Thursday, October 18, 2012

Diary of An Injured Runner...


So I hurt myself. Apparently I strained my satorious muscle, it is the longest muscle in the body and it spans from the side of the hip across the front of the quadricep and ends on the side of the inner knee.  I thought I was doing good with stretching. NOT! The physical therapist informed me that stretching strained muscles makes the injury worse. Why? When a strained muscle heals the fibers of the muscle heal by connecting themselves together and when you stretch the muscle you are essentially tearing the muscle fiber back a part which in turn will further inflame and irritate the muscle.

She felt around the span of the muscle looking for knots in my muscle and sure enough the areas where I had the most pain were knotted up and they were knotted up tight. She gave me a few exercises to try to make sure they did not further irritate the muscle and basically told me I need to focus on strengthening my hip muscles. Then she hooked me up to electrodes, placed a heating pad over top of it and sent strong pulses to the muscle for about 20 mins; the electrodes are said to help speed up the healing process. 

Now I can't lie everything we did this afternoon took the edge off the pain but the thing that hurt me deeply was being told that I can't run for a week; with no certainly whether a week will be a week or if it will turn into two weeks, three week or a month. Yes, this puts my running my first half marathon in jeopardy with the speed of my recovery being up in the air like it is. 

The thought of all this was a little hard to swallow because running has become the perfect lover and friend to me. Why do I feel that way? Well, with running I get out of it what I put into it and sometimes more. Running doesn't ask me for anything out side of who I am and it makes me want to put in more so I can get more out of it *cough*bling, bling *cough**cough*. It doesn't use me up, it allows me to release stress, it gives me a natural high and it puts me to sleep at night. Running doesn't fuss, doesn't cuss, and it doesn't demand more than what I'm willing to put into it. So, yes it means a lot to me. However, the upside to this is that I can and will go back to it. 

Hindsight is 20/20 as i'm about to start the Daniel Fast I'm beginning to realize that maybe this is the Lord's way of really slowing me down so I can focus on the things I need to focus on during this period of fasting, prayer and meditation with zero distractions.Maybe it is meant for me loosen up the grip that I have on running....hmmmm no I have medals to collect I'm sorry but for the fast period I will go what ever way God takes me.  

I will keep you updated on the fast and go more in depth. Until then be blessed. 


2 comments:

Kim Morgan-Craft said...

Wow. I hadn't read this before I wrote my post...but our feelings are almost identical (that Gemini thing, I tell you). I'm sorry you're temporarily sidelined, but with all that The Lord is going to reveal during your fast, your running is going to be that much stronger. I love your passion for running, and happy to be part of your journey. Can't wait to be there cheering you on at your first Half...because Running Is......awesome! :)

Running Is... said...

LOL! We were definitely on the same wave length. I'm so excited that this is something else that I can share with you.