The Audacity of a Naysayer

Someone had the audacity to tell me today that I would not be fit enough for a fall marathon. My typical response to stress or any obstacle is to get sad or withdrawn, but this just made me angry. What kind of runner just gives up on a goal before they even try? Need I remind this person that at this time last year I was hobbling around in the beginning stages of recovery for my broken ankle? How about the fact that on top of my broken ankle debacle, I had to basically take a month off of training in late June/early July, because I was anemic and dealing with other issues life threw my way. Somehow I still showed up in NYC (race or no race) ready to tear it up. I was fitter than ever, despite a horrendous spring. The analyst in me wants to yell at them for being so ignorant to the results of previous “comebacks” of mine, but more than that, I want to yell at them for being such a naysayer.

Peroneal Tendons, Inflammation, and Scar Tissue. The bad, the painful, and the ugly.

The difficulty I have had when it comes to updating my blog about my injury is that my mind only wants to write while I am in training. I compose thoughts and paragraphs during tempo runs, aqua jogging sessions, and lazy afternoon core routines. I believe my writing process stems from my younger days as a dancer. I would choreograph in my head while dancing, work out a math problem that was bothering me, or think of ways to resolve some dispute that threatened my standings in the social hierarchy of middle school. My first aqua jogging session back after surgery was exhilarating  for this reason. It was like someone turned my brain back on after six long weeks of hibernation. Luckily for anyone reading this post, most of my ideas fade away once I take the aqua belt off, but the satisfaction that can only come with an internal, intellectual debate remains.

So, where am I with my recovery? Let’s recap.

Book Review: Dandelion Growing Wild

 

On a sleepless night during the holidays I was internet surfing and realized Facebook was recommending that I “friend” Kim Jones. Yes, I geek out when I find I have less than six degrees of separation from a world class runner, but I am not going to lie. I knew she was a phenomenal runner, but did not know the details of her career.  Like most internet surfing sprees, this lead me to google her and learn about her accolades. After a few minutes and several articles read, I knew Kim Jones was going to be my newfound heroine.

Day 8 Post-Op: Splint Removal! (Peroneal Tendon Surgery)

Well, today was the day I have been looking forward to since my surgery (yes, that sentence sounds pathetic to me too.) I went to the doctor’s office in order to have my splint removed, wound checked, and leg cleaned. I was not sure if they would take the stitches out today, since it is only 8 days post-op. As it turns out, I did not have stitches holding my wound together, but staples! (Fig. 1) That helps explain the sensation I felt the past few days, because it was not necessarily what I would categorize as painful, but it was certainly uncomfortable. I knew it felt metallic!

Fig. 1: Although there is some swelling and bruising, it's a lot better than some other pics I have seen 8 days post-op from peroneal tendon surgery!

Day 6 Post-Op (Peroneal Tendon Surgery)

I have been overwhelmed with the number of people who have sent messages of support after hearing about my surgery! Anyone who thinks running is an individual sport does not fully appreciate what the running community has to offer.  I feel like I am truly blessed with a second family.

Peroneal Tendon Surgery & The Beginning of the Comeback

It has been a long time since I have blogged, because I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what to write before doing so. It is no secret that my peroneal tendons have been bothering me for months now. It all stems from my ankle breaking due to tweaking it on a square indoor track last winter. The break weakened my ankle and put too much stress on the tendons while it recovered. Then, during a XC workout before Club XC Championships, I sent my peroneal tendons over the pain threshold they could withstand and have not been able to run consistently since. I have tried EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING, to help them heal. Rest, immobilization, far too much acupuncture and dry needling, ART, deep tissue massages, icing, anti-inflammatories until my stomach literally developed ulcers, e-stim, physical therapy, ultrasound, and anti-inflammatory patches have been no stranger to my ankle. I even tried doing nothing... just to make sure that the therapy was not aggravating it. After a few weeks of rest, everything would feel great and I would come back conservatively, but after a few weeks of running, the burning, throbbing pain that outlined my peroneal tendons would return. I have never been so frustrated in my life. I have had a few traumatic injuries in my lifetime (falling has been very hazardous for my knees) and some stress fractures due to stupidity, but with patience and time, those injuries eventually would heal. This injury refused to go away. I have never even had a small bout of tendonitis before this, so you can imagine my frustration and confusion. I finally had an MRI done, which showed a tear in the peroneal longus tendon along with some intense tendinopathy.

Spring and Summer of Speed

Before March 4, 2012, my ankle never crossed my mind. To be honest, no body part below my knees did. I was almost too cocky about my ability to evade shin splints, tendinitis, and plantar fasciitis. Except for tying my shoes too tight while running on slick roads in the winter, my lower legs never complained.

My ankle injury bothers me to this day, because I always want to know WHY something happened. I go into “fix it” mode immediately and my friend Becki and I sit around for hours (and I mean HOURS) contemplating what biomechanical flaw or issue caused the injury. I have to chuckle to myself when people asking me about my “partying” in college, because mainly, it would be me, Becki, and a few others talking about how hard we would have to train to hit the qualifying times of elite running groups, what epic ultra marathon route Becki wanted to take to run home when she graduated, and if Without Limits or Prefontaine is the better Pre movie.