August 28, 2014
It’s been a roller coaster ride the past month or so, dealing with minor and now major setbacks. Things started to unravel in mid-July. My hamstring started to tighten up during a workout, I got through it without really thinking about it. But, it became worse over the next two days. I then stupidly and stubbornly tried to race a small race here in Vancouver – Summerfast 10k. I stopped at 5k as the hamstring had tightened up a lot. I battled with that for 3 weeks – taking a few days off, then a few test runs, before eventually taking 10 days off to let it completely heal. I was in a bit of panic about STWM at that point, but knew I was in great shape prior to that hiccup. When I started back my hamstring felt great. By my 3rd run back I could feel some light pain in my ankle. I had two separate rehab appointments for my hamstring that day and asked about my ankle, no one thought it was a big deal. I thought it might be some peroneal tendinitis so was taking some anti-inflams, icing, and applying a topical anti-inflam. Two runs later I only made in 20′ and was hobbling – I stopped and walked home. Later that day it swelled up like a balloon and I could barely walk on it. I went to VGH and came out with a boot and crutches. At this point the diagnosis is unclear, but likely a stress fracture in the distal fibula. A bone scan is scheduled for tomorrow to confirm.
I was pretty baffled with how quickly this came on. If I’d been running 200k per week, slowly felt the pain worsening and didn’t deal with it, I’d be kicking myself. But, I’m not really sure I’d ever be perceptive enough to back off after 1 or 2 runs with some (not a ton) of pain for fear that I had a stress fracture. I’ve run through a lot of aches and pains over the years and usually came out the good side of things.
At this point I obviously will not be running the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 19th. You can read Paul Gains write-up about that here. This is a very unfortunate turn of events. I had a lot riding on being able to run, and run well in Toronto. But, as Paul notes, the positive is that I will be here for the birth of our baby girl. Everything happens for a reason and I would have been crushed to miss that. So, there are lots of positives and lots to focus my energy on over the next few months.
I haven’t thought much about what’s next in terms of running. I’m still, nearly two weeks later, in some denial about this whole set of events. Qualifying for Rio 2016 Olympic games is just around the corner, with the window for qualifying likely beginning January 2015. I was really hoping to have a solid race under my belt in Toronto, secure Sport Canada carding for another year and go about my business qualifying. The last two years have been an injury filled mess, and there have certainly been times I’ve thought about packing it in. But, there have also been enough times where I’ve gotten back in a good groove and saw glimpses of my old self. Those glimpses have kept me going and they will continue to keep me going for at least a couple more years.
Thanks to Alan, STWM race director for his support, I’m sure the event will be a huge success and I look forward to watching my teammates run well there. Thanks to those on the ground here in Vancouver for trying to help me figure this one out. And a big thanks to Mizuno Canada and Forerunners for their continued support!
Thanks for reading!