Gaining strength, looking ahead

Hello…

Heeeellllllooooo?

Is anyone there? It’s me, Heather.

After wayyyyyy toooo long of a break, I put down the chocolate bar, set aside my self pity and have plugged in. I’m back to bloging (for y’all who are still reading)!

Here’s the quick summary of all the the stuff I failed to blog about.

Running: I suffered a mysterious side-stitch of epic proportions. Like a knife through my ribs, the side-stitch was intense and very painful. Of course I panicked. I hobble-ran to the doctor, a naturopath, a massage therapist and eventually a physical therapist. It turned out to be a deep muscle spasm or slight muscle pull. I rejected this notion mostly because I thought “who pulls an ab muscle?” The answer is I do!

Now, if you know anything about me, you know I am not one that can just sit still and be injured. WTF? Running injuries? That’s for, like, … other people, right?  Being told to rest and take it easy was NOT helpful. I wanted action plans and timelines. I wanted a diagnosis and I wanted answers. When the doctor casually mentioned that it might take 4-6 weeks to heal, I flipped out and told him straight up. “What if 4-6 weeks isn’t going to work for me?” He immediately referred me to the physical therapist and changed the subject. (smart man!)

In the end I found that my massage therapist gave me the best relief. She not only worked on the muscle spasm, but she helped me think my way through my injury.  I was out about 2 weeks – no running! It took another 10 days on top of that of running a light 5 miles a day before I was feeling better.

Things the sidestich taught me.

1. When a doctor says “Don’t run more than 5 miles a day.” I will translate that as “You can run 5-7 miles at a time…maybe 4 miles in the morning and another 5 at night…”

2. I discovered that the M&Ms are the candy-coated devil. Those damn M&Ms! They were SO easy to eat when I was feeling frustrated. I will not let the M&M bowl rule me. The fact that a huge bowl of them reside at work, and that I walk past it about 15 times a day does not make overcoming this addiction any easier.

3. Running was that much sweeter after overcoming an injury! I fell in love with it all over again.

4. I can’t wait to run everyday!

5. The side stitch gave my body, especially my legs, a well-deserved break. I feel fresh. I feel happy. I feel good.

It’s good to be running again. It’s good to be blogging again.