Long way to go

Well, I've started running again...if you count 5.0 mph for 0.3 miles as running (which I do!). It feels like I'm starting all over again -- except instead of huffing and puffing, I have a weird limp and a bit of pain my leg. At least I've managed to stay in shape during this injury!

Trying to run again has been a slow process. I've tried it twice -- the first time I just went a quarter mile till I felt some pain. I had a weird limp (maybe getting used to the treadmill again?) and I think I was really nervous about trying running again, which probably didn't help the situation. The second time I tried to run "normally", i.e. without a limp. It went better than the first time, and I felt like I was running with much less of a limp, but I still felt some pain in my leg. Instead of bone pain though, I found I've had mostly muscle pain throughout this entire injury. The tibia itself has never really hurt -- it's pretty much always been the back left of my calf. Maybe I tore a muscle in addition to the stress reaction? The first doctor I saw did say there was some muscle strain on the MRI, but it's hard to tell what exactly is going on since I haven't actually seen the MRI report for myself...

Anyway, I do plan to keep slowly increasing my mileage and plan on running twice a week. I also want to try running outdoors -- I think the treadmill might be throwing me off a bit with the moving belt and all. I think I need to practice going through the running motions some before I'm ready to let a belt dictate my speed! I still need to run one more race in order to qualify for the NYC Marathon next year (I'm volunteering at the NYC Marathon expo this year to get my volunteer qualification!), so I hope I can find a 5k to do at a super slow pace sometime between now and Dec. 31. Hopefully I'll be able to run that far! However, I did walk a running race as part of my qualifying races...I had signed up for two races pre-injury, the Fitness Mind Body Spirit 4 mile race and the ING Tune-Up 18 mile race (though I wasn't going to be running the NYC marathon this year, I figured it would be inspiring to be around other people who were training for a marathon).

Obviously I couldn't do the 18 miler, but I woke up on the day of the 4-mile race and decided that I would walk it. I did it in just over an hour and even beat 11 people! Woo hoo! It was actually pretty interesting because I was mostly with a bunch of people who were possibly new to running, or running their first race. I was really encouraged to see some of the newer runners running with friends who were maybe a bit more experienced with running -- they were encouraging their friends all the way, taking breaks with them and keeping them going. At the end I overheard one girl who I saw through much of the race exclaim, "I did it! I did it!!!" I couldn't help but smile and remember my first race!

I honestly haven't really looked for any "getting back into running after an injury" articles, but I know that I should. If anyone who reads this has any tips, I'd love to hear them!