I Am Not an Injured Runner

January 6, 2021, is a date that all Americans will remember whether they want to or not. I couldn't step away from the news long enough to go for a four mile run - I loaded up NPR on my phone and jogged around my usual lunch loop while I listened in fascinated horror to the descriptions coming out of the US Capitol. About three miles in, my left foot started to hurt, the pain increasing with every step. Like any reasonable runner, I decided to finish my run and investigate the foot pain later. 

I'll always remember January 6, 2021, as the day that I ran my way into my first (and hopefully only) stress fracture. It's the first injury I've had in 20+ years of running that prevented me from running for nearly three months. Like, I had to completely stop running or even walking. At first I didn't know what to do with myself.

My physical therapist couldn't differentiate between a fracture and a strained tendon at first, and because the pain came on quickly without any increase in speed or volume, we went more hopefully with the tendon hypothesis. For those first three weeks, I was cleared to swim without pushing off the wall and bike without standing on the pedals. 

After three weeks of no progress, I gave up and got an x-ray of my left foot and saw the break in my third metatarsal. I was referred to an extremely cautious podiatrist who had me walking around in a surgical shoe for five weeks and only cleared me to swim, not bike. I had a couple of cycling events coming up, so I rationalized that as long as I biked "easy" without standing on the pedals, I could still participate in these events. When I went back for a check-in after three weeks and the podiatrist exclaimed over how well my foot was healing, I took it as a green light to ride my bike as much as I wanted.

So I did! I continued to train for St. George 70.3, my only scheduled triathlon this year, which is taking place in May. Because I couldn't run or even walk, I bumped up my training volume in both swimming and cycling. (I've decided to defer the St. George race because I don't want to risk re-injuring my foot by even walking the run.)

I biked on Zwift, I rode outdoors on road and gravel. My late discovery of Zwift really contributed a lot to the increase in cycling. It's just so fun to join the challenges and to get on the bike and ride "with" a couple of friends after a stressful workday. There were days when the weather was so nice that I'd ride outdoors at lunch and then hop on Zwift to join Orissa for an evening ride. You can guess that one of two things happened - I developed some extraordinary new strength on the bike OR I rebroke my foot because I didn't follow the rules. 

Zwifting with Orissa on Tuesdays is my favorite!

Luckily, the first answer is the correct one - I have become so much stronger on the bike that I keep looking around to see where the tailwind is coming from. I'm in Kansas City this weekend for Trent's birthday, and yesterday we took advantage of the sunny day to ride the remaining portion of the Katy Trail that I haven't been on yet - the Rock Island Spur. It's 47.5 miles from the start in Pleasant Hill to the point that it meets up with the Katy Trail in Windsor, MO. 

Feeling happy and matchy matchy on yesterday's ride.

We rode the Spur out and back - 95 miles on gravel. I felt strong and kept up with Trent and enjoyed the day. As we sat for lunch at Sonic at the turnaround point, Trent remarked about how much my cycling has improved. "I've been doing nothing but riding a bike for three months," I told him. "It shows," he said. I beamed with pride. I know we're supposed to be equals in a relationship and everything but I look up to Trent in all things cycling, and to be praised by him for how well I'm riding is like food for my soul. 

Sonic lunch gave us strength for the ride back.

It turns out that being a stronger cyclist means that I can ride with Trent at the end of a long ride and even take some pulls, instead of dragging behind him wishing that it was over. He praised me again towards the end of the ride, and I shrugged proudly and said, "I guess that's what happens when you're not tired from running all the time." He nodded and smiled as if to say, "DUH," but then out loud he said, "well, I think you've found your sport."

That's what I woke up thinking about this morning. I'm now cleared to walk, then walk-run, then run...but all I want to do is ride my bike. I'm not an injured runner - I'm a cyclist. 

This bike, y'all. 😍