The Road to Recovery

It’s been a long road here and there’s a long road ahead. Two and a half years ago I started having pain near my hamstring. I trained through it, did therapy for it, rested it, and raced through it…needles, injections, lasers…nothing seemed to offer lasting relief. I somehow managed to run all of my PRs in those two years, but every leap forward led to many steps backwards. After working with countless doctors and therapists and 6 MRI’s, I finally got an answer: a labral tear in my hip that would require surgery.

So here I am, one week post-op, 4 months of no running ahead, facing what many would consider an “eternity” in runner’s terms.

And yet, I am at peace. If being injured on and off for most of the last two years has taught me one thing, it’s patience. Sure, I wish I could have gotten this diagnosed 2 years ago, but then again I probably wouldn’t have had the wisdom and patience back then to say “Okay, it is what it is, let’s move forward.” No, the old me, who used to have no sense of life outside of running would have been completely devastated.

Now I’m not saying this road to recovery is going to be easy. I’m sure there will be days when it feels like I’ll never get to where I want to be, when I won’t want to get out of bed, or might want to quit…but I won’t. If it’s true, that “obstacles are put in our way just to see if what we want is worth fighting for,” then that’s okay because I’m ready to give my best fight.

If I had to pick one piece of advice I know I’ll need to hold on tight to, its the following verse,

“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”