It’s All About Perspective {Injury Update}

As much as I hate to admit it, my parents can have some pretty good advice. Growing up, I would usually either sigh and roll my eyes or completely ignore my parents when they tried to give valuable life advice. Or so I thought.

Over the years, I have realized that all the years of advice actually did sink in…that or I am becoming more like my parents than I thought I ever would. One of the pieces of advice my dad would often tell me is that “it’s all about perspective.” He would often tell me this when I was stressed out about something ridiculous or when I was putting myself down for whatever reason.

When I woke up this morning, it was the first thing that popped into my head. In the moment, I didn’t understand why, but tonight, I do.

This morning I ran for the first time in a month. If you are new to my blog or forgot, I took some time off from running to let an old injury heal. You can read more about it here.

I think that the first run after an injury is the scariest. There are so many unknowns. Will the pain come back? Will I remember how to run? Will my Garmin still know what “running mode” is? And in my case, what shoes should I wear? And, how SHOULD I run? Mid-foot strike or just do what feels natural? Yet, despite all the unknowns and butterflies, there is an overwhelming feeling of excitement. Excitement to (literally) take your first few steps back into the running world.

The plan was to do a walk/ run ratio of 5 minutes walking to 5 minutes running for 30 minutes. I planned to do the running portion on a stretch of packed dirt/ grass near my aunt’s house. When I started the first walk set, I was anxious. I had decided to wear my Asics (over the Brooks) but still had no idea whether or not to focus on the mid-foot strike or just run. As the seconds ticked by and I was getting closer to running my first stride, I was growing more anxious, but decided to just let my feet do the talking and fall into whatever stride they wanted.

The human body is truly extraordinary. It just knows what to do when the time comes. I have worked my butt of in the pool, on the bike, and in the weight room, so I could maintain as much of my running endurance as possible. Despite all of the countless hours, I still had my doubts as to how much I would maintain.

Those first five minutes of running were the best five minutes I have had in almost a year, and I am not just saying that for the sake of this post. Yes, they were five minutes of pure joy and happiness, but, for the first time in a long time, I felt strong. My pace was actually a little faster than I was running pre- running break (although it could have been the excitement) and my stride actually felt more in control. My breathing was not labored and, while I know that I have lost some running endurance, I didn’t feel it in that moment.

The first five minutes went by too quickly and I stopped to evaluate how my legs were feeling before proceeding with my second walk break. I stopped, bent down, and pressed on the “hot spots”…no pain. NO PAIN! NO PAIN!

The remainder of the walk/ run proceeded just as the first set and I actually ended up going a little over 3 miles in almost 36 minutes (I had an extra walk break to make it back to my aunt’s house). Of the 36 minutes, I only ran for 15 minutes, but it is 15 minutes more than I have in a month. And 15 minutes of running with no pain afterwards, something I have not experienced in a year!

It may have “only” been three miles, with 15 minutes of running, but this was a huge milestone. I would be lying to you if I was not envious of the other people who were out logging double digit runs this morning and felt a bit ridiculous for A) posting a Garmin picture and B) posting a Garmin picture of “only” three miles. However, it really is all about the perspective.

I may not be able to log double digit runs for awhile, but I will get there. Right now, I need to continue to be smart about recovery.

I will continue to increase the duration I run but keep in walk breaks for a couple of weeks before I attempt to run straight through. I am actually going to be modeling my recovery off of the Pete Pfitzinger “Returning to Running” schedule. I’ve recovered from injuries before, but this time I am going to do it right. I am going to take my time and do what I know is right for ME. I am going to continue to train hard in the pool, on the bike, and in the weight room to further aid in my recovery.

I won’t be breaking any speed records or logging impressive total weekly mileages, but I am ok with that. I am going to keep everything in perspective. Every day I will be doing more than I did the previous day. Rome was not built in a day, and I know that I will not rebuild my running base in a day (or even a month) either.

I’m hesitant to call today a comeback because I am still not out of the woods yet. However, I do call today a small victory; a victory in that I now know what it feels like to run without having pain afterwards.

I plan to walk/run again on Monday or Tuesday, so we will see what happens. Thank you to everyone who sent good vibes, crossed their fingers for me, and sent me well wishes. Feel free to continue to send them my way because I definitely still need them!

Also, thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of me not only over the past month, but also over the past year. I especially have to thank my parents because they (unfortunately) have had to deal with the brunt of my concerns, frustrations, and the occasional tears throughout all of my injuries.

Small victories are sometimes better than the larger ones. It’s all about perspective.