Home Stretch

It’s hard to believe, but the big race is less than five weeks away, 31 days to be exact. It’s been a long road back from surgery and rehab. Less than a year ago, I was running for just a few minutes at a time. Now I’m doing long training runs; this past Saturday I did an 18 mile run, the farthest I’ve run in over two years. The first four miles were uneventful, but then at about 4.5 miles, I felt a sharp pain in my right ankle. I had to stop running. Panic set in and I started to freak out big time. The pain felt eerily similar to what I experienced two years ago and almost in the exact same place! Thank goodness I was running with Anne. She calmly assessed the situation, had me do some stretches, and did a little Mr. Miyagi action on my ankle, and as quickly as the pain came on, it disappeared and we were able to do the remaining 14 miles without incident.

These days I’m feeling very optimistic. The 18 mile run was tiring, but I felt strong throughout and finished with energy, not exhaustion. For the first time in a while, I could actually visualize myself finishing. After two years of injury and pain, surgery and rehab, doubts and worrying, I’m finally starting to believe again: I’m starting to believe I’m a runner, not an injured runner, not a runner recovering from injury, not a runner who is out-of-shape or a runner trying to get back into the swing of things. No, I’m just a regular runner who is able to go out and run without worry. This is such a huge relief. In the darkest hours and weeks after surgery, I wondered if this day would ever come. Now I’m coming down the home stretch and those dark days are but a distant memory. Brighter days are ahead, and for that I am truly grateful.