Guys! I finally did it! I ran the whole 5k distance! It was the first time I was ever able to hit that distance without needing to walk! I went out for my run on Wednesday intending to do just 2 miles, and when I hit that mark I started thinking to myself how amazing it would be to be able to say I finally ran 5k. I wasn’t hurting or out of breath and decided to go for it. However, I was completely exhausted and my body was starting to hurt before I finished (especially the area next to my kneecap), but I knew I only had to last another half mile at that point, so there was no way I was giving up. I focused on the music I was listening to (Arashi, because they will always be my favorite), and told myself it was only about two more songs. I made my final turn and knew I had it. The only traffic light downtown changed to red on me when I approached, so I made a quick turn and crossed the street a little ways down and then went back to the direction I was originally running. No way was I going to let that light stop me when I was that close. I felt so amazing when I finished that distance that I took a selfie right there at the side of the road to commemorate the moment! I had never run that far. My longest distance to date had been 2.17 miles back in November, so I really surprised myself. My time was absolutely terrible (49:27), but the most important thing is that I know I can do the distance now and my mind will have a harder time convincing me that I can’t. I have a number as a starting point, and as I work on improving my running, it will get better. I’m not going to be out running that distance every time I run since that’s the equivalent of a “long run” for me, but I’ll aim to do it once every 7-10 days for now until my fitness improves more.
Category: running
Quick Check-in March 2021
Forgive me for the lack of updates lately, but there hasn’t been too much to tell. We got hammered with a ton of snow in February, which put a damper on being active as much as I would have liked. All things considered with my history of injuries, it probably didn’t hurt to be forced to take things easy. I only got out to run 3 times last month, and I biked 5 times, so it wasn’t exactly the kind of month where I moved closer to any goals.
I’m ready for winter to be over and the warm weather to come back. It’s been so hard on my asthma to run in the winter. I’ve managed to avoid any major issues, but there have been days where I wondered if I needed extra treatment. Luckily I’ve had a lifetime of managing asthma exacerbations and know that I can safely take an extra dose of my inhaler if need be. That works well for me the vast majority of the time. I haven’t had a bad exacerbation in about a year, which (surprise) was brought on by running in the cold. Unfortunately I don’t have a choice about that. I don’t have a gym membership, nor do I have equipment at home, so the outdoors is my gym. It’s far better than sitting around for 4 months and not doing anything. I honestly don’t know if I could be a treadmill runner. I guess I just like being outside too much.
Injury-wise, I don’t know how I’m doing. My hip flexors are still bothering me enough that I worry about them, but not so much that they’re holding me back. I won’t really know how bad they are until I run consistently again. I’m going to keep it easy in March and slowly increase my distance from 2 miles to 3. Something else that’s been bothering me off and on is my knee. I’m not really sure what’s wrong with it, but it’s been clicking and has been mildly sore at times since November. It isn’t limiting what I can do, but I worry that I’m causing damage. I asked my doctor about it just to be sure I was safe to keep running, and he thinks it might be my kneecap not tracking correctly, or a meniscus issue. We aren’t doing anything about it unless it gets worse, so for now I’m diligently keeping detailed notes in my training journal like always. It’s likely related to my leg length discrepancy, and I was hoping Frankenshoe would do a little more for me than it has been. It’s been helping with some of the pain, especially on my left hip and SI joint, but I thought that by now I’d be seeing more improvement with the other trouble spots. I’ve been using it since the end of December, but it may just take more time. One thing I wish I knew is why my leg length discrepancy wasn’t treated as a child. A one inch difference is a lot. I asked my parents about it and they said the specialist they took me to every six months only ever wanted to do x-rays to keep an eye on it. I was planning to ask the orthopedist I was seeing, but he got all judgmental and somehow forgot I was a runner despite being there for a running injury (https:/lifesaride.home.blog/2020/11/16/feeling-like-giving-up/). Eventually I’ll ask my primary care doctor for a referral to someone, but for now I’ll let him manage anything I may need. Obviously I’m not going back to the orthopedist I was seeing after how he treated me, and the sports medicine appointment I had in the summer was a joke (all talking and no actual poking and prodding my injuries, wanting me to do PT which I had already been trying, and come back in 6 weeks—yeah, didn’t see the point in going back there either).
Anyway, I kind of started ranting a little, but I can’t help it. I’m sure one day all of these struggles will fade into the background. Until then, I’ll just keep trying to do my best like I always do!
Slight Hint of Imposter Syndrome
I’ve been running twice a week since New Year’s Day and it’s been going well! I’m so thrilled! I think the combination of that longer break and Frankenshoe has really been helping. I’ve increased my distance to 1.5 miles. I told y’all I was going SLOWLY this time. I’m happy I didn’t have to start back with walk/run intervals. There’s nothing wrong with them, and I’ve used them every time I’ve come back from a break except for this time, but it just feels like I achieved some form of conditioning in November that I could start back running a mile straight through. I’m very, very slow—running about a 15:00 pace right now, but slow running is still running. That will improve as I get back into the swing of things. Once I feel safe adding a third run each week (shooting for early February), I’m going to make that run speedwork to help accelerate my pace. So far I’m not worrying about it since my goal is to run pain free, and that’s the case so far. I was a little worried after Friday’s run, though. I didn’t hurt at all during the run, but had a little soreness on my cool down walk home on the side of my left hip. I stretched and that sat for ten or fifteen minutes, then when I got up, my right hip flexors felt like they didn’t want to support me. They didn’t feel painful per se, but they felt uncomfortable. It eventually wore off, but that’s how it seemed to start last time. I’ve been taking it easy with the biking and trying to do more yoga/walk days on days I don’t run, so we will see how it goes tomorrow. I haven’t felt anything concerning all weekend, so I think it should be okay.
Something that I wanted to touch on a little today was imposter syndrome. If you haven’t heard of it before, basically it describes feeling less competent that other people think you are. I’ve heard many times over the last 6 months or so that people think I’m inspirational with my fitness. It’s so hard for me to hear that and believe that they’re talking about me. I’m the least athletic person in my running group and among most of my friends. I still have such a long way to go. I’ve lost almost 70 pounds already, and still need to lose another 70 to be down to the heavier side of a healthy weight. I made no progress on those numbers last year, but I am more fit than I was at the start of 2020 despite that. Even so, I never know quite how to feel when people tell me I inspire them. Of course it feels great to hear a compliment, but I almost feel like I haven’t earned it yet. Just today the most athletic person I know told me my dedication to running is inspirational and that he thinks about that when he’s struggling with his own runs. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything special. I’m just too stubborn to quit running because I’ve been enjoying it so much. I know this struggle is not unique to me, and I’m sure many of you can relate. I’m going to try to be less hard on myself about it, because the truth is that I’ve worked hard. I’ve had to push goals back farther that I wanted to, but I’m still at least moving forward little by little, and that’s better than quitting when things get hard.
New Year, New Return to Running
Hey! It’s been a while since I made a fitness post. I haven’t run regularly since November’s 5k. I took two weeks off initially to let my hip flexors heal and tried a short run (1 mile), which didn’t go well. I had pain again right away. I waited three days and tried another mile run and the same thing happened. I decided it would be best to give my injury some more time to heal and took the rest of the year off. Finally, after nearly 6 weeks, I ran again on New Year’s Day. I didn’t have any pain with that run! I biked 7.5 miles the day after and was feeling some discomfort in my hip flexors, so I took Sunday off and tried another run Monday, and that run didn’t irritate those tendons. I’m really hoping that I’m finally in the clear now and I can get back to running.
Even though my hip flexors didn’t hurt yesterday, I had a rough start to my run. About 5 seconds in, I fell flat on my front side and ripped half the skin off my knee. The whole knee has a huge blue bruise on it now. It was super embarrassing to fall like that right on the side of the road were everyone could see me. I blame my Frankenshoe. Let me explain.
Frankenshoe is what I’m calling my right shoe now that it has a 1 inch full sole lift added to make my left and right legs the same length. It’s heavier than my left shoe, and with the increase in height, it’s been taking some getting used to walking in it. My PT told me to walk in it for a week before I tried running, but I guess I wasn’t quite used to it since I fell yesterday. I still need to take my dedicated running shoes in to get a lift added to the right shoe of that pair, but I was waiting to see how things would go. It was about $80 to get the shoe modified, so I didn’t want to rush into it if it wasn’t going to help, but it looks like it will end up being worth it. Again, I don’t want to get ahead of myself because I’m still trying to adjust to the shoe, but my body seems to be happier than before. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed!
The plan for January is to just run 2 times per week. Next week I’m also going to run just 1 miles each time and then increase the distance a little at a time (1/4 – 1/3 of a mile) every week or two and see how my body responds. With any luck, I’ll be able to get back to three running days each week by the middle of February. I’m trying to go slow at the start so I don’t have continuous trouble again. I haven’t been able to catch a break this past year, and it’s high time the trend ends!
5K Number Two
I woke up in the dark, feeling wide awake. Knowing I had a race in a few hours made it impossible for me to sleep any longer, even though I had only slept five and a half hours. I could already feel the nerves kicking in as I got out of bed and changed into the clothes I had laid out the night before. I had my usual breakfast of overnight oats made with milk and chia seeds, and began doing some stretching. I had only run twice in the week leading up to the race in an attempt to keep some of my hip flexor tendinitis at bay, and it kind of helped. That said, I was still feeling pain and my hip was stiff. I got it loosened up the best I could while listening to some music to psych me up for the event. Finally it was time to leave. I donned my jacket, quickly ate a banana, and walked out the door.
The weather that day was less than ideal. I had been expecting 40 degrees and rain, according to the forecast I checked before I went to bed, but instead it decided to be a few degrees cooler and snow. I very carefully made the drive to the orchard where the race was being held. The roads were slushy and I knew during the drive that this run was going to be challenging. I was surprised just how much snow was sticking since it had just been unseasonably warm two days prior. I pulled into the parking lot and, as luck would have it, I opened the car door and stepped into a puddle. I could already feel cold water in my shoe, a feeling I’d need to get used to anyway in those conditions, so I didn’t worry too much about it. Luckily there was a tent set up for registration, so I stood under there to keep dry and talked to a few people while we waited for the race to start.
Finally it was 9:55 and time to make my way to the starting line. I felt ready. I had been able to consistently run 2 miles in the 2 weeks leading up to the race, so I was feeling confident that I cold run most, if not maybe all, of this race, especially since most of it was on the road. The race organizer counted us down and yelled “Go!”, and I took off. The first few minutes were in the orchard itself on a gravel access road, but it was snow covered and had potholes, so it was a little hard to navigate and I could already feel pain from the uneven terrain. I just kept telling myself that I just had to make it to the road and I’d do better. I’m used to running on the road and I have less pain doing that.
Unfortunately, it just didn’t turn out to be my day. I was hurting even running on the road, and the cold air was making my asthma flare up and I could feel my lungs burn as my feet pounded the slushy road and snow swirled all around me. I ended up slowing to a walk for a few minutes before I ran again, and I spent the whole race alternating back and forth between the two. I tried my best to clear my head and not feel discouraged when everyone else passed me. I was freezing, my feet were going numb, but no way was I going to turn around and go back. I slowly made my way back to the orchard. Partway down the completely snow-covered access road, two runners who had already finished and who I hadn’t met before were making their way toward me. They asked if they could run back with me and I told them that was fine. I appreciated the company and they distracted me on the way back. As I made the final turn to the finish line, half a dozen people were still out there cheering me on while I approached. I was so grateful to have all that support. The fact that they stood out in the freezing cold, wet weather and waited for me meant the world. Most of them finished at least 15-20 minutes before I did. I grabbed my medal and we all went inside to get hot cider and victory donuts. We chatted a while and celebrated finishing the race. Most of the group was new to running this year, so I was in great company.
I wish I had done better, but I’m still not able to shine in races. I get so discouraged seeing everyone go out in front of me. Even though I expected it before the race even started, I guess in the end I wasn’t able to overcome that feeling. I didn’t want to race to beat anyone. My only goal was to do better than I did in my first race, and sadly I didn’t meet that goal. I was a few minutes slower. I know there were factors out of my control, but I had been expecting to do so much better. I’m still glad I showed up because one day I’ll learn how to do as good in races as I do in training. It was only my second race, so i have a long way to go.
Feeling Like Giving Up
I had my followup appointment today for my hip tendinitis and I’ve been crying off and on all day. I’m so beyond frustrated with my orthopedic doctor. It was a huge waste of my time (and money). Both of my hips have been bothering me, but in different places. On the left side it’s my gluteus medius tendon and on the right it’s my hip flexors. My left side has been feeling better; it’s not perfect, but the pain is less most days. My right side has been unchanged. I figured my doctor might want to discuss how some of the things I’ve been trying at physical therapy have been helping, especially the temporary shoe lift on my right foot. I was curious to see what he’d have to say about it and if he thinks it might be a solution to getting all of my trouble areas to heal up and leave me be.
He had no interest in any of that. He seemed almost offended that I went to my PT for help while I waited for my follow-up appointment and questioned how badly I was actually hurting. He told me I can’t just go to PT forever. I wouldn’t call a couple of sessions after 6 weeks working on a home program “forever”. All the doctor told me was that I should get a home program from my PT and work hard at it and everything would go away, never mind the fact that I’ve been doing that exact thing. I do my PT exercises every day, and on days where I’m hurting really badly, I stretch extra. He also told me to join a gym, lose weight, and work on diet and my pain would go away. I had to remind him that I’ve already lost a lot of weight (nearly 70 pounds), and that the hip issues started when I became a runner. The left side has been bothering me for 13 months and the right side for about 5 months. I really wanted to know what my doctor thought about my leg length discrepancy, and I didn’t even get a chance to ask him because he made me cry right there in his office. I agree with my PT about my leg length discrepancy being the cause, but it’s not a simple thing to just fix. Left untreated, my body develops poor compensatory patterns, which is why I have so many other areas that are hurting, which lately has been my right knee. Even treating a leg length discrepancy can cause problems while the body adjusts to its new mechanics if it’s treated too aggressively too quickly. I don’t know why my doctor didn’t want to talk about any of that stuff. Maybe he didn’t even read the chart. He sure didn’t seem to remember I was a runner until I told him I had a 5k this weekend I needed to get through, and his only response to that was that he was glad to hear it because it would help with the weight loss. It was at that point I started to cry. His last piece of brilliant advice was to tell me to call up the office and make an appointment if it didn’t get any better. I don’t understand how much “not better” it needs to be for him to care, but I’m certainly not going back.
I really don’t understand what happened today. My doctor was great about getting my left hip feeling better. Why is it different because it’s the right side that’s still bothering me? In the meantime, there’s not a lot I can do. My PT has been wonderful at helping me look for solutions, so I’m grateful I at least have someone who is interested in helping me. Him not being a physician limits that help, but it’s still been a blessing. He recommended I make the shoe modification permanent and told me of a place that should be able to do that for me in the next city over. The only reservation I have is if it removes the support aspect of my motion control shoes, and my PT wasn’t sure, so I’ll have a few questions I want to ask. In the meantime, the temporary ones are helping for now. I don’t know how much that will cost to modify my shoes, but if it will give me a chance at a pain-free life, I’ll try it if the price is reasonable enough. In the meantime, I’ll be taking a couple of weeks off from running after my 5k. I’ll also be taking a few weeks off from PT to work on a home strengthening program while I’m not running and see where that gets me.
I try incredibly hard to be positive and optimistic, but I’m struggling with that right now. I’ve been doing pretty well with my running considering all these injuries, and now with my asthma and the cold air for the winter season. It’s hard to see success on paper in my training journal and still feel like I’m somehow failing. The numbers may look good, but the way my body feels tells a different story.
Pre-race Update
It’s been a week and a half since I’ve been trying those temporary lifts in my right shoe that my physical therapist made me. Overall, I think they’ve been helping. I still have a lot of pain, but it feels easier to walk. I’ve had a leg length discrepancy my whole life, so I’ve always been used to how it feels. Using a heel lift again back in March helped, but it didn’t fully correct it. The new shoe inserts put me up to where my legs feel very close to even. I didn’t even know how good it could feel to walk. The hope is still that it will eventually help my other injuries go away and stay away by removing the extra strain on my muscles and tendons. My only concern is that my right knee has been trying to bother me lately. It does sometimes, so I don’t know if it’s just one of its occasional flare-ups or if it’s because of the lifts. I mentioned it to my PT and he wasn’t too concerned, so I’m just keeping an eye on it for now.
My running has been going pretty well. I’m able to run 25 minutes straight through with no walk breaks now! I’ve never been able to do that much. I’m still very slow, around a 14 minute mile, but it’s a start. Another month or two and that will be improved. I’m hoping to be able to run 30 minutes by my last 2 runs before the 5k in 13 days, and then on race day i’ll be trying my hardest to run all of it straight through. I’m really glad I’m back in PT and working on loosening up my muscles and building some strength. I’ve only been going once a week and doing a lot of stuff at home, but I’m still finding it helpful. If I can get both of my SI joints moving the right way, that should also help. They’re both still stuck, but in different directions, because my body apparently can’t do anything normal xD
Trying Something New
Last week I reached my limit with my ongoing injuries and pain and called up the physical therapy clinic. I spoke with my PT on the phone about what was going on, and he had me come in so he could do an assessment since it had been about 7 weeks since I was there last. He spent a lot of time looking at everything and started formulating a plan to treat my stuck SI joint and deal with my uneven legs, which he thinks may end up helping. He was careful to say it was his best guess, which I totally understand. I know it isn’t a certainty, but I’m grateful he’s willing to try. I went back a couple days later so we could get to work on treating the problems.
Friday when I was at PT, I was the only patient there because the other one had cancelled. My PT did another assessment and the other therapist that was there was fascinated. The difference between my left and right hip height is very drastic, and he found it really interesting (his exact words were, “WOW! No way!”). The two of them brainstormed together about what might help. Eventually after testing me with different heights under my right foot, my PT made me something temporary to try in my right shoe to make my legs and pelvis even. If my body responds well to it, I’ll have to get my right shoe built up to that height, and if my body doesn’t like it, it’s back to the drawing board. It’s too early to know for sure, but I had a little less pain running this morning. I occasionally have low pain running days, so I don’t know if it was the lifts or just a coincidence. I’m planning to run again Thursday before my appointment so I can at least have two runs worth of info to give my PT.
I’m hoping eventually I can do a lot more trail running. I discussed it at PT and at the moment it’s best not to do it very often because, as my PT put it, my “body would be a mess if I ran trails”. I don’t really mind running on the road because my body likes it more, but my soul likes the forest runs more. Being surrounded by nature on a run is incredibly refreshing.
I also did something new that was fun last week and volunteered for the local Zombie Run. I wanted to run it because there were people dressed like zombies hiding in the woods scaring the runners and it sounded like a lot of fun, but I didn’t want to push myself too much and make anything worse. It was fun seeing race day behind the scenes, though, even though it was freezing that evening. I still felt like I was able to participate in some of the fun. I got to run the registration table and check the runners and volunteer zombies in and out and make sure everyone signed a waiver. We also had 6 extra runners that signed up on race day, so I had to collect payments, too. I enjoyed getting to greet everyone and meet some new people in the process. The next time I’m not running a race that’s being held, I’ll volunteer again. It was a great experience!
Constant Struggles
I’ve been having a really hard time since the 5k. Somehow, despite everything I try and all the effort I put in to following the advice I’m given to the letter, I can’t catch a break. At my last physical therapy session before the race, I was told that after it was over, I should take a break from my workouts for two weeks and rest. I had already decreased my biking for weeks before the race so I wouldn’t work my trouble spots harder than they were already working, which made sense and I figured the sacrifice would be worth it. I was at least able to keep training and run my race. My PT wanted me to decrease my biking even more, which knocked me down to just 3 days a week of only 20-30 minutes and absolutely no running for the duration of the break. During that time, I missed running and was anxious to get back to training for the next 5k, but I really missed biking. I was riding 6-7 days a week before, and between 45-90 minutes each ride depending on the day. Last year I was able to easily log 15-20 miles a day, and for the last month it’s been 5-6 miles on average. Biking was how I erased my stress, and I am really having a hard time not being able to bike as much as I want.
The two week break felt like it lasted forever, but my pain steadily decreased during that time. My first run back felt amazing, and most importantly, there was no pain. I thought I was finally in the clear. My second run that week went well, too, but my third one was when I knew I was getting my hopes up too high too soon. All of the pain returned near the end of that first week back, which was last week. Fast forward to this week, and it’s still here. I ran twice already and am planning to run again tomorrow. I decided to follow the C25K (couch to 5k) program exactly as laid out unless I need to make modifications. Even though I was able to do more a few weeks ago in terms of endurance, I’m hoping that keeping it easy and steadily increasing my runs with a progressive plan will help keep the pain manageable enough for the next 6 weeks until the race.
So, basically I’m stuck at what to do. I absolutely don’t see the point in taking time off if it isn’t going to help. No, 2 weeks isn’t a long break, but the time before this I took 5 weeks, and the time before that, 16 weeks. What’s the point in taking a break if it doesn’t even provide lasting relief? I could take more time off, but it’s not guaranteed to even work, and I can’t afford to miss any runs leading up to the race. I’m only running 3 days a week, so it’s not like I’m overdoing it. I’m keeping my bike mileage down for now. But what else can I do? I’m doing everything my PT taught me how to do, and the unfortunate thing is that he’s now on medical leave for a while longer and he’s the one that actually knows my case, not to mention that all my PT benefits are used up for the year and having to do self-pay is already going to limit how much I can go because it isn’t cheap. It’s certainly not something I can do more than once a week. I was thinking of calling the clinic and asking if I can do an appointment to come up with a different home plan to try. The rest of the staff at that clinic is awesome and I wouldn’t mind working with any of them, but I have so much going on that I fear whoever it ends up being is going to be overwhelmed with everything I have going on.
As of now, the exhaustive list is:
- Left gluteus medius tendonitis and trochanteric bursitis
- Left TFL injury of some sort based on the stretches I can feel for that area
- Left proximal hamstring strain
- Left piriformis tightness, which leads to pain
- Left SI joint area pain when I run, and ocassionally with prolonged walking
- Right hip flexor tendonitis
- Right hamstring strain about two inches above my knee
- Right ankle mystery problem (still no official diagnosis after 2.5 years)
It’s really depressing to see everything in a list, but it is what it is. I started having most of these issues after my surgery, but I thought it was related to 10 weeks of crutches, and a few months of wearing the walking boot. I know for sure my body wasn’t moving ideally for a long time after my surgery, so it easily could have been that. I’ve had gluteus medius tendonitis before, about 11 years ago, but it went away pretty quickly and didn’t come back until 11 months ago.
My PT thinks a lot of it has to do with my ankle not letting me walk properly. I’m sure that has something to do with it, but I have another theory. Personally, I think it’s mostly related to me having a short right leg (anatomical origin as measured in special x-rays). I’ve been researching a lot, and the pain pattern I have is common for that issue. I have a 1 centimeter heel lift in my right shoe, but it’s not enough to fully level my pelvis. Running really aggravates everything, but I don’t know what else to do for it. I can’t use any higher of a lift in my shoe without my heel slipping out. There’s only one other nonsurgical option, and that’s getting my right shoe built to the correct height to even my legs out. I don’t know if it would help, but I’ll certainly be asking about it at my next follow-up with my specialist next month. The only problem with messing with the sole of the shoe is that I don’t know if it would render the motion control useless. I really need a motion control shoe to keep my ankle mostly happy when I run. Without it, I had a lot of ankle instability.
Anyway, forgive my ramblings. I guess I just can’t keep it bottled up anymore and needed to complain in a way that wouldn’t annoy anyone too much. I’m hoping I have time for a PT appointment next week to learn some new stretches and exercises I can try and see if that helps. I certainly have nothing to lose.
First 5k!
I finally got to experience my first 5k race! Well, it wasn’t much of a race for me since I was super slow, but it’s a stepping stone and it was great motivation to keep trying. Really, my performance was pretty dismal, but I learned a lot.
The morning of the race was warm and clear. I pulled into the park about ten minutes after packet pickup started, and it wasn’t too crowded yet. It gave me some time to get some stretching in without being in anyone’s way. My nerves were on overdrive and I felt my anxiety intensify the closer to the start of the race it got. What helped calm it down some was seeing some people I knew. All together I knew 8 people there, 6 of whom I had met at some of the group runs, while the other two I knew outside of my running group. Having some familiar faces there was nice. I know I have nothing to compare it to, but it’s probably one of the best benefits of a small race. Fourty-four runners came out to race in total.
At the starting line, I stayed near the back of the pack since I knew I would be slow and I’d just get passed in the first 30 seconds anyway. At least I wouldn’t slow down the more serious runners and possibly cause them harm by being an obstacle to go around. When the official call to began was shouted, I was off. I started out way too fast; I felt my pace being set by all the faster people in front of me. After a minute or so, I settled into my usual sloth’s pace, determined not to wear myself out too early. A few days before, I had only just ran 2 miles (in intervals) for the first time, so I knew doing 3.1 would be a huge challenge for me. I did really well at the beginning and ran almost a mile without slowing to a walk. Considering I was only 75% of the way through my training plan, I was happy with that.
Unfortunately things didn’t stay that well for me. I had a hard time when I got a little ways into the woods. I hadn’t trained back there more than twice, so I wasn’t really prepared for more than a third of the race to be on uneven terrain. I wasn’t very far into the woods when the fast group of runners came by on their way back out of the woods, but at least half a dozen of them wished me good luck and told me to keep it up. I did ok back there until I was about halfway through. I was so exhausted and in so much pain from all of my nagging injuries that I walked about half the race. It got worse when I tripped over a tree root and fell, landing on my entire right side. I felt frustration well up inside me and felt tears start to form, but I pushed away all those feelings as quickly as I could and got back up and started running again.
When I finally made it out of the woods, I thought I just had a straight shot from the woods to the finish line, so I locked onto it and willed my body to keep going even though my burning tendons were screaming at me. I was so focused, or maybe just so tired, that I missed the last arrow and didn’t make the final turn. I only realized when I went through the start/finish arch backward that I had made a mistake. No one pointed it out to me, and there wasn’t another runner in front of me to follow because I was so slow. It was frustrating because it felt like I cheated by not completing the whole distance. I finished 40/44 at the race, with a time of 44 minutes, but really it should have been a few minutes more than that if I had actually ran the right direction.
Despite all the difficulty I had during the race, I had a good time. My endurance had built up enough that I should have been able to run the majority of that race by doing short 1 minute walks ocassionally, but my injuries had other ideas. Things were far from ideal, but it was a great feeling to be able to finish and celebrate everything I’ve had to overcome in the 21 months since my surgery. It’s been a harder journey to get to my first 5k than I could have predicted, but it’s been really rewarding. If I hadn’t been going through all these struggles, I probably never would have found out about my running group. It’s only because Dr. S brought it up at my last appointment with him and talked with me about my running struggles that I knew about it. I made sure to thank him when I saw him at the race. I don’t know if he really understands just how much he did for me by suggesting that group. I’ve run with them now more times that I can keep track of anymore, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know some new people. I was motivated to run before I joined that group, but now my motivation is even stronger. Even though it seems like I’m someone who never gives up, it’s been a huge struggle to keep training despite the pain. I’m already planning to do another 5k in November, but I’m taking two weeks off from running at the suggestion of my PT and getting right back into it. So until then, keep working toward whatever it is you’re working toward and attack it head on!
Life's A Ride 