Wow! It’s been almost 2 months since my last post. I’m sure all of you were pulling your hair out waiting on my next post, ha! Well..here is a little recap of what has been going on for the past 2 months!
We finished up the second part of our winter training in Greenville the last week in March, but before we headed out, Reebok sent a crew out to do a photo shoot of us on our long run!! They made us feel like rockstars, it was a neat experience.
Training was going very well, and most importantly I was getting my confidence back. We headed straight to Raleigh to race a 1500, and I thought I was ready to run fast. I finished in last with a time of 3:57. It was a rough day at the office!! I was obviously upset with the performance, but I was more upset with my lingering achilles problem taking control of me. I was lucky to be greeted by my fiancée and my dog when I arrived back at Zap!! I am a very happy person to have them finally living at Zap with me.
My achilles has been bothering me for quite some time. I was grinding it out though, hoping it would go away like many aches and pains do. My Raleigh performance played a big role in confronting the issue. The most frustrating thing about an injury for me is wondering where I would be without them. Ever since I started running I have been told by coaches, friends, and family how talented I am. Not being able to fulfill that talent lately is certainly disappointing.
I started reading the book Coming Back Strong by Don Kopriva last week. The book profiles many elite distance runners who have dealt with injury. I started skimming through it and I was shocked to find how many injuries most of these Olympians suffered. Here is a couple of quotes I pulled from the book.
“Especially at our level, we tend to ignore things for as long as possible so we can keep grinding it out. Injuries can be extremely complex and when we do something as repetitive as running every day, the smallest change in gate/biomechanics, etc, if ignored, can manifest into a real problem.” -Brian Olinger- 8:19 Steepler
“Injuries can humble you very quickly. You can abruptly go from being a hero to an also-ran. You must look beyond the injury period when you can not compete and focus on the future. You will be back competing again.” -Rick Wohlhuter- Olympic 800 Bronze Medalist (1976)
Have you ever been watching the Emmys or other award shows and really paid attention to the part of the acceptance speech where they thank everyone? Lately, I have been thinking how long my speech would be! There are so many people that go out of their way to help me reach my goals. All of the support, encouragement and help I have received are greatly appreciated! I wouldn’t be where I am without it…so thank you!!!