(coat, leggings, mock neck long sleeve)
22° and I’m covering my ankles for my walks (people are always very concerned that I run with my ankles free during the winter).
Getting to see the sunrise while moving my body is quite the treat.
Andrew has mastered cutting Beck’s hair.
Muffins for a road trip that we decided to take two days ago haha. I’m much more spontaneous when I’m not training.
Some fun new nails.
Lauren let me use her back pillow which helped in the car, along with laying down and my body feeling overall so much better than it did even two weeks ago. I think I’m almost to the light.
I even drove for an hour pain-free. I packed all of our food and we only had to stop for gas and bathroom breaks a few times!
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Let’s be honest, at some point, every runner gets injured and a lot of times, the injury occurs because of their running. You are not alone. We all experience this and sometimes it’s because we made poor training decisions and sometimes it happens because of things out of our control, but it happens. I thought I would write about what I do when I get injured and would love any tips from you guys in the comments!
-Let yourself be sad. After I got to my brother’s house from the St. George Marathon last month, I got in the shower and cried. I wanted to put off being sad until we were done cheering on my friends and then I gave myself the freedom to feel however I needed the rest of the day. It’s hard to work so incredibly hard for something only to miss it, by a little or a lot. It stings.
-After I feel the feelings, I make it my mission to rebuild the broken pieces to something bigger and better (aka this was my goal after I felt what I needed to feel post-divorce… I decided I had control of my life and was going to build something grandiose out of all of the broken pieces).
-I then see who I need to see. If it’s a small injury and it doesn’t need to be seen then that’s fine but for everything else, take yourself in! Over a decade ago I had a really hard time ever going in to figure out what was wrong if I was hurting but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that health is wealth. I would rather invest in me and my family’s health and wellness over anything else! It’s easy to put these things off but finding experts that can help you (and properly diagnose you) is key!
-Network. Ask as many people as you know (including me, I can include it in a question for the comments) if anyone has experienced something similar. Call them up, write them on IG, or ask the running store employees if they know people that have had your injury. Find out what they did to heal, what helped them prevent it from happening again, and SOAK IN THEIR SUCCESS STORIES of getting back into running.
-See this time as a good time to get to know yourself better. My energy levels have skyrocketed with this break from running and I’m learning so much more about things that I love. It’s hard not being able to do the thing we love to do and it’s normal to feel intense jealousy when you see a runner go by (although, amazing how the jealousy declines for me when the roads get icey)… But see this time as the perfect opportunity to rediscover yourself. Find new passions and get back to your old passions!
-Do the little things. I am very guilty of thinking the little pt exercises, or small changes in lifestyle/form/workouts/recovery aren’t going to make a difference but they do. They do so much. On the days that I forget the small exercises, I can tell by the evening. They make a difference, commit to them.
-Find joy in other forms of movement. I could focus on the fact that I am losing fitness that I worked hard for months to gain or focus on what types of movements I can do pain-free that will help me to return to running again and avoid future injuries.
-Expect bumps along the way. I would sure be disappointed in things if I expected to be running a few days after my diagnosis… Celebrate little improvements along the way and know that setbacks (mentally and physically) are part of the game. Recovery is not linear!
Good luck to any injured runners out there and I’m always here to talk!
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What about you? Any tips for injured runners?
Would love to hear injury success stories today!
Is there a part of your body that doesn’t seem to get cold?
-I don’t think my ankles have nerves but somehow just a few inches away (my toes) are icicles at all times.
Any guesses of where you think we are driving to?
