Running/Injury Update > Where I am 3 Months Later
These past three months (post-half marathon PR) have not looked like how I expected them to look. I got injured, struggled through returning to running, got a cortisone shot, moved to a different city, and had to step out of a planned 10k race. There’s not a lot about this summer that went ‘as planned.’ And I slowly realizing that it is OKAY. A couple weeks ago, I went to my podiatrist and he gave me orders to not run for a week (I decided to take two weeks on my own) and cross train. I did as told (expect for extending it to two weeks) and tested out running, almost exactly two weeks later. Building up to the complete two week break, I was running very small amounts of mileage and thought I was on the mend, but the injury started flaring up again (which is one reason why I broke down and went to my podiatrist. Lesson learned, go immediately.) Rewinding even farther back, I took my mileage from near 40 miles per week down to a mere 10 or so and then ultimately, to 0 as I waited for this injury to completely heal.
And I will be totally honest with you guys, it’s been hard. I don’t feel the same when I am not running. My body doesn’t feel the same, I don’t have my running fitness/tone that I once had, I miss those hard effort workouts, and the feeling of dripping sweat first thing in the morning. But this injury has taught me a lot about persistence and patience and hunger and drive and for that, I am grateful. Jesus is also teaching me a lot about my identity and how it doesn’t and shouldn’t be found in running or blogging or my fitness or mothering or whatever. My identity should be solely and only found in Him. And for that, I can say I am thankful for this injury, because I know God is using it for good.
Right now, I think I can finally say I am on the mend (I feel like I have thought this for the past three months) but I am definitely seeing progress. When it was at the worst, I kept feeling pain right away in the morning. It would hurt to walk on once I got out of bed and then stop hurting until the evening. Thankfully, it doesn’t hurt to walk on in the morning or throughout the day at all and I have full range of motion > can I hear an amen?!
Something I am focusing on as I build is speed. And by speed I mean taking this build SLOWLY. I don’t want to speed up the build too fast, rush it and then get the same or another injury. I really am trying to think big picture with my running and give myself three or so months to build a solid base of mainly slow, easy miles and shorter distances until I build back my cardio/fitness level enough to add in speed work and long distance running. My plan (that I am holding very loosely) is to build back my endurance and mileage and run a 5k and 10k this fall. Dependent on how the fall training goes, I will then start training for a spring half and full marathon and go from there. I don’t know the future and don’t pretend too, but I’ve also learned that having a plan (that is FLEXIBLE) is KEY to performance and actually hitting your goals.
It’s hard not to be where I want to be, but I know that I will be back, I will be stronger and I am letting this fuel my desire to be better, smarter with my training, and come back stronger than before. So here’s to the unknowns ahead and all of the growing and learning that is to come. I know the comeback won’t be easy, but I don’t expect it too. I only expect myself to fight for it.
Questions of the Day
- Have you ever had a set-back with running? How long was it?
- What goals are you chasing after right now?
- What are YOU hungry for? What is driving you right now?