Monthly Archives: July 2009

How’s this for inspiration? Houston PD cadet breaks record for the most push-ups done by a woman — 405. Here, in convenient list form, are my favorite highlights from the story, so you don’t even have to click the link!

• When Cadet Andino entered the academy six months ago, she was barely able to perform 25!
• The first time she ever did a single pushup was in her recruiter’s office several months before she was accepted into the academy.
• Previous female record holders include a former Marine and former body builder, both with extensive athletic experience. Cadet Andino had no previous athletic experience, just determination to see her goal through to the end.
• “When I got to the academy and didn’t see any female Hispanic record holders on the wall, I said I was going to beat the record.”
• “I would watch TV in the pushup position and my children would count my pushups for me.”

In February I ran my first race. I’d been saying for years that I wanted to run a 5K, but I ended up running a 10K instead.

In April I ran a yearly series called the Tour de Bayou. On the first of five weekly runs, I felt a slight pain in my right knee. I ignored it through hills and mud, through a month and a half of regular running, until it got so bad that I couldn’t run anymore. And then I went to the doctor.

I have never had a running injury before. I was lucky in that I was afflicted with something relatively simple — patellar tendinitis. I was prescribed two weeks of rest (which turned into four) and a 400mg anti-inflammatory.

Here’s the weird thing about that kind of injury: you don’t feel sick, and you don’t start to hurt until after the fact. So it’s really hard to rest when you feel perfectly normal and fine, if a little sloth-like.

Still, I sat out the four weeks, then started running again, slowly, just as the hottest summer in 100 years hit Houston. And it felt good. It felt sooooo goood to be running again, even if I had to wait until 8 p.m. to head outside.

Back when I was in tae kwon do one of the best things for me was the sense of working towards something, the goal of earning the next belt, winning the next spar. When I think that I miss TKD, I often wonder if it’s just that which I miss. I have set running goals for myself but have never been too serious about them.

But that’s about to change. Last week, CLH and I signed up for the Houston Half Marathon. Ten kilometers I ran in my last race equals 6.2 miles, half of a half marathon, or one-quarter of a full marathon. But I have six months to train, and I am used to running five miles regularly about three days a week now. And I have something to work for. Which means my training starts… now! My goal is under 2 hours.