Running Resolutions, or, What I've Learned from Being (Kind of) Injured. Part One.

The last three weeks have been, in a word, hard.

After the Nashville ½, I had some discomfort in the outside of my upper calf.  It went away in time for me to run in Wisconsin, but I had some pretty disconcerting pain following that race--a sharp twinge when I stepped down and twisted at all. A week off, and no better, my massage therapist noted that I was a smidge swollen near my ankle. A light went off-I’d been reading enough to know that swelling is usually present in the case of a stress fracture, and that they often happen near the ankle. When I tried to run the next day, I had pain from outside of my ankle up to my upper calf—also classic stress fracture.  I got off the treadmill at ½ mile, went home, and made an appointment with an orthopedist.  Two weeks and one MRI later, the pain was still bad.

The day before my results appointment, Memorial Day, I wallowed in self-pity. For one thing, I was in pain. My leg was achy and I was trying to stay off it as much as possible. I was not allowed to wear cute shoes. Further, I was confident that the next morning the doctor would say “You have not one, but two stress fractures. Take 8-12 weeks off running. You may swim (barf) or bike. When you start back to running, you can walk 4 minutes and run 1.” 

At that rate, I’d be looking at 5k’s in the fall, not the two ½ marathons I have had my eye on--then 10k’s in the winter, and possibly a ½ next spring. NEXT SPRING. I got pretty low. At this point I’d been 3 weeks without a run (save that painful ½ mile) and not only was I missing my endorphins, I was also staring down the barrel of MONTHS of not running.

Tuesday morning, I walked into the doctor’s office to get the results.  It was far different than what I’d steeled myself for.

“Shin splints.”

“Huh?”

“Shin splints.  That’s all I could find on the MRI.  They’re just not presenting normally. Two more weeks of bike and swim to get it calmed down. More naproxen. Whatever shoes you want. And some PT to learn some stretches.”

“Huh?”

“This is a good thing. Smile.”

So I did. I smiled A LOT. And then I texted everyone I've been whining to for the last three weeks. 

I’ve heard that with injuries like these (stress fractures, stress reactions, shin splints, other overuse injuries) that you will be in pain for a good long while. Then, when you turn the corner, it is sharp and swift.  Well, for whatever reason, I think I also turned the corner yesterday (3 weeks and 3 days since the Wisconsin Marathon). Psychosomatic? Maybe, but my leg is decidedly better today. And I’m beyond thrilled.

But in all that non-running time, I had a lot to think about, and grappled pretty early on with what could be learned from this injury.  And I’ll share those in a couple of posts, starting with the most important one…

DON’T DISCOUNT YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

It took me a LONG time to say “I’m a runner.”  I started running in 2007. I ran several 5k’s and a 4-mile race in 2008 and a 10k in 2009. But I didn’t feel like a runner then, nor after my first slow, painful ½ marathon in 2010. It was slow and painful! They were all slow and painful! Runners aren’t the ones who have the slow, painful runs, right? Even after my much improved time for my 2^nd half, I didn’t really embrace it.  A month later, when I started my first real training plan, I was finally ready to say that. 

The danger, in not saying what you are, is that you don’t heed the warnings that come with your ‘title.’ I didn’t listen to some very important warnings for runners, because I didn’t consider myself one. Much less an athlete. The real runners, the real athletes, are my buddies on Daily Mile and Twitter who are having 50-mile weeks, right? WRONG. All the warnings about rest, nutrition, and over-use applied to me. And I ignored them.  I don’t know when one should start considering oneself those things, but I should have a long time ago. 

My particular regret is that I didn’t follow the 10% rule—to not up your mileage by more than 10% per week.  There was a time, two to three weeks prior to Nashville, where my kids stopped napping and it became a lot easier to get to the gym earlier in the afternoon.  With that extra time, I could hop on the treadmill for a couple of extra miles or plan a 3-miler with a friend.  Those few, easy miles bumped me up from about 22 miles/week to more than 30. WAY more than the 10% rule. But it felt easy… and I’d been running so long… and I wasn’t a real athlete, so what did it matter? 

It mattered a lot, as I’m certain that this is why I have a very classic overuse injury.  I’m just lucky it wasn’t worse.

The lesson, for me, is: listen to the ones who have gone before you, to the experts. They know a little something.  Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you should. And all of that.

I have some very real Running Resolutions that I need to make, and it wasn’t my idea to start them on National Running Day, but I’ll roll with it. Here’s to happier, healthier running (starting next week, when I know these shin splints are under control).

More lessons to come...

Lindsay