Between Facebook and my running/yoga/health blog, it feels like these days there’s not much leftover to post about here … but I love this blog, and it still serves a purpose the other sites don’t, and so I am determined to keep it going, even if you don’t hear from me as often as I’d like (although perhaps you don’t care about the infrequency). Maybe one day soon I will have the time and energy for more posting … we’ll see.
For today, the big news is that my ankle is solidly on the mend. It was thankfully a minor sprain to begin with, and I was able to run on Town Lake within just a few days of twisting it. So far, Town Lake runs and Ashtanga yoga classes have been treating it just fine. But last night was the big test … my first trail run since spraining my ankle on the trail two weeks ago. Yes, two weeks isn’t much time to heal from an injury … but it feels like a long time. I’m happy to report the run went very well. I didn’t run fast, and I was pretty tentative with my foot placement in a lot of spots … I don’t know how much of that is my ankle and how much is just the fear in my head of getting hurt again. But I made it through the entire 6 mile loop without any problems and only a few twinges of pain in the ankle. I haven’t had any twinges at all for over a week, but trail is a very different animal than almost anything else. It works your ankles hard … so much of trail running is about constant stabilization on uneven terrain. It’s good for strengthening, but it can also be hazardous if you’re struggling – like I am – with any sort of weakness or injury.
Anyway, the point is, it went well. I still have much recovery to do … standing on the stability disk at home shows me how ridiculously unstable I still am. Until those nerve signals start firing again, and the proprioception comes back, I’m going to have to go easy and be careful. But I am on the mend, and it feels great.
A friend wrote on one of my FB posts that I wouldn’t be me if I weren’t running … and I have to admit, I can’t entirely disagree. I hope that if the day came when I couldn’t run (and I shudder to even consider the possibility) that I would find solace in yoga or other activities. And I would probably still remain a part of the trail community, volunteering and so forth.
But it’s true … I define myself as a runner. And while I may be lots of other things as well, being a runner – an ultrarunner – is a huge part of my identity. There was a time in my life when trail running literally saved me. And through trail and ultrarunning, I have finally found a healthy outlet for the risk-taking part of my personality … a positive way to direct all that stubborn, reckless energy that used to manifest itself in self-destructive and not-so-healthy ways. I love being an ultrarunner … and that’s why I’m trying so hard to take my time rehabbing this ankle and making sure I’m healthy and not pushing too much. Because the goal really isn’t Rocky Hill Ranch, or Headlands, or Great Eastern, or any one race … the ultimate goal is to still be doing this in 30 years.
