About 3 weeks ago, after having severe pain in my foot for a week, I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a stress fracture in my first metatarsal. Prescription: Absolutely no running for at least 4 weeks, possibly as many as 12. As one of my friends said when I told her, “Wow. For you, that must be like someone telling me I couldn’t eat ice cream for 12 weeks.”
Exactly.
I then proceeded to sulk for 3 weeks. If someone asked me to describe myself in three words, “runner” would definitely be in there. I’m a teacher; I’m a vegan; I’m a runner. But if I can’t run, what am I? It didn’t help that just a few days after being diagnosed, my foot pretty much stopped hurting, so if was even more annoying to stay off it. However, I forced myself to baby my foot and do my gentle yoga and core exercises, and I moped around until my follow-up appointment, where I got good news--I can start doing some low-impact cross training and if I have 2 more weeks pain free, we’ll look at it again and I’ll most likely get the green light to (slowly) start running again! Now, with a light at the end of the tunnel, I’ve turned introspective and am reflecting on what I’ve learned over the last few weeks.
1. I love running even more than I thought I did. I always knew that running was an important part of my life, but I didn’t realize just how much I depended on it as a release valve until suddenly I couldn’t do it anymore.
2. Abruptly going from running on trails to running the same mileage on concrete is a seriously bad idea. Seriously. Don’t do it. Your body will rebel.
3. Showering feels pointless when you’re not sweaty. I stand in there every morning and I’m like, “Why am I even in here?”
4. I really don’t like using the elliptical. I’ve used it twice since getting the go-ahead for cross-training, and I hate it. It’s loud; it’s boring; and it smells funny.
5. Related to the above: I really, really hate training indoors. Is there anything more boring than getting on the machine, moving, but not going anywhere?
6. I am really, really, really (insert several more “really”s) lucky to have a body that’s healthy, not prone to injury, and generally able and willing to do what I ask of it. This is the first time I’ve ever had a serious injury and been sidelined for any length of time, and it’s made me realize just how fortunate I am that that’s the case.
So all you runners out there, what’s your best/worst injury story? And how do you cope with being laid up for an extended period of time?
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