Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Enjoying time on the DL

I had huge plans for the first quarter of the year.
I ran huge miles.....training hard and racing
I broke

The Georgia Marathon was the last straw. I was sore for a week after running my first road marathon in 2 years. In racing flat. Bad choice? Probably.

My lower left leg hurt even after the soreness faded. But I somewhat ignored it as "normal" pain. But it wasn't normal. It got to the point that it hurt every step. I decided I couldn't miss the SweetH20 race, so I hit the trails for a tough 50K. The softer surface made it somewhat less painful, but I knew I had an issue that wasn't just going to magically disappear.

So I quit running. I quit for a week, tried again, and learned that a week wasn't going to heal me. I've had 3 previous stress fractures and I am confident I had another. It's been over 4 weeks since SH20. I'm giving it another week or so. I'll be healed, healthy, and hungry.

I'm usually so bummed when I can't run. But I took a different approach this time. Embrace the down time as an opportunity to try new things. So, I've been riding and spinning and the elliptical. And weights. And I feel great. I'm stronger. I bet I've lost only a touch of fitness but hopefully will be healed of all those little things that tend to bother me.

Happy to not be able to run? Nope. Excited about learning and coming back stronger? You bet.