I like to think of myself as a patient person. As a teacher, working with kids, I have to be; patience and understanding are parts of the job. And as a mom of two teenage boys, patience absolutely has to be at my side. But when it comes to me, I have always felt that Patience is not my friend. But over the past 9 weeks, I have learned to accept that “it is what it is” and to do what is right, not what I want.
When I saw Dr. Elliott in November, he suggested that it could be a while before Tammy and Izzy move out for good. “Hamstrings can take a while. It could be 8 weeks; in a worst case scenario, we’re looking at 6 months.” We talked about my starting to run again when things feel right and made a follow-up appointment for next week, which happens to be 10 weeks after Izzy the Ischial Tuberosity was torn.
Meanwhile, I have continued ART twice a week with my chiropractor. Two weeks ago, Sandy and I noticed that I wasn’t wincing when he was working on my hip and leg. At one session, he dug into the muscle so deeply that he broke a blood vessel on his thumb, which he described as a badge of honour; I felt nothing. Before I left, we talked about my returning to running as I appeared to be clinically fine, but I wasn’t mentally ready. Taking the time off to heal has been difficult and, while I felt that I was stronger and Tammy and Izzy were under control, I hesitated. I was willing to wait until my follow-up with Dr.Elliott.
But after another week of pain free treatments, I was ready. Nervous, but confident about being able to run. I waited a few days for the right conditions – daylight, warmer, and dry roads. Last Wednesday afternoon, Mother Nature was on my side and I headed out for 3 miles. And guess what? It was painless! I ran slowly but comfortably, averaging an 8:43 pace. By no means were things perfect; after all, I hadn’t run since the beginning of October. But I ran continuously, my stride felt good, my hips felt strong, and I was running. It was a start.
Today, ten days later, I have run four times with each being better than the one before. When I saw my chiropractor on Thursday, he said my hip was “perfect” and booked my next appointment for a week later. I am optimistic, but cautious. As excited as I am to be running again, I do not want to jeopardize the time and effort that I have put into healing, only to make a rash decision that could sideline me again.
Since October, there have been moments of frustration and there have been tears, but tears are a part of recovery. Keeping Patience at my side and accepting my injury have also been a part of my healing. Over the next few weeks, I need to continue to focus on doing the right thing while I start to build my mileage again – with Patience. Together, we will get to where I want to be: running, running fast, and chasing my dreams.
