemo's or "Runner Bob's" call. Runner Bob is supposed to be the running expert there. ADHD Dave said that Nemo would have a better idea of whether I can resume running after my re-eval on Monday. Nemo overheard this, and said that Runner Bob may have a say in the decision also. I'm quickly running out of patience. It's been 24 days since I last ran. I've been able to tolerate the long layoff with the thought that once this is over, I'll be a more flexible and stronger runner. Things happen for a reason, and the reasons in this case are clear. I need to take my training more seriously. I need to stretch, strengthen, do yoga, and become a better runner with better running mechanics. I will start taking running more seriously, but not too serious. I want to improve and to grow as a runner, but not at the cost of it no longer being fun. Now if only I can begin running again, I will be able to experience the fun. I'm so done with the waiting...