The Wait is Over: On Surgery and Taking an Extended Break for Recovery

The week has arrived.  I have surgery on Friday and, at the doctor's recommendation, I won't be able to run for four weeks.  It is not running related but it has been affecting my ability to run ever since my failed attempt at a PR at the Chicago Marathon.  I've run several marathons since then but all in pain and slow.  It is time.  I am ready.

After Disney, I attempted the Clearwater Marathon, only to wake up that morning with a severe chest congestion (later turned into severe asthma) and some fever.  I still started but talked to the RD and he let me switch to the half marathon instead.  I wasn't even able to complete that in any sort of running fashion but I got the medal and moved on.  It did not help that one of my kitties had died that week after an illness and it did not help that I was sick of work and life at the time.  I don't think I had ever been that meh about a race before.  Nothing to do with the event; it was just a bad week for me.

So, after my husband decided not to run the RnR New Orleans (our next event) due to his shin splints, I turned my sight to the ING Miami Marathon (excuse me, a week prior to the race it was called the LifeTime Miami Marathon).  I wasn't ecstatic about it but I wanted one more marathon before surgery.  The day turned into a hot and humid mess, a very disorganized race, and after my issue started bugging my running mechanics and I felt like I was running at a higher effort than I should have due to the extra work in moving my legs, I quit at Mile 8.  I just stopped, grabbed a cab, and got into my car and left.  Not sorry I did not finish; from what I heard, at least 1500 people did not get medals, they ran out of water at some water stations, and when the rain came, they said volunteers left the stations too.  Not the best Miami event I have run and apparently, I did not miss much.

I have barely run in the last 2 months.  The runs are either painful or awkward due to my changed mechanics.  We bought bikes and I have been able to do some exercise, but that is also going to be on hold for 4 weeks as well.  I'll run some this week (unless I decide to bike instead because it gives me no pain whatsoever), but on Friday, I'll be taking care of something that has pained me (literally) for seven years.  And once I get that taken care of, the sky will be the limit.  Gone are those painful steps throughout marathons, and the nausea and migraines, and the extreme weight changes.  Bring on the normal runner.  I heard those exist but I have never been one.

And to celebrate that fact, I have registered for two races that are not marathons.  Wait, what?

Comments

  1. Jimmy BrunelleFebruary 21, 2014 at 1:45 PM

    Good luck with your surgery, Damaris. Hope your recovery time doesn't drive you crazy. Heal quickly! --JimmyB

    ReplyDelete

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