From surgery to half marathon (long)

ka97

While I’ve enjoyed reading many of the success postings here, I would never have thought that I would actually write one, until now. I began my weight loss just over six years ago. I saw a trainer, began working out, and completely changed my eating habits. I kept a food journal, just a notebook in which I logged what and when I ate. I lifted weights and started running. My trainer at the time happened to be a runner exploring the world of triathlon, and he steered me in that direction as well. It worked. I lost about 60 pounds (and kept it off!), got in pretty good shape, ran some 5ks and 10ks, and did a few sprint triathlons.
About two years ago I was maintaining my weight loss and training for my first half marathon. And though I was pretty satisfied with where I was at, I got this crazy notion that I could actually get my weight into the 130’s. I’d heard about MFP and decided to give it shot. And it worked. I reached my goal weight, completed my first few half marathons, and a couple of Olympic distance triathlons.
Those last 10lbs have been challenging. They’ve come off and back on, off and back on again. But as of last summer I was again within two pounds of my goal weight and feeling great. My training was going well, and I was confident that I could reach my goal of a sub two hour half marathon.
But then in October of last year, I started having pain in my ankle, for no obvious reason why. At first I figured I must have done something playing soccer without realizing it. I’d had many many ankle sprains from soccer over the years, so that seemed like a reasonable assumption. I took a couple of days off from running. But when I ran again, it hurt. So then I took a week off, just a few weeks out from my half marathon. But when I ran again, it hurt. It varied from run to run, but generally it started hurting after about 6-7 miles, and often by 9-10 miles I was in A LOT of pain. Also running downhill was incredibly painful. I completed the half marathon, but not even close to my two hour goal. By about mile 9 I was in so much pain that I honestly feared I might not be able to finish.
So I took another two weeks off. When I returned to training, same pain was still there. Did another half marathon, which was even worse than the prior one. So I decided to take a full month off, and would go to the doctor if that didn’t help. It didn’t, and in January I went. I was told I had loose debris/fragments in my ankle, and that I would need surgery to remove them. Recovery would be one month non-weight bearing, and 3-4 months before I could begin running. My first reaction was “hell no!”, but since running through the pain was clearly not working, I acknowledged this was my best option.
I had the surgery in February. The doctor mentioned something about the ankle looking worse than anticipated, and something about no cartilage, but I didn’t pay much attention at the time. Recovery was slow – splint and crutches, walking boot and crutches, walking with sneaker and crutches. It seemed like forever before I was walking on my own. I did whatever I could just as soon as I could – in fact the day I got the boot I was in the gym with my crutches doing upper body lifting. But it was slow, and it was incredibly hard, and it was never enough. Two months post surgery I was just barely able to pedal 10 minutes on the stationary bike with no resistance. I was pretty b*tchy for a few months. I lifted, and I swam. I did spin, and eventually rode outside.
I “started running” in June – more than 4 months post surgery. And by that I mean for a minute, then two minutes, then 5 minutes, 8 minutes, 10 minutes. Through really it was more of a painful hop/limp/shuffle that only loosely resembled running. I had signed up for a 4th of July 5k, and I stubbornly insisted I would do it. I did – 35 minutes of pain – but I did it. Progress continued to be slow and frustrating and there were many many times I thought I’d never be able to really run again. At my six month checkup I was again firmly reminded about the arthritis/lack of cartilage. Doctor said I was cleared to try anything I wanted I do, but that I needed to keep in mind that my body would have limits. I was determined to complete a September sprint tri and a November half marathon. I worked up to 4 miles then 5, then 6. I couldn’t yet run two days in a row, hills were difficult, and every time I increased mileage the last mile or so of my run hurt. But the more I pushed, the better it got. My running started to look and feel like actual running again (albeit slow) and I was able to increase the mileage. Soon I was up to 10 then 12 mile long runs, and was able to run on consecutive days.
I did my half marathon on Oct. 26. My goal was simply to finish. Based on training, I expected about a 2:20 finish, but I was hoping for 2:15. It was a perfect day, on a beautiful course, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Actually, the last ½ mile hurt like hell, but mostly I enjoyed every minute of it. I finished in 2:05, just under my previous PR from 2 years ago!
This last year has been challenging. Yes, in the grand scheme of life it’s a pretty insignificant struggle, but still it has been challenging. I’d always thought I was one serious injury away from gaining all the weight back. Those first few months after surgery, I was pretty much miserable. The recovery process was slow and painful and there were so many times I thought I’d never get myself back.
Losing weight is hard. Keeping it off is hard. Finding the confidence to step out of your comfort zone and try something new is hard. Recovery from injury is hard. But you have to push through the hard. I’m not saying foolishly ignore signs of injury, but push beyond what is physically and emotionally comfortable. Test your limits – you can’t really know what they are until you try push beyond them.
I accept that my body may have limits. According to my doctor I have a significantly arthritic ankle – whatever that means. Admittedly, after that half marathon my ankle hurt – like could barely walk to the car hurt. And it’s taking some time to recover. But it’s worth it, totally worth it. Because I CAN do it; I CAN run. I realize that a marathon might never be an option. And I’m beginning to accept that I might never play soccer again. And while just a short time ago I thought my goal of a two hour half marathon was no longer possible, now I’m cautiously hopeful. My body might have limits, but I intend to stretch them as far as I possibly can.

debubbie

Glad to hear that you are doing better and back to pursuing your passions.