Running Toward Myself

Perspective


Last Wednesday I paid a little visit to a new orthopedic surgeon in order to, once and for all, get to the bottom of this pesky ankle-pain business. I won't lie and say that I did this of my own free will. No, this trip only occurred thanks to a lot a little prodding from my husband in the form of the words, "I am not allowing you to run until you've seen someone about this!" Although I'm not the sort of woman who allows my husband to be the boss of me, in this instance, I actually welcomed his ultimatum because I truly needed to get some answers to why I was having this pain. And, it's so much easier to go to the doctor because someone MAKES you instead of being a baby and doing it because it HURTS.

Unfortunately, Thankfully, my husband was able to leave work early to accompany me to my appointment. Apparently, he knows me too well and wasn't all that certain I'd be truthful with him if the verdict came down on the wrong side of running. Humpf. Trust me, will ya? (but he was probably right...so I can't fault him much). I am happy to report, that after lots of x-rays and some poking and prodding on very tender swollen parts of my ankle, Dr. Scott was able to find 3-4 bone spurs in my ankle joint and nothing more! That will explain the excruciating pain I'd been experiencing while running up or down hills. Who knew? Of course, I'm taking this as a great prognosis because as long as I can bear the pain with some anti-inflammatories he prescribed, I can keep on running until this little heart is content! How did the husband and I celebrate? With a nice little four-miler at run group that night. Heck yes!

Yep. Pretty much RIGHT where those pesky bone spur are taking up residence.

One positive aspect of this ankle issue is that I truly did take some time to evaluate the importance of running at this point in my training life. As I am transitioning to triathlon training for the first time, I really MUST give up my grip on the belief that I must be running 30+ miles a week, every week, no matter what. That is a hard task for this girl as mileage goals have always been at the top of my priority list. However, while I didn't get to run as much over the past few weeks, I WAS able to put in some quality time on the bike trainer and also attended my first swim lesson. Those are the things that are going to be essential to me being successful in my first triathlon  coming up in May. Running is my Old Faithful. I have my base and that is going to never leave me. It's time to listen to the ankle and start putting in some effort in the other disciplines that I am going to need to master in order to feel confident at the start line on May 20th.


Perspective...I now have mine!

Onward to triathlon, men!