All it takes....

One misstep.  You never know it's coming, or when it will happen.  Literally in an instant, everything changes.

I just said in my last post that this is not the time of year to be injured.  The weather is most ideal for the next several months and after a loooong, extended winter it's what what I've been waiting for.  Plus, I had personal goals to really ramp up my mileage.  With school getting out in a few weeks my schedule will drastically change and give me a bigger opportunity to get in longer runs.

I'm not sure if the two things are connected, but I did mention in my marathon recap that my hamstring began to bother me mid race.  Nothing too serious.  Nothing painful.  Just a slight nagging of something being off.  I had no previous sign of a problem, it just popped up out of the blue mid race.  Since I was pushing for a BQ I kept on race plan and pushed forward.  After my race I had no sign of the problem again.  Until last Wednesday.  I had already ran back to back 10 mile runs since the marathon and had no problem.  For some reason this 9 miler made a difference.  I started off my run just fine, but at some point (mile 6ish) it just started up again.  I slowed down, but still finished my run.  This time that slight nagging feeling stuck around anytime I ran.  It helped that I ran slower the next few days and cut my mileage down.  I wasn't stopping dead in my tracks, but I was listening to my body.

Last Saturday my son was running in the IESA sectional track meet.  Despite being the shortest kid on the team he was running the hurdles.  What can I say, the boy can fly.  Maybe not at top speed, but he's not afraid to try and go for it!  We had some conflicting information on when he would run.  I was informed he wouldn't run until the afternoon.  My son insisted he would run first thing in the morning.  After talking to another mom who confirmed my son's information I headed up early in the morning.  Events were starting right at 9 a.m. and that is exactly when I pulled into the parking lot.  Even though I knew they had to run the girls hurdles and then the boys I was still un easy about the time.  Track meets can move along quickly.  Especially in this event where it literally only takes 15-20 seconds and then it's over.  I decided to hustle over to the stadium to be able to find a good seat, get my camera out and be ready to enjoy my son's last race of the season.  I wasn't at a full run, just a slight jog.  At least if I was going to miss the race I wanted to feel like I put a good effort into being there.  I didn't see the acorn that rolled my ankle and suddenly I was flying toward the ground.  I had visions of ripped tights (I was still in my running clothes from that morning) and scrapped knees.  So I reacted and did a funky wibble wobble move to prevent myself form the hard fall.  I still fell, just not as hard.  I picked myself back up and immediately had pain searing through my hamstring, the same one that had been giving me problems.

I hobbled over to get ready to see my son run.  Pain continued to pulse through my leg.  I tried stretching it out and just about anything I did did not feel good or normal or right at all.  Just sitting there was painful enough.  I've never been injured like this before.  I have no medical knowledge and have not yet tried to diagnose myself on webmd.  I'm guessing I pulled a muscle.  It's my hamstring for sure, up on the higher end where it goes up into my glute (fancy shortened name for gluteus maximus aka my butt).

In the days since I have managed to get the general pain to stop.  It only hurts when I try to stretch it or move it a certain way.  It's definitely way more than just some inflammation.  This is a major problem for me. A) I'm NOT ok with this in any way shape or form.  I'm an extremely active person who is constantly on the go-go-go, even if it's not running.  B)  I have a relay race to run on Sunday with fellow Team Tough Chik members Shannon, Amanda & Jess.  We've been planning this race since the first of the year.  C)  I'm 2 weeks away from my 1 year running streak anniversary.  My husband reminded me that my body is way more important than some running streak.  Ah, yes, dully noted...but knowing how I am do you really think I'm just going to walk away from all of that so easily?  Hmmmmm, NO!  At least not without a valiant effort.

So I ran yesterday & today.  Don't freak out, it was only 1 mile.  I can move.  I can run.  It's uncomfortable and very easily painful if I'm not extremely careful.  I don't have normal or full range of motion in the use of that leg.  Of course, I'm over compensating in other areas to make up for that, but I can manage (very slowly) for that 1 mile.  So yes, I plan to finish out my streak even if it's only 1 mile a day for the next 14 days.  However, I will be taking that one day at a time.  My streak is not going down without a fight.

The real kicker in all of this is that amongst a lot of miscommunication, my son didn't even run until 2 p.m.  Yeah, that makes me want to !@#$%^&* on so many levels.  But I did get to see him run and that was my goal for the day.  It's a bummer that things worked out the way they did.  Even though it's frustrating and I'm wondering WHY, I know that all things happen (according to God) for a plan and a purpose. (Jeremiah 29:11)

My son flying over the hurdles!  He's made a lot of improvements this season in his form and race!!