This Low

The good times, seem good enough.  I’m gonna try writing about the bad times, and hope to look back and say, “see, it wasn’t that bad”.  My running confidence is at an all time low right now.  I’m less than eight weeks from Western States, and right now, I feel like it’s going to swallow me whole and spit out my bones.  April should have been 300 miles, it was 142.

My left ankle is probably at 80%, but my right one actually hurts more then the left now.   I’ve messed up my right side pretty good, probably from compensating.  My shoulder hurts, bad.  It really doesn’t affect my running but it is another constant pain.  MRI reveals a partial posterior and superior tear of the labrum and tendonosis of the sub scapularis and supraspanitus.  Not really sure what that means, but what I heard was, “you hurt it, it didn’t heal well, you may need surgery but you can try physical therapy first”.

At the time I wrote the above, I had stopped doing the exercises I was supposed to be doing, hadn’t been to chiro or massage in several weeks and had stopped worrying about what I ate.  My general mood was, “what difference does it make, I keep getting hurt anyway”.  In the midst of this pity party I said the wrong (or right) words to myself.  I said, “even if I do all these things, I’m not going to get back to perfect in time”.  Then I thought, “when have you ever been ‘perfect’”.  Something always hurts a little, sometimes even a lot.  And with that, my pity party was, intellectually at least, over.  I started doing my exercises, got adjusted, got a massage, started eating better.  And within a few days, running was actually fun again.

A 20 mile night run last weekend was a bit of a struggle finishing at 2:00 AM, but 33 miles this weekend went really well.  I can still let myself get freaked out by how little time there is before Western States but for now, I’m trying to follow the best advice I’ve received so far.  “I think you have got to think about doing the best you can in any given week and let it take you where it takes you”.

10 miles down, 23 to go to get back to here.

It’s been quite a while since I logged 60 miles in a week but hit 63 last week.  Now I just need to string a bunch of those together.  I meant to include some links and complete endorsements above but will do it all here at the end instead.

Dr. Zohra Campbell for chiropractic care and yoga instruction and Kristel Wonderly for massage at Indigo Wellness Center have been fantastic.  I’m also very impressed with Jeff Blanchard, physical therapist at Therapeutic Associates.  And lastly, Cafe 22, whose only drawback is they don’t serve alcohol.

Cafe 22 burger after 33 miles!