Injury, depression and recovery! From March to now...

I had the best race of my life. I was in the fastest running shape I have ever been - and this is saying a lot for me because I am quite an average, middle of the pack, type of runner mom. But not on March 19. On March 19, I pr'd my half marathon by almost ten minutes! 2:07 or 2:08:28 as per the official race time but my watch said 2:07. It didn't matter.  Either way, it was close to a ten minute pr and it was the sub 2:10 half marathon I had been chasing for years since I started running. It was pure gold for me.

All was great. I kept up my training but then April rolled along and it brought a sharp pain with it on the front side of my right leg, beginning from the ankle stretching upward. Immediately I thought stress fracture. I have an incredibly demanding job as a PE coach covering 8-10 miles a day. I figured a minor stress fracture and a few weeks later I'd be up and running. Then there was the doctor. Three words - posterior tibial tendonitis. According to him, "it really never goes away and you don't quite heal from it. Orthotics help but might not and speedwork usually makes it hurt and oh yeah, if you run through the pain, it can lead to permanent damage and/or surgery..." SH*%!!!!

So, along came the boot for six weeks and it went with me to a trip we went on to North Carolina for the kid's spring break.....

Back home we went.  At the end of May, hubs and I went to participate in the Keys 100 relay race. I walked most of it and felt miserable. I should have been running my distances. I made the best of great company and a great team but deep down, I was bummed. I got back home depressed.

June came around and along with it came the end of school, the end of long days on my feet and I decided that I was a healthy Mommyathlon. I had an injury but it's still me and I never give up. So I continued to be incredibly safe and would spend my time on the spinner more than running. I have been an OTF addict for two years now and I would do the spinner one day then I started to incorporate the treadmill the next day. I started slow with minor inclines and I focused every second on forefoot striking. I was going to completely change the way I run. I had always been a mid foot/heel striker. Little by little, and very slowly, I have adjusted my running to forefoot striking. I haven't done incredibly long distances but I have done three miles and guess what? NO PAIN! 

I continue to play it safe and incorporate the spinner in between treadmill days but I am getting stronger and the injury I thought would take running from me is sitting quiet while I change my stride. What felt uncomfortable and awkward is starting to feel relatively normal. It's not familiar but it will be one day. I'm searching for my stride, albeit in a new way. I'll find it again one day. After all, I'm a mom. We don't give up and we never take the easy route. But we get it done and we always do our best.