Well, it happened. It had to at some point, I guess. I have my first running injury. On the first day of this time period, the 27th of October, I took a 10 mile pre-church run. It was freezing cold and given my earlier bad luck with my running tights, I was running in shorts only. My legs felt like leaden weights they were so numb. But I was running fine, accomplishing what I set out to do. With about two or three miles left I started to feel a nagging pain down around my ankle. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal and anyway I needed to get home so I ran it out. Later that day it hurt even worse, right at the Achilles tendon. And it doesn't take a physical therapist to tell someone what a sore Achilles signifies: Achilles tendinosis, a degeneration of the tendon caused by a variety of contributing factors, many of which I am profoundly guilty.
So for the past two weeks my running has been minimal. I took six whole days off immediately after feeling the pain. Since then I have run every other day, never farther than four miles. It is absolutely miserable. To feel as if you are finally getting somewhere and then to have to go back to square one is a terrible feeling. I really need to learn to enjoy lifting weights of riding a bike or something, because my mild depression over not being able to run has led to poor food choices.
My only consolation is that I am still far enough out from spring races that as long as I recover fairly well from this I should still be able to compete in the spring. I was ahead of pace as far as training goes and my one recurrent problem in running has been peaking before the big races I am training for. Maybe this is my body's way of trying to keep me in line.
If nothing else, there is also a spiritual lesson to be gleaned from this, one that is no less true for its proverbiality: Our bodies break down and fail, and where I need to invest most is not in my physical accomplishments but my spiritual well-being and ambitions. A good lesson, always timely, always necessary.
To a few more weeks of slowly run and slowly accumulated miles.
No comments:
Post a Comment