Well, I’m writing this post very, very late in the week (today is Saturday, September 8), but I can’t tell you what a relief it is to be sitting in my home office typing with my son resting peacefully in his bed.
Unfortunately, Brendan had an extremely rough start to his freshman year of college (that’s putting it mildly). Last Sunday after I ran the Oak Tree Half Marathon, I received a call from Campus Security saying that Brendan had collapsed and was vomiting blood. He was rushed to a local hospital where he spent 5 days in intensive care (6 days in hospital), lost half of his blood (that’s no exaggeration), and received 2 blood transfusions. Last night the docs gave their blessing for Brendan to return home. For the next several days, visiting doctors and nurses will come to our home and attend to Brendan – a much more comfortable setting for both of us!
Throughout this nightmare I once again was reminded of the power that running has to calm one’s being – body, soul, mind. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the docs and nurses told me that I needed to go outside and get some fresh air and then eat a meal (if you’re anything like me, you just can’t eat in times of crisis). I wasn’t about to heed their advice until I realized that my anxious behavior was not helping my child. In fact, it was agitating him and scaring him. So, I laced up my trusty running shoes and headed out.
Each day my legs felt like I was running through quick sand, but my mind felt free. On Tuesday, I explored the downtown neighborhoods of Buffalo and discovered some incredibly beautiful mansions on my 8 mile run. Again, I wasn’t running fast; I was running to clear my head. When I got back to the hospital I felt calm and ready to face another difficult night.
Wednesday’s run took me to the Buffalo Zoo and Delaware Park where a 1.8 mile track resides for runners to enjoy. Seeing the track, I decided to do my 10 x 400m repeats in 1:51 with 200m recovery jogs sandwiched between each. In total, this run was 9.25 miles and the challenge once again helped focus my mind on something other than illness and worry.
Thursday was one of the worst days in the hospital. Brendan’s blood count dropped dramatically, the docs couldn’t find the source of the bleeding, and I literally fell apart. Thank God for my friends! I quickly called and emailed some of my friends, along with my parish, and a prayer chain ensued. Miraculously, by 4:00 that afternoon, Brendan’s blood count was on the rise and the docs were stunned. That evening at 7:30 I once again left the hospital, but only for 30 minutes, and run 4 miles down a very trendy street and saw lots of young people out enjoying a muggy September evening. I prayed that my son would be out doing the same in a couple weeks time.
While my training so far this week is unimpressive, I will say that it was my life saver, my prozac, my solace. Running this week brought me perspective and peace, and kept me from losing my mind. What do folks who can’t run do to relieve their anxieties?
