“Go For It…I trust you”

Sunday May 1st I was grumpy, bored, frustrated, and honestly the list goes on and includes bitchy, to say the least. So, at about 4pm I got into running clothes and shoes and walked the fuck out the front door. It was hard. It was hot. It was weird. My left knee was still numb from about 3″ above the outside of the ankle, across the patella and to about the middle of my inner thigh. Taking a step off the sidewalk to the street to cross the road was not quite scary, but definitely nerve-wracking. My knee would still give out a little bit just for fun, so crossing the street was like getting on slack line to cross a river. But, I must have been too irritable for it to give out because it held. Not too far from the house is a pretty good downhill, and it held. Toward the bottom of the hill, I increased my walk pace to where I almost felt like in the right light it could possibly appear I was running. It was more of a shuffle, but still the knee held. 
At about the end of mile 2, I threw caution to the wind and DID pick my pace up to a very slow run. My knee held, so I kept that up for .5 miles and felt amazing. By the time I climbed up that steep hill I had come down at the beginning, I knew I was going to keep going. I went 4.1 miles total, mostly walking, but with a little bit of running and it felt amazing. 

Post-walk with a little run = happy

I was so happy when I got home – it was exactly what I needed.But, the next day I had to fess up to Dr Zach. I hadn’t quite been cleared to run. We had hoped by the end of April or beginning of May, but he still hadn’t said I could go for it. Besides, what if I couldn’t walk when I woke up? What if I undid everything? What if I had another set back like mid-April (I think I spared everyone – it was bad, but within 3 days I was back to where I had been).

Well, Monday morning came and I felt great! Better yet, Dr Zach said “I’m cool with that, keep pushing a little but not if you have any pain, or soreness that lasts more than 12 hours”! Can I run the relay race we’ve been talking about for over a month? Yep – run, NOT RACE, and be smart. Wahoooo!!!
So of course I went to Tuesday night ladies run group – and we ran 30sec run:1min walk intervals.

And…I’ve been running every Tuesday, Thursday and either Saturday OR Sunday since. In fact, Sunday the 15th, I ran FIVE MILES. It’s the BEST!

Boy does it feel good to get to run again.

I saw Dr Zach again last Monday and let him know how things are going. The feeling is coming back in my leg, and somewhat in my knee. The numbness is now just around the patella and inner knee, but “mostly has feeling”. And this week, when I asked him if I could consider getting back to running more or training for a half this summer, he said the most delicious six words….”Go For It…I trust you”. He knows I will stop if something doesn’t feel right. He knows I’m not going for speed right now, I’m just going for good, healthy, uninjured running. 

And so, run again I have. And this weekend, I somehow managed to convince my running buddy to drive 3hrs across the state with me with less than an hours notice, and sign up the following morning for a 12k (I registered on Monday, and two other friends already had a hotel room I was going to crash in)!

I will do a separate race report, but I will say – IT WAS AWESOME!

I’m not 100%, but knowing I will get there is one of the best feelings ever.

Trust me.

Thirty one days….

That’s how many days there are in March.  

That’s how many days it took to get back to walking unassisted.  

Finally looking like Spring by my steps!

  

That’s way more than how many licks it takes to get to the middle of a Tootsie Pop (which I don’t actually like, but I loved the commercial!).

I’ve been seeing Dr Zach for about 3.5 weeks now. He’s only done some minor adjusting with the activator, some muscle scraping, and Monday some wonderful deep tissue massage. The muscles in my back, hip and leg have been pretty seized up and he wanted to see X-Rays before risking an adjustment. I’m a HUGE fan of deep tissue massage, and Trever at Traveling Hands in Issaquah is my go to guy, but Monday I was totally fine cheating on him. And I’m ready for more.  My next appt isn’t until this coming Monday and I can’t wait. My hip, where the nerve that is pinched/entrapped travels down to my ankle (most of my left leg is still pretty numb), had been pretty angry, but after Monday….it was close to heaven. So much so, that by Tuesday night I was walking to the bathroom on my own. Wednesday, even more walking around on my own, and today – ditched the crutches. (Ok, full disclosure – I held onto the crutch walking down the stairs this morning to get to my car, and carried it in to work and back home, but didn’t use it for support.)

I’ve gone from excruciating pain, barely able to lie down on his table, to today…walking unassisted, including stairs. I celebrated with a Maker’s Mark on ice and it was devine.

I may not be able to get to Bend this weekend for some much overdue time with my brother, sister and their families. I may not be able to run the Horse Butte 10 Miler that I’d been looking forward to for a long time. And I may not be back to my old shenanigans.

But I will be.

Cheers!