Lessons I've Learned From Having A Running Injury

Hello friends! It has been a very long time since I last wrote a blog post. The truth is I had been dealing with an injury since early February which meant that all my running goals were put on pause until I was cleared to run. However with patience, gratitude, and smart training, I can NOW say that I am capable of running a marathon without any injury or pain.

Q: What happened?

A: I strained my hamstring in January due to an aggressive buildup in mileage and I may have been wearing the wrong shoes sold to me by a running store that is no longer in business... The result of my injury would have me out of running and strength related activities until April when I could finally started walk/running again. However, when April rolled around I was painfully walk/running and the twing in my hamstring was unbearable. Two doctors at the hospital misdiagnosed me explaining it was my IT band and that band work would resolve the issue. This could not be further from the truth. Upset, confused and frustrated that doctors in the sports medicine department delayed my recovery for 6 more weeks, I set out to find another answer from a Sports Chiropractor.

Highly referred by elite runners, ultra marathoners, and marathoners, I made my appointment at Mt. Tam Sports & Spine. After my assessment with Dr. Hal, he immediately told me that it was my hamstring and that the scar tissue needed to be broken up. Fast forward after one month of eight sessions, I had my FIRST pain-free walk run session and it was exhilarating!

Q: So how do you mentally deal with an injury?

A: You allow all the stages of grief to set in. 1. Denial and isolation; 2. Anger; 3. Bargaining; 4. Depression; 5. Acceptance. When I finally accepted this was my fate, I actively practiced gratitude to refocus my mind on all the positives in my life. I started finding beauty in different goals, like: refocusing on eating healthy, practicing positive body self-talk, and diving into work. It’s hard work and lots of mental health, but I was determined to DO SOMETHING because sitting around wishing I could run wasn’t helping me at all.

Q: How do you come back from injury?

A: It’s a slow and steady practice of patience. I remember chronicling:
▪️May 17th, my first walk/run interval 10 minutes max.
▪️June 21st I ran 3 consecutive miles completely pain-free🙌🏼.
▪️July 21st marked my longest run post injury at 6.21 miles as well as kicked off 16 weeks of training for the NYC Marathon. I had slowly built my base to match 15 total weekly miles. A type of base only a beginner marathon would follow. However I was okay with that. Patience was key and Dr Hal, assured me that there would be ups and downs along the way of my recovery.
▪️ August 14th I started to add in 100m strides and remembered how it felt to run fast..
▪️September 4th I achieved a NEW record timed mile of 5:55. Beat my previous timed mile before injury by a second.
▪️October 20th I ran a 20:20 5k on tired legs. I knew I was capable to complete the 5k but had no idea I’d run that fast after running 16 miles with tempo paced miles the day before.
▪️ November 2nd I ran the Abbot Dash 5k in 20:52 with the sound decision that I would BRING IT the next day to the marathon no matter how much my quads would burn.
▪️ November 4th I ran my Personal Best post injury and completed the NYC Marathon with a smile on my face and the will to celebrate every pain & injury-free step. Finish time 3:50:25

I’m no coach, but slow and steady walk/run intervals are a great first start.

Q: Did you do anything different when you started getting back to being able to run again?

A: YES! I completely did a factory reset on my Garmin. This allowed me to have a more positive and healthy approach when I started to run again.

Q: Are you still seeing Dr. Hal?

A: YES! I will continue to have hime treat me until I feel 100% certain that I am clear of this injury.

Photo Credit: ©Margaret Austin Photography