Now This is the Story All about How......

 

.......my life got twisted, turned upside down.

Okay. Not really, but I'm going with the Fresh Prince theme from yesterday. My life didn't get twisted or turned upside down with my injury, but my plans did. It's different and definitely less dramatic.  I'm always looking for what an experience is teaching me and here are a few things I know for sure:

Start doing the things you should already be doing. I should have been stretching and massaging and icing and foam rolling before. The injury forced me to do what I should have been doing all along. I am purposeful about stretching now. I have developed a 10 minute routine after each workout. I've added some corrective and core work each day.  

Listen to your body. I can't say I knew it was coming, but you know what they say about hindsight. There were signs - some physical, some intuitive - that I needed a bigger break. Or that I needed to wait on tweaking my run form. Listen to the whispers because the screaming and shouting hurts.

Sometimes you need a shake-up to wake up. It's easy to become obsessed with data and wattage and mileage and targets when you're aiming for a goal. I got lulled to sleep with all the stats. This shake up made me realize that my running is more than just a number (00:00:00) on a results page. I missed the oval of the track, I missed my running friends, I missed the sunrises. I missed the simple act of moving quickly. I am waking up to a greater appreciation of movement.
 

Here are a couple more journal entries:

Thursday, June 19
It's been four weeks. I bought a pair of new shoes and got a massage today as reward for my patience. I've scheduled a bike fit for next week.  I can't believe I've been longing for track workouts. 

Sunday, June 29

It's been one month and I want to run. I feel like a could run - but I won't. I trained with the spice girls today which meant that when they took off on a six-mile run, I walked 2.5. The closest I got to running was a little light jog/walk through the yard with Bee Beth's new puppy, Otto.

Tuesday, July 1

I almost cancelled my follow-up appointment with Dr. Jolley but decided to go. I wanted him to see me once more and to assure me that I'd be able to run someday (soon). He assessed my calf, had me flex and point a few times and stand on it.  As a runner himself, I knew I could trust his word on when to run - and when to wait. He gave me the okay, but encouraged me to wait as long as I could.

Wednesday, July 2

Prepared for LiftOff

I waited one day.  I warmed up on the bike with a fast hour and a half draft-legal time trial at the  Brunswick Forest velodrome (five-mile circular neighborhood with only two right hand turns). I started my transition run with a one mile walk/run/walk. It felt pretty damn good! At the five minute mark I thought, hmmmmm, why is it getting harder to breathe? I looked at my watch and was doing 8:40 pace. :)  EXCIIIIIITED! 

Thursday, July 10

I've logged three run workouts this week and feel great. It's been six weeks since the injury and I'm feeling cautiously optimistic. I'm concentrating on building volume and can't wait to try a little longer run this weekend. 



Sunday, July 13

Six miles in the books! I took it nice and easy. I feel like I've had a running reboot. I did 10-minute miles and had a great run down the sound road. It was sweaty and hot, I got hit in the face with a bug, saw three dead snakes in the road and a mole - but I feel great.