Getting closer and closer

So I've been a little quiet. I have found that when I'm not running, I have little to say about running as it's not on the forefront of my mind and daily activity. I've also been wanting to avoid saying anything that might sound remotely negative. It's rather difficult to talk about being injured and unable to run without it sounding negative, even if you try. Truth is, this has sucked, a lot. But despite the suckiness, I've kept my head cool about the whole thing. I'm not at all discouraged.

It's no secret I have a bad back. This is not the first time I've had an issue with my back and had no reason for it to freak out on me. This time it was a sneeze that brought it on. Yes, a sneeze. Past issues had been so severe that I needed assistance to get out of bed in the morning, and had I not had Cam to help me with daily functions like getting dressed, to the bathroom, cooking, etc., I would have been in big trouble. I've worked really hard to strengthen my back and core muscles to prevent this, or to at least lessen the severity of this. In fact, the biggest reason for me to join the gym was to learn how to strengthen. I believe it's worked wonders as I've not had a single moment of being in that kind of pain and uselessness with this current injury. I've been very independent still (despite needing help putting on socks a couple days) and I'm very very pleased about this. Perhaps with time, I can get strong enough that these moments will be a thing of the past. I'm confident I can get there.

But this time is a little different, as the issue is more my right hip, and my back is sore because of this hip's tightness. The moment I'm able to fire up the relevant muscle groups and/or stretch it out, the pain in my back is relieved. Most daily functions are fine. I can do almost anything, unless it requires prolonged sitting. This does mean that certain activities are not comfortable anymore - going for a coffee with a friend, getting a haircut, watching a movie in the theatre, or driving my car more than a few blocks. Yes, even writing this blog post has required shifts - type a bit, get up, walk around, come back and type some more. Again though, it's not a secret that my right side is my weaker one, and it hasn't been all that long that I've worked to address this imbalance. For the longest time I didn't even think it was an issue. But if I am honest with myself, I can't be surprised that my weaker hip is the one causing all this ruckus. It's telling me loud and clear that I need to work harder to address it. With time, I'm confident I can get the right side to be as strong as my left side and they can work together as equals.

So what about running? I haven't run in almost 2 weeks so surely I have mixed feelings about this. It's again, not because I'm discouraged, but more that I love running and simply miss the pleasure it brings my life. I love how running feels. I love how it feels after I've run. And one of the biggest reasons for missing running is that much of my social life is wrapped around running. I rarely do things like go out in the evening with friends, but I often train with friends or see them at races. I once joked with a friend how I've never seen her eat, yet we've had some of the best conversations - all on long runs together because that's a solid 2+ hours of quality time together talking. I missed a race last weekend, I've missed intervals with my group on Tuesday nights, and I've missed Sunday morning long runs with the girls. Being injured has been somewhat a lonely experience, although it hasn't been all that long and I've managed to find a few moments to socialize and energize myself.

Then there's progress. I could easily get upset about getting hurt right when I started to make progress again in my running. I was the fastest I'd ever been in my life and now it's been almost 2 weeks of no running at all. Surely I've lost some running fitness and it'll take work to get back to where I was before. But if I got there once before, I can get there again. And this time, it won't be as hard, I'm sure of it. Sure yes it sucks that I ended my race calendar with a very difficult half marathon, followed by not even lining up for my 5K race. But again, if I look at things honestly, I had a lot of great races in 2013 and there will be lots of opportunities for greatness in 2014. Time to be patient, stay focused, rehab my body, and come back strong. I'll be running again in about a week, and will have loads of time to get myself strong and ready to kick off 2014 successfully. I look ahead at those possibilities, and can't help but smile.