I was dreading the end of April. The end of the month I had planned for and wrapped my head around months before: my first 300+ mile month. Yes - 300 miles running. That was the goal. As the month came to a close yesterday, I knew I would start seeing the Insta posts with monthly mileage and that mine was going to be 0. Zero, instead of the highest volume month I'd ever had I am now at my lowest for the first time in probably... five years when I was last seriously injured? The posts have started flowing in and I don't feel as horrible about it as I thought I would. Don't get me wrong: it still sucks. Bad. But I find myself happy that others are out there crushing it - chasing their goals and excited to share their progress and serious #runlove. My own love of running hasn't been stopped at all, and I'm so determined to get back out there. the injury This injury has been a frustrating one. In mid-February, I starting getting intermittent swelling from the knee to toes of my right leg. Running didn't make it worse, although there was occasionally tightness in my calf. On the last day of March - 6 weeks after I noticed swelling - the pain finally showed up. HARD. The sharp pain deep in my calf stopped me 5 miles into an 8 mile run. I limped back to the office and got myself into a doctor the next day. I've now surpassed $10,000 in tests and treatments. (Glad to be back on an insurance plan!) There was a day that they thought a blood clot was causing the swelling, which was terrifying. Then I spent a week in a boot, thinking I had stress fracture, until the MRI determined I don't... But that there was likely a tear or strain in my soleus (calf) muscle. Likely. They are still not sure what actually happened. But now, I haven't run in a month. And I've been going to PT twice a week for three weeks. Regardless of what happened, I've learned that there were likely things I should have been doing to help prevent this - or any - injury. For two years, I was major injury free. These two years I was frequently running over 50 miles per week. And I now understand just how important strength and cross-training were to my ability to accomplish this. I even wrote an article about my love of ClassPass and how it impacted my training and running success. the reason My nomadic lifestyle over the previous 6 months made consistency of cross training hard. There was a give and take necessary to be able to travel like we did - and nothing suffered more than my legs with essentially giving up any other exercise. Running is easy when you travel and I did a lot of it. I didn't, however, do any yoga, squats, planks or even touch a weight. It's really not surprising that my muscles are weak and way too tight. Or that a 30 second plank is exhausting (signifying a weak core). By the time I started adding on mileage, my body simply couldn't handle it. the recovery
So here I am. At the end of April with zero miles to report and several reasons why. I'm missing 3 races I've signed up for - including a marathon where I hoped to run an aggressive, sub 3:12 PR. And I'm working every day to regain strength, mobility and function to my leg. It's humbling. And a great reminder that there is so much more to running healthy than just lacing up the right shoes. the silver lining There was one unexpected feeling I had when I realized my fast marathon goal was literally forbidden by medical professionals: relief. I think I can pinpoint the time when I started putting pressure on myself to run faster. It was as soon as I crossed the line of the Santa Rosa Marathon in 2015 with a BQ and 10 minutes to spare. Instead of just running Boston for fun in 2016, I chased down a PR, as well as a sub 1:30 half in the process. While I still love running - actually more than ever - there is now this additional drive to see how much speed I have in me. Having to take a forced break and step back from that has allowed me to take a breath and re-evaluate my goals with zero pressure on myself. And drink an extra glass of wine...or two. april miles: 0 And I'm okay. On the road to recovery and a plan to come back, running healthy and strong.
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AuthorA Midwest girl gone global. I choose happiness everyday: I run, eat well, travel, and love completely. Archives
March 2022
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