Friday, December 7, 2007

My first injury

I was all excited about trying my first "cold weather run" Tuesday night. I fought with myself all day and really had to talk myself into it. (I can be kind of a wimp.) Well, after being so proud of myself for just DOING it, something happened.

I was about a mile into my run and my left leg started to get tight. I stopped to stretch it out, thinking it was just the cold making me a little tight and I needed to warm up a bit more. Well, 100 more yards and I decided I needed to stop, and I should stop RIGHT NOW. So, I did. By this point, I could barely lift my foot off the ground. I was concerned. And I was freezing by now. It was 23 degrees. I was sweaty, and I was certainly not dressed to be doing anything other than running outside in that weather.

I hobbled back to my house and iced the leg right away. It hurt all night and into the next day. I became increasingly concerned for the worst, of course, thinking it was a stress fracture. I didn't want to, but my friends MADE me call the doctor. Much to my relief, the injury was only an intense sprain, nothing more. The best part is that I only have to take ONE week off from running, then I can get back into it - slowly. As in, one mile at a time. Ugh. Considering the alternative, I suppose I can live with this. I'm just disappointed that I'll have to miss the 5K I was looking forward to tomorrow.

It's funny. I started running in August after reading about a program called Couch to 5K (C25K). I was NOT a runner, nor did I ever think I would become one. Well, I did my first 5K on Thanksgiving morning, in a torrential downpour with 35 mph winds. An amateur wouldn't do that. An amateur would say, "Screw that!" and stay in bed. Running has become a big and important part of my life in these few short months. I'm now looking forward to training for a 5 MILE race in July.

It's true what I've seen in print...Runners are a different breed, and I'm starting to understand. And I'm starting to feel like one of them. I have my first race bib framed to prove it.

4 comments:

Viv said...

Yaa Lisa, So glad you started to document your running journey. You know my butt will be here checkin' on u all the time. I am so glad the leg was just giving you a small warning, and not a full blown red alert. Take it easy and care of it. I know you will be out there soon.

honor22 said...

Lisa, great job! I'll be checking in on your blog. Don't worry, this injury will soon be in your rear view mirror.

Erin

DoriAnn said...

Nice to see you in blogland, Lisa. Cool about framing your first bib. I started a scrapbook with mine. Ease back into the running and you'll come back stronger than ever. You know you're a runner!

Yasmin said...

I have a mini scrapbook with my first race. I tell ya, it's as bad as crack...