A Proclamation: Nine Months.

Nine months.
No, I am not pregnant. It’s almost as good.
I am running again! Well, jogging…but still! And I’m doing it with goals and dreams.
Big goals and dreams.
And I couldn’t be happier.
Everything has fallen into place beautifully since fracturing my femur, 11 weeks ago.
The glass remains half full. God is good, all the time!

So here are my big goals and dreams:
1. My goal is to run my first marathon in April 2015, nine months from now, one year after my major injury. So far I have surpassed all of my little goals along the way, while recovering from this busted leg, so why should this be any different? You know me—set the bar high, achieve, and repeat. Originally, I thought I’d be on crutches for 2 months; it was 5 weeks. I thought I’d need a cane for 3 weeks; it was two. We thought I would return to running at 3 months; it was 10 weeks. Etcetera, etcetera. There is no stopping me.

2. My dream is to make the qualifying standard within the qualifying period to represent Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There, I’ve said it. You read it here! The bar is set. I’m moving forward!

It certainly won’t be easy but like Bethany said in the movie, “Soul Surfer” when returning to training after losing her entire arm to a shark, “I don’t need easy. I need possible”. I’ll be honest, I kept my return to jogging quiet, mainly because I didn’t know how it would go. Speed walking is one thing. Running is another. Despite reassurance that the plate and screws are securely in place, I had no idea what it would feel like. I don’t know many athletes with hardware in their femur, trying to make a full return to training and racing. But, there are some, somewhere. And I hope to be one, sometime.

So let me go back a few weeks since my last post. On June 20, I had a bone scan, which confirmed that the critical blood supply was indeed not affected by my injury. I had been told this by the surgeon in Montreal, Dr. Jarzem, but a thorough exam nearly two months after the injury and surgery would give us a clearer picture. At this appointment and upon discussing my continued, positive progress, Dr. Dill then moved my next appointment up a few weeks. On July 4, I had an x-ray, which again showed continued healing in the bone. I again cringed when I saw that hardware drilled into me. I rarely think about it unless telling someone so when I see it on the screen, it seems very foreign. And like watching the iRun video of me finishing the race, I shudder.

Coach Rick came with me to the appointment because of the possibility of me being allowed to start jogging, provided the x-ray was good. Sure enough, Dr. Dill was pleased so we started discussing how I could safely ease into it. We understood the great importance of being very careful. Very careful. The bone was healed enough that I could gradually start but was still healing. Doing too much, too soon could be very problematic. I remember being told in hospital to be very careful in the first 48 hrs after the surgery due to risk of dislocating the hip. It was concerning. And I was very cautious. The last thing anyone wants is a major setback. We talked about using soft surfaces (treadmill, trail, dirt road), continuing to cross-train, walk-jogging, and paying great attention to being slow and steady, stopping if it was painful. Rick explained how I eased into it after the last injury, saying that we expected this return to take longer.

So we left the hospital with smiles on our faces, ready to start the next chapter. Of course, I started with a few shuffles that very day. I just had to! And it was neat because Crossroads Christian Communication (100 Huntley St.) was there as they are covering my story in my attempt to recover and participate in the Toronto 2015 PanAm Games. After our taped discussion about my story, they filmed my first few shuffles with Rick by my side at the North Park track in Brantford at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre, where I train. They will see some big improvement when they tape me the next time!

On the first day, I likely did about six, 10 second shuffles with walking between. The next day within my 45 minute walk I did 8 x (0:15 shuffle & 2:45 walk). Since then, I’ve daily added a few more sets with a few more seconds, working my way up to a 60 minute walk with 22 x (1:10 jog & 1:50 walk). I started wearing my Garmin and doing the math in my head to begin estimating my “mileage”. Week one was 11.2 km and today was 4.4 km total. It’s thrilling to see it in writing!
It took less than a week to go from a shuffle to a jog but I know it will take much, much longer to go from a jog to a run. What I mean by a run is heading out at a steady pace, for a decent length, not thinking about anything. I know I can—and will—do it!

As for how it felt, the various areas of soft tissue were tired by the end of the day, especially due to the increased walking that week. Most importantly, there has been no bone pain! The most entertaining aspect of my first few shuffles was the “jiggly” left cheek compared to the solid right. But even that has improved by leaps and bounds in just over a week. I am into a great routine with my morning walk/jog with stretching and exercises, my afternoon bike and pool time, and evening plank, averaging 2 hrs daily.

Oh, and one more thing about the nine months. Just like I gave up any sort of junk food for 3 and 6 months prior to my last two marathons, I’m doing it again. Yep, bye bye goodies until April 2015! It’s all good, folks!

Healing well. Don't think I'll ever get used to seeing this foreign object. At least I don't feel it when running!!!

Kids made the news, running with the weather gal while promoting the Harvest Half!

Get your tickets at http://raceroster.com/events/2014/1845/harvest-half-2014

It was good while it lasted. See you again, Peanut Buster Parfait (and other sweets), in April 2015!