Recovery – A (Small) Step Backwards

I suppose it was always going to happen. Recovery is never plain sailing, and I’ve had a fairly constant upward curve for the last couple of months. But that knowledge didn’t make me any less disappointed when I found myself in pain again on Sunday night and through Monday, my leg hurting in exactly the place where we suspect the stress fracture had been.

Disappointed is obviously a huge understatement. Panicked, scared, angry, depressed might come a little closer. Nearly five months after my initial injury the thought of having to go back to anywhere near the start felt perilously close to the end of the world. What on earth do I do now?

The first step was to take along hard look at the week or so leading up to this. Had I done anything new or different? Done too much, or not enough? I had to be brutally honest with myself, and acknowledge that I’d taken my eye off the ball. Like so many others out there, lockdown and homeschooling has been taking its toll, and my ability to focus on my recovery had definitely reduced. While still conscious of what I’m eating it had slipped from the forefront of my mind, as had properly stretching out enough when coming home from a run and walking in to demands for food and attention. By Sunday I’d hit a low of exhaustion, but my head really needed a run, so I decided to ignore what my body was telling me and just get out there.

I suspect that was the key bad decision, and gave me the most important lesson to take away from this. Always, always listen to your body. Running might be the best thing for my mental health, but there are other options (honest!). When my energy levels are that low pushing myself out of the door is a very real risk, especially at the moment when my body is still in recovery mode.

Step two was to get straight on the phone to Pete the physio, who got me in two days later to check it over. I walked out a few hours ago feeling like a new person. Instead of going over and over all the worst case scenarios I now know that I haven’t properly damaged the bone again. I’ve had a warning shot, and the muscles need some work, but that is easily resolved. Best of all, he’s reassured me that I’m back to the point where running is going to help, not hinder. With the very big proviso that I listen to my body – the occasional unplanned rest day is far better than another long period out of action.

My relief this evening is phenomenal. Here in Wales we’ve only been allowed to run with another person for 10 days, and I am so ready to take advantage of that and see some of my running friends again. I’ve managed one social run so far, which was the best run I’d had in a very long time. So lesson well and truly learnt: don’t push it, listen to my body and keep getting out there. I’m happily planning my next run already.