I was reminded, and not very gently, that it had been some time since I've written. Time sometimes gets away from you, and you get so focused on what's going on in front of you, you forget. So, sorry!
This summer was interesting to say the least. After Ironman, I didn't take off a whole lot of time, preferring to get started on the training for IMFL as quickly as possible. Took a week to go visit Chris, which I was very happy about. We had a great time, and got the opportunity to train together which was a blast. Biking in Kansas made this girl very happy. Wheee down the hills, and even the up the hill part was fun.
Shortly after I got back, I had an incident during a sprint workout. My right foot started tingling, and within 20 seconds, it was dead. I couldn't feel it, and my calf was screaming in pain. My body obviously had other plans when it came to training. I didn't want to admit it but I was really scared. It took about a week to get in to see Joey, the medical part of my army. Hannah and I went out to eat, and I wore my high heels. I couldn't walk in them. My right ankle kept flopping over. This is baaaad, I thought.
I started PT, but really didn't feel like we were making a whole lot of progress; my leg was still very weak, I couldn't run more than seven miles without loss of feeling in my foot, and my ankle flopped around like spaghetti. My hip had been out of place since the bike incident in Ironman. Turns out reaching for that bottle had popped my hip out, even though I hadn't felt any pain. Joey put in back in place, and we prayed it would stay there.
Right about that time, I started a cold, and had been warned that I could come down with something, since it takes a while to recover after an Ironman. That quickly turned into a major sinus infection, which then moved to my lungs. I sounded like a really old car trying to get started, and when I tried to swim, my head felt like it was going to explode. Six weeks and three rounds of antibiotics later, I'm over it. It was fun!
Joey then suggested a running analysis to see if running mechanics could be a problem. And that's when everything came into focus. My right foot was crossing over my mid line, almost in line with my left shoulder. To top it off, I had complete supination, which was causing the stress on the nerve, and causing my foot to lose feeling. It was scary to watch, and the knowledge that I had been running like that for a couple of months made me worried about how much damage had been done. Turns out the hip being out of place had caused me to try and compensate, messing up my mechanics.
It was back to square one, but I felt a lot better knowing what the problem actually was. As it was with my foot injury, taking time off wasn't really an option, but I did lay off speed work while I fixed my mechanics. First up, I had to learn how to walk again. It's amazing how much you take that for granted. I walked, concentrating on feeling how my left foot planted and recovered, and focused on repeating that with my right. It took a few days, but I finally got it. Then I was allowed to run, but only a couple minutes at a time, with walking, foot placement and stretching exercises in between running intervals. It was disheartening seeing everyone else motoring along, knowing the clock was ticking to Florida, since we had no idea how long this would take to fix, or how well I would come back.
Trying to let your left foot do its thing, then focus on making the right foot run properly was interesting. Turn mind on, turn it off, turn it on...I didn't want to mess up my left foot too. Slowly, I got to the point where I could run a half hour, then 45 mins. Still doing the exercises because the muscles had weakened so much, I found that PT was becoming a full workout in itself. Two weeks ago, I got to do a modified version of speed work, and last weekend I got to run past seven miles. That was a huge mental demon for me, so hitting that seven, and not having too much pain, I did the happy dance in my head. Doing it on the trail would have been entertaining for the people passing by, but I digress.
Slowly, my paces are coming back. I don't have as much pain, but it's still there. The muscles are still weak, and I have to stay focused when I run so the mechanics don't slip. Imagining running with a cantaloupe between my legs actually helps. My lower back and hip ache, as the tendons and muscles strengthen back up. I haven't tried heels yet, and am trying to start a new trend of dress pants, dress shirt and running shoes...expect it to be all the rage in New York this year.
I've talked to a number of people who have come off a bigger injury. To those of you facing that now, I say just keep working at it. Icing, heating, PT, stretching, rest, whatever you need to do, and it will come along. You will get stronger, and you will get back to doing what you love to do. Be patient, time is going to pass anyway. might as well pass it getting back to your passion.
All in all, Florida is coming, and I intend on being ready. Thanks everyone for your prayers and encouragement, I'm grateful to God for my healing. A big thank you to Joey and his team of miracle workers who get us crazy, stubborn athletes back out doing what we love. Thanks to Chris, who keeps encouraging me, and helps me keep the negative voices quiet. And as always, a thank you to my mentor and coach, German, who pushes me past my fear, and has always believed in me.
Keep putting one foot in front of the other (correctly placed of course) and you'll get where you need to be!
