random rambling...thoughts on running part 5

i'm running a half marathon this saturday so i thought it would be a good time to finish up my running story. catch up on  part 4 part 3 part 2 part 1 after an emotionally and physically challenging 6 months, i had surgery. even though it was in the works for a while, it all happened really fast.

this doesn't even make sense, but i had high and low expectations for surgery. i was hopeful that with time i would run again, and at the same time i was terrified it wouldn't work.

the surgery was very successful. i did more intensive physical therapy for a few months. by the end of physical therapy i started running again. i remember the day i was allowed to run for 1 minute on the treadmill. it's crazy how excited i was. the process was slow. i literally started from ground zero. it took about 6 months after surgery to start building any kind of distance. the setbacks were discouraging, and the progress was encouraging. i never gave up. i stuck with it and worked to build the miles back up. 

i was very cautious in the beginning. i was so afraid to push myself too far. once i got the miles up just a little, i went back to my running group. i missed them so much. they were all training for marathons so i usually met them for a few miles before breaking away.

towards the end of the summer i felt strong enough to run the last 1/2 of the top of utah marathon with our oldest runner. i couldn't believe i could finally run 13 miles. 

i have definitely had some hard times a long the way. at first i thought i would be back to 100% normal the way i used to be. my hip still gets tight...a lot. that is the new normal for me. i can feel the fact that i had surgery almost every single day. there are still things that are not good-lunges, squats, jumping, sitting on the floor, but for the most part i can do the things i want to do.

i really wanted to run another marathon, but i didn't want to do it before i was ready. a little over a year and a half post op i finally ran another marathon. it was hard..really really hard, but i did it!

that was in september of last year. the marathon was really hard, but my hip did really well. i am really glad i had surgery. it was totally worth it. i am back to normal enough that i can run mostly what i want. i have a hard time doing sprints and problems running a lot of uphill. 

for a long time i was really worried my running story was over with my injury. i am so fortunate that my running story doesn't have an end. i am running the nashville and st. george marathons and possibly the big cottonwood again. if i do those 3 this year, i will be at 10 marathons.

if you think "there is no way i can do that", i promise you can. if you want to get into running, email me. i'll talk you into it. 

people ask me why i run. the very simple yet complicated answer is because i can.