On the Road Again

Equipped with a strap to do the work my LCL isn't doing, and with new exercises from my physical therapist, I'm going to start running again tonight. I'll be doing the painstaking build up back to actual running again, but I've had a sports medicine doctor and a sports-trained orthopedic surgeon give me the go-ahead to start back up!

Now that I'm not scared of doing more damage (well, not scared by my former doctor, at least), I'm hoping to be running again in time for a Thanksgiving-day race in Detroit with my guy and his family. We'll see if I can manage the Turkey Trot 10k, or just the Stuffing Strut 5k (actual names, folks, I'm not making this up). I'm excited to have a new plan!

I'm going to ease back in, and hopefully be doing a (measly) three miles three times a week in two weeks. Then, try to gain some speed back. We'll see how it goes. I may not be able to run CIM like I'd planned back in March (when I signed up, only to re-injure myself), but maybe the relay is within reach.

Spring marathon, here I come?

Light at the End of the Tunnel?

I stopped posting here when I stopped feeling like anything I had to say was progress towards running again. While I have veered into non-running topics here, for the most part I like to blog about running, racing, and the accompanying feasting that often takes place. Motivation is hard to find when there seems to be no end in sight to my doctor-ordered rest.

Over the summer, I dutifully attempted to stay off my leg, so that whatever stupid piece of connective tissue that is easy to reinjure could heal. And I just didn't feel like it was healing. When I would walk the slightest distance, it would flare up for days. I don't mind pain, but when my doctor told me it meant I wasn't healed and couldn't run for months, it gets frustrating. 

One of my running friends told me that my doctor, formerly her doctor, had advised her not to run for six months, which she ignored and ran two weeks later after seeing someone else. Maybe my doctor is too conservative. It never seemed right to stay off my leg when it hurt; losing muscle and being inactive don't seem like strategies to get back in the game.

So I sought out a new doctor. 

After seeing the new doctor (still a Kaiser Sports Medicine doctor), I have a new support to wear to take some of the load off my injured leg while I regain strength. I have an appointment with a surgeon in a week to see what options I might have. And I have a few experimental treatments to think about. I feel much better, even if I'm still running. Not having to be afraid of walking to get coffee, or go on a really short hike, is such a nice feeling.

I have a long road ahead, with how long it has been since I was running (almost a year!). I'm unstable, have very little muscle, and am a worryer. But I really want to run. And thats all I need.