S2: Ep 7: The Art of Returning From Injury

On this solo episode, Karey shares a bit her thoughts and experiences going through a current injury.  She talks about how she incurred her recent foot injury, which includes a torn plantar fascia as well as a sprain, both in her left foot, which have left her unable to run for the past couple of months.  

Karey talks about:

• Mental Fortitude
• Dealing with Setbacks
• DNF'ing a race
• Finding a support team
• Riding the wave of recovering from injury 

Links to things that she mentioned in this episode: 

Flagstaff Skypeaks Race

McDowell Mountain Frenzy Race

Ultra Performance Physical Therapy (Meghan Slavin)

Everyday Ultra Coaching (Joe Corcione)

Atlas Mountain Race 

If you want to learn more about Karey and her adventures go here!

The Art of Type 2 Fun

IG: @TheArtofType2Fun

Transcript

Episode 5: The art of being injured

Karey: [00:00:00] Well, hello, all of you adventurers. Welcome back to the Art of Type 2 Fun podcast with me, myself, and I Karey Miles as your host. Um, I realized it's been a while since you've heard from me, so I hope you just sit tight and enjoy the ride. This is a solo episode, which I am both excited and nervous, and I don't know, kind of mehhh to share with you, but I think it'll, I think it'll resonate with a lot of you.

Um, this episode was a little bit difficult to delve into and has really given me like, I don't know what they call it, writer's block, creator's block, whatever. Um, Anyway, I, usually I write all my scripts out beforehand before I record. So it keeps me on track and I don't adventure off into Lala land. Um, I have a tendency to do that for those of you who know me. 

Um, whenever I tried to sit down and write about this topic that I'm going to share with you, like I never really felt like I had the [00:01:00] right words to talk about it and I didn't really want to write it down. Um, and so I just put it off and put it off and put it off.

Um, but the other day. I was just feeling it. I don't know if I just came into a good place or whatever. Um, and I want to talk about it. I want to hash it out. So, um, today I'm going to talk about injury, the dreaded I word, especially for all you athletes out there and adventurers. We always want our bodies to be like working in the best way possible.

Um, but I think part of what comes along with pushing ourselves to the limit is sometimes our bodies break down and, um, we get injured no matter how careful we are about it, how much we try to avoid it, um, it happens. So, originally, I wanted to talk to you all about it while I was like going through it because I feel like it's always so much easier to talk about going through it and the process of injury and rehab after we've rehabbed or like when we're [00:02:00] on the other side of it.

Um, but again, no matter how much I tried, um, you know, I tried to write a few sentences, delete half of what I was going to write and then just shut the computer down. I was trying to think like, why, why is it the case? Like, why don't we often hear from people who are going through the middle of it?

I think it's just because injury is freaking hard and it takes a lot of mental fortitude to just get through what we're doing sometimes when we're going through it. And so we don't have a lot of extra to give. Um, I know with like all my major injuries, it's really just like focus on me, me, me, me, me.

I'm trying to get through the things I need to get. done in real life. And then like, um, taking care, it just takes a lot of injury, a lot of energy to get through injury. Um, and so, um, now I'm still going through the rehab process, um, for my injury. Um, and I'm about two months out from like the, when it got like the worst that it got.

Um, but today, you know, the words are flowing. So here it [00:03:00] goes. Um, I've talked before about some significant injuries that I've had to go through, um, like with the car accident in 2011, um, shoulder separation since then, and like numerous other broken bones randomly and things like that. Um, and I've also talked with athletes and adventurers in passing about how they've gotten through injury or dealt with their significant setbacks.

Um, But it's always been after the fact. So today, um, I figure I kind of open up about what's going on with me right now at this very moment, and what a better time to talk about being, um, injured than in the midst of a setback and how to deal. Firstly, I want to say that my , intention here is not to whine and moan about how badly my feet hurt.

Oh, I should mention that I'm dealing with a foot injury. Um, But I am, I'm also not looking for a cure-all and a bunch of troubleshooting tips. I've got a super, super awesome team surrounding me and helping my rehab. I'm also very much a [00:04:00] person who, like, goes and researches all the things and, um, sifts out the good information from the bad and, and all that stuff.

I know that the injury that I'm going through, um, part of it is something that a lot of people go through, and I totally understand that. Respect that. Um, but my purpose here more so is to like focus on the fact that though injury and recovering from injury is not the most fun thing. I wanted to talk about tips and tricks that I'm currently learning in hopes that it might help a few out there. And just to know that you aren't the only one going through injury. Um, I know it helps me a lot when I hear others are injured and that that I'm like wishing the others would be injured, but like, it just is like bad. Reassurance that I'm not the only one that's like suffering or you Know things like that So I'm going to focus mostly on running right now, just because like this injury occurred because of running and that's what is limiting me right now. Um, I can actually still ride my bike, which is super, super awesome.

But, um, yeah, so my [00:05:00] running quote unquote career, um, the history is basically, I started running at all. Um, I really started running in a training sense in the mid 2023, after my bestie, Heather invited me to train with her for, uh, the Joshua tree half marathon.

I was very intimidated and, but I figured it would be a great motivation for both of us to get it done, despite the fact that I'd never trained to run before, like ever, um, usually I would try to run, like I said, like in cross training. Um, and then I get really, really sore and then never do it again until a few months later, um, or the next off season from bike racing.

A little did I know I had become hooked and after successfully hitting my goal time on my half marathon, I continued to train and I set pretty lofty goals of racing a 50 and 60 K within the following winter, um, January and [00:06:00] February after that, um, November race. So I self-trained, um, like I read up all about it.

I read up through all these training plans. I, you know, I, did everything I could. I like, I love, I used to be a cycling coach, so I'm very familiar with like endurance training and I just needed to kind of apply it to running. And, um, there's a lot of stuff out there on the internet. Some of them are good, some of it's bad.

So I kind of sifted through it all and I self-trained. It actually went pretty well. Um, I hit my goal time in my first 50 K and yes, I was, pretty sore after the fact, um, but I hadn't really sustained any injuries and kept going the following month. I raced the BCT, uh, Black Canyon Trail 60k and finished strong as well and surpassed whatever I thought I had been able to do on my own two feet.

So I was very stoked about that. Now after the BCT, I, um, was dealing with a bit of discomfort in my posterior tib area on my left foot and ankle. Um, in general, I'm going to preface this by saying my left side [00:07:00] of my body is pretty messed up. That is where I took the brunt of the force when I was hit by a car in 2011 while riding my bike.

Um, so I've got a lot of scar tissue, like through my hip, through my femur, like my left femur is like, my left quad is like all scar tissue. Um, I have a leg length difference, so I have to deal with that. So there's a lot of things that really, um, have to. Be very careful and like very, uh, consistent with my like strength training and, um, especially when it comes to running, um, running is a little bit less forgiving than the bike.

So I really have to be, um, cognizant of how my body is like overcompensating that the things for the things that are going on on my left side. And I will say like running a 60 K or a 50 K, it just, you know, I took a beating and. Even though things were pretty good, um, up until BCT, that is a very technical course.

And like, even I think without the stuff that's going [00:08:00] on my, on my left side, um, I, I mean, people come out of there just with like their ankles are just like, to bits, you know, they have a lot of ankle strain and people trip all the time and it's just, it's a rough course. So I took a bit of a break after running from there.

I started working with PT. And I, uh, with my PT, Megan, um, who's super, super awesome and we started really strengthening. Um, and then I, I got back to running again, um, through the summer and started increasing my volume slowly, assisted by my coach, Joe. Um, and, but then I began to suffer from like severe case of plantar fasciitis in both of my feet.

It was super painful. I dealt with plantar fasciitis before, um, like long ago when I was, um, doing a lot of training for, um, my, when I was racing road bikes, uh, one summer, I. Suffered from really really really badly from like wearing flip [00:09:00] flops all the time after races in the heat Um, so my feet were like swell and then I wouldn't really stretch and anyway long story short Very familiar with what this felt like so I brought that to Megan and we figured out some ways to alleviate the pain and strengthen my feet without completely stopping my running regimen.

So that's like important is that, you know, a lot of people back off and just completely and then they feel better, but then when they go to try to run again, automatically the pain comes back because we haven't done any strengthening, we haven't been loading it like that kind of thing. So, our goal was to keep me running at all possible, even if it was minimal while we And so, um, so we didn't want to exacerbate the injury, but we still wanted to strengthen it.

Um, so, I had made some goal races, um, for the year. So that included the Flagstaff Sky Peaks 50K, um, which had a ton of vert and, um, McDowell Frenzy 50K, which also had [00:10:00] our 50 mile, which also had a lot of vert. So my goal for 2024 was to race a 50 mile race. That was a new distance for me. And I was super stoked.

And I also picked these races that had quite a bit of vert because I want to get better at vert. It's not necessarily, you know, it was a big growing year for me. I wanted to really push myself. Um, so I felt like all I wanted to do was climb hills. I know it sounds super masochistic, but um, then all of a sudden I couldn't, like, as far as like my rehab process, like anything that was up or down really made my feet hurt worse.

Um, so we backed off the volume, kept some runs in, stuck to flatter surfaces. Um, and I just kind of sort of worked through it. So, what was happening was my right foot, um, Like, started getting better, um, which I was really excited about. And the left foot did a little bit, but then, um, [00:11:00] One night, Um, I was at our twerk Tuesday women's running group and, um, it was just like a four mile run and toward the very end of it, like I was feeling pretty good the whole time.

Um, we had done some elevation, so, you know, I kind of broke the rules with that. Um, and I felt something kind of give in my left foot, um, I kind of hobbled back to the car and I was like, well, it wasn't like, I don't know, it wasn't like a pop, um, but I knew that something had changed in my left foot. Now, let me go back a bit.

I totally forgot that something else led up to this. So basically, pointing out that this is like my own fault. Maybe, I don't know, kind of that some of this stuff happened. Um, and to really listen to your PT when they're telling you something and your coach. But, um, like I said, initially I was planning on racing Flagstaff skies peaks 50 K, which has a lot of vert.

Um, and about a month before the race, I was starting to feel better. Um, I was still struggling a little bit with pain, [00:12:00] um, but I went and I ended up doing a long training run on the course just to experience that first climb in the race, um, and so I hiked up, um, and then to Ski Bowl and Flagstaff and then in this back way that the race course takes you.

And then, um, I was potentially planning on, um, getting picked up there, but then some stuff happened. And so I ended up, um, just running back down, um, the main, um, The main trail there. Um, so I ended up running about 13 miles, um, with including that very long steep climb. Um, so I figured I'd be okay. Cause I actually felt okay while I was on the ride, but everything really flared up again.

Um, so again, listen to your coach and your physio. Um, usually I do try to follow guidelines, but I think I was just feeling really frustrated and kind of like kempt. And, um, [00:13:00] kind of like in a little fence. And I don't usually do well with that. Um, like all I wanted to do was run. And I was also still planning on this race.

And I just kind of like went for it, and I paid for it. Um, yeah. After that, it became very apparent to me that I would not be ready for the Flagstaff race because it was only a few weeks after that. So, I sent my sights on McDowell Mountain Frenzy later in the year. So back to my right foot getting better.

It's like maybe a month after that. Um, and then my left foot just went kaput on that run. Um, after that, you know, I explained to Megan that something had definitely changed. She Um, did some treatments on me, still no, you know, I just wasn't responding to treatment very well. So I went to the podiatrist right after, um, that like pull or something had happened.

I explained to the doctor what had happened, um, to, and to get an opinion of whether I should be worried or not. Like I wanted to nip this in the bud [00:14:00] before it started, you know, it got even worse. Um, but this is where things get frustrating. Um, the, um, Podiatrist like pokes and prods at my foot and ankle and says, yes, it looks a bit swollen, but there's like no bruising.

She pokes around, it's not excruciating and The actual source of the pain is actually difficult to pinpoint, which is frustrating to me because like I said, when I'm walking around, it's quite significant and especially when I'm running, it's quite significant. But when I would press on it, there's like a little pain in the heel at the insertion point of the plantar fascia, but it's like not bad.

And the rest of the foot is okay. Um, so like pretty much the symptoms from my initial plantar fascia had gotten better, but then, um, but then it was, Um, like this is different pain. I knew it was different from plantar fascia. So, so basically at this point, um, [00:15:00] It's like hurting all day and it gets worse with walking.

Like it doesn't warm up and then the pain goes away. Um, and it's painful, like right through the pad of the heel. So, during the first visit, the doctor said it doesn't order imaging, even though I asked about it and says there's no tear and to keep doing my PT exercises. Cause those have shown previously that they've given me relief.

Um, and then gives me a heel lift for my shoe because like I mentioned, I have a leg length difference and then tells me to just keeps what I'm doing and sends me on my way. One month later, no improvement. In fact, things are getting worse. I returned to the doc. She offers an injection since I want to be able to keep running and I'm still trying to do this race.

So now it's getting closer to McDowell frenzy, which was in December. Um, so now we're like the latter part of the summer. It's getting closer to the race. I'm starting to freak out. Um, and now here's where I don't know if I would have done things differently on this journey or not. Like, obviously this race was important for me.

And my coach and my PT knew that. And, I [00:16:00] think if I would have known how serious my injuries were, A little foreshadowing there. I probably would have pulled the plug on pushing it much harder earlier. Um, but hindsight is 20, 20, I guess when you look at it, I was doing the best I could. I was getting certain answers from the doctor that were like, yeah, just keep going.

And, you know, like I mentioned with PT and coach, we want to keep trying, um, if I can and, you know, to hit my goal and they were trying to be respectful of my wishes while trying to find that balance between, you know, continuing to run, strengthening. not incurring any more injuries, et cetera. So, after the first injection in my heel, I felt phenomenally better.

Like it was like night and day. I was so excited. I was able to ramp my volume up a little bit more. Um, again, not like super fast, but I was able to do it. I kept doing my strength stuff. Um, and then threw in a bit of vert, uh, because I was feeling good. But after about five to six weeks, the pain returned. Um, [00:17:00] so I went back to the doc this time.

Um, I asked again about imaging since it wasn't responding to treatment, but the doctor said she “wasn't worried” when I asked her if she, if I should be worried and that it was a good sign that I had responded to the first injection. So let's do another one. At this point, I was a couple of weeks out from the 50 mile race.

And my longest training run since the 60 K had only been 13 miles. And it was like, I was feeling pain at the end. So, I'm thinking like, uh, this is not very much fun. Um, two weeks before leading up to the race, I already had already registered and we had to kind of make a call. And after talking with coach Joe, I decided to go for it.

Like, I felt like I, I didn't feel ready and I didn't feel confident, which is scary going to a race that big, but, um, completing a 50 mile race, uh, was my goal for 2024 and this was pretty much my last chance. So I was in pain. Um, but I knew that the chances of me finishing or [00:18:00] finishing without injury were slim to none, but I still wanted to focus on what I could do and decided that my goal for this race was to make it as far as I could without feeling like it was further injuring myself.

Um, and again, I had asked the doctor specifically, Hey, I'm trying to run this race like in a week or two weeks, whenever I got the injection, the last injection. Should I be worried or should I pull the plug? Should I not do this race? And I got the go ahead from her. So, I was like, okay, I'm listening to my medical professionals.

Um, and. That was, that was it. I'm not blaming her of course, cause obviously if I was in a ton of ton of ton of ton of pain, but this is a weird type of pain. It was like, it was like painful enough, but then I could still run. So, I knew I wasn't running well and I knew it wasn't feeling good. Um, but it had just been kind of like a stagnant pain for a long time.

And like the next day it wouldn't be horribly painful. So, I was like, okay, well I'm not doing [00:19:00] any worse damage. So fast forward to McDowell 50 mile, I lined up for the race, was surrounded by other rad ladies who I run with at the TWERC group. Um, I was so excited to be there. I was very nervous.

Like I said, um, you know, in my previous races, I, like my 50 and 60K and the half marathon, like I knew I'd done everything I could to prep and I felt so confident and I was like, I can do this. Like there's no shadow of a doubt in my mind that I can get through with no, no. You know not an inkling unless something like went catastrophically wrong, but in this one lining up I was like, I knew there was a big chance And so I just had like goals like along the way that I was like, okay No matter what the goal here is to not injure yourself further, but to do as much as you can I was in pain the entire race.

It ebbed and flowed, depending on how fast or slow I was going. Surprisingly, sometimes slower speeds, or like [00:20:00] walking, hurt more. So, it was kind of a mix of like, okay, what's the terrain like? What am I feeling? How am I mentally? Uh, and I was just trying to run how like, how good I felt. So, I started fairly strong and I was motoring the first five to 10 miles with some other gals from the twerk group, which was tons of fun.

And then things started going off the rails. I also had some stomach issues, so it was like, I was just kind of a mess. Um, but I felt like I kept it together pretty well. Um, just accepting that I would need to walk more and run a bit more slowly and was just really trying to focus on keeping it steady and trying not to favor my other leg or change my gait.

So things didn't get worse on other parts of my body. Um, yeah. Um, the climbs actually weren't that bad. I set a super steady pace and I felt really strong and like mentally I was there, it was like, that's what was so hard is mentally I was in it and just my body wasn't letting me, um, I arrived at the Dixie Mine aid station at around mile 27.

[00:21:00] 5, which is the stop right before you head back out in the course to climb up the infamous Thompson Peak climb. So this is the last big climb. I've already done two out of the three big climbs. I already had like 5, 000 feet of elevation under my belt. Um, and this is the last big thing that I needed to tackle.

 But, in my mind, Dixie Mine , was like the, the point of where I really needed to assess. It's like where my drop bags were, it was easy to access if I needed to get out, um, off of the trail. Um, so this was like the point I wanted to make it to, and I did. So, I sat down and, um, I was almost in tears when I arrived because the there's a pretty steep little descent that you have to kind of shuffle down to get in there.

And I knew my foot was not good. Um, I decided to just take some time to regroup and do whatever I needed to feel as good as possible to be able to head back out. I laid down on the ground, my shirt over my eyes and took some breaths. I chugged a bunch of calories, [00:22:00] um, like liquid calories. Cause again, my stomach was a little weird.

Um, I snacked and stretched a bit. Um, but I just had this gut feeling that I knew my foot was worse, but I didn't want to make that decision being so tired from being out there. I wanted to regroup and be like, okay, like mentally you've got this, like, let's then let's take a look at the foot. Um, so what I'd notice is.

With my foot, I had not only had severe pains through my heel, but also like it had spread a different kind of pain was like going through the outset of my foot through like fourth and fifth toes. And they basically felt like they were numb, um, which had not been present before the race. Um, so I had made it to my goal technically.

Um, and I knew I wanted more. And I decided to give it a shot. I sat up and I have, you know, I have all my bags there and everything. And this is also my point where I was going to change my socks and my shoes before heading out. Um, everything else I like, you know, changed my vest over and everything was ready to go.

So, socks and shoes [00:23:00] and I pulled off my sock and knew that it was instantly that it wasn't in the cards for me. I was presented with a quite swollen, very black and blue foot, um, stemming from the heel into the inside of my foot. Um, and it was basically so swollen that I didn't have an arch at all.

Um, the other side of my foot, when I went to kind of wiggle or stretch it, seized up so badly that I almost, I like basically couldn't uncurl my toes. It took like a few minutes to even release. Um, so at that moment I knew I wouldn't be tackling the rest of the race. And this was hard, like, it's interesting because I sort of expected it.

I knew it would be an option. Um, but you know, I can count on my hands, like the few times that I've had to DNF from a race and. This is one of them. And I knew that I knew that I really didn't have a choice. And I knew that I had told myself that I wouldn't incur any more injuries than I needed to. And, or that I, [00:24:00] you know, was already in, and that obviously was happening.

Um, so I had to stick to my guns, and I had promised myself that I told coach that I had told my friends that my boyfriend, so that was it. Um, so that was that. I was sad. I shed a few tears when I asked the aid station what the best way was to exit the course. And the gal at the aid station was like super rad.

We had some laughs to cheer me up. And I began the waiting game to figure out how to get Patty up there to pick me up or to get a ride with somebody else. So that said, my final stats for the day were not anything to balk at. It was like 27. 5 miles and around almost 5, 000 feet of elevation. Um, And Strava even said that it was my second fastest time in the 30k, so I'll take that.

Looking back at my decision not to finish, I don't regret it. I really didn't have a choice, but I honor and am proud of myself for sticking to not injuring myself any [00:25:00] further. And I'm proud of that DNF. Um, DNFs aren't easy. Sometimes it's harder than keeping going. Um, but they suck. You know, with my cycling career, I can count the DNFs on one hand, even after like hundreds of races.

So, if that tells you anything, it means I don't like to give up. Um, usually when I'm going into something, the option of DNFing doesn't even cross through my mind, like even on crazy, like super long adventures, like the Colorado trail or the Oregon timber trail, or even on like the great, great divide mountain bike route.

Um, Like the option of DNFing wasn't even a thing. It's like, okay, I'll deal with that. If I get there, like it's, I just. Don't ever think of when I go to tackle something, it's something that I know that I can do, even if it's really hard. Um, so I think this is the first race though, that I went in knowing that DNFing was very much on the table.

I learned a lot about myself during this race and during this period of [00:26:00] injury. I learned that I could do more even in pain than I thought I could. I learned that my body can do more than I ask it to. Uh, I learned that even with an injury, my aerobic capacity and fitness were quite good. And for the two major climbs that I completed, I was steady.

I didn't need to stop. I showed a lot of physical strength and mental strength in those sections of the race, which builds my confidence for when I'm healthy. So those are all great things. So, on to the aftershock… I go back to Megan for PT after the race, she works on me and my calves, does the magic dry needling that I hate and love so much, and we talk about next steps.

I go back to the podiatrist and ask for imaging, and she agrees to do an x ray to rule out a stress fracture. At this point, she can't deny that something is going on because now we can see bruising and swelling. I feel like she hadn't really listened to me before when I said that things didn't feel right, quote unquote, and that it really did hurt, and that this time, this one time months prior when I felt that little shift [00:27:00] happen during my group run, even though it didn't bruise, like something really had happened, and I feel like Like, not enough significance was given to that event.

Um, x rays were negative for fracture, but she still didn't order an MRI. Um, she just said, I'm pretty sure it's a tear. And so I was left with more questions than answers. Both Megan and I were like, How do we treat this? Like what we can do, do how severe is the tear? Where's the tear? What's really going on there.

And it's not just like, I'm just like walking around trying to like heal my foot to walk around in daily life. Like I'm a runner, like I need the best care possible and the best rehab plan possible, and I need to be getting back as quickly as possible. Um, and I just don't understand that as a medical professional, like why would you not want to prescribe that for your parent or for your patient and like, like get the best care.

So, lessons learned here, be an advocate for yourself in the healthcare system. Doctors and nurses are overworked, and even if they have the best knowledge possible, they aren't you. They don't know what [00:28:00] pain you are feeling. And pain is hard to describe. It's so difficult. And if you need and want something, make it known and insist that you get the care that you need, even if that means going to a different doctor.

So, within a few days after the doc appointment, I called back and asked for a referral for an MRI, which she finally gave me, um, and then another two weeks it took for the results to come back. So this is the resutl: 

1.Focal tear involving the medial band and the plantar fascia. This is associated with the adjacent edema of the flexor digitorum brevis and adductor to 16-millimeter muscles. 

2. T2 hypertensity associated with the tarsometatarsal ligament involving the lateral cuneiform and base of the fourth metatarsal bone may represent a ligamentous sprain. 

So, in a nutshell, yes, I had torn the plantar fascia near the heel, or the insertion point as well as A sprain, potential sprain in the outside of my foot leading to the fourth and fifth toes, which is probably where the pain [00:29:00] was when I was feeling a race.

So, I don't know when the tear happened. Could have been the initial incident. It could have happened after. It could have happened in the race. I think it happened initially. Um, but the sprain probably came from avoiding the pain, um, in the heel and plantar fascia for seven hours during the race and maybe even before that.

So, it felt good to have answers, but now comes the hard part. I haven't ran since December 7th. It is now. February 12th, going from running six days a week to not running at all as a shock to the system, both mentally and physically. But I feel very grateful that I am able to do a lot of other things.

For example, I've been able to ride my bike a lot more, which is very exciting. Coach has been giving me workouts on the trainer to boost my fitness, and I've also been able to go mountain biking sticking to non-super technical trails, so I don't step down on that foot. So my fitness isn't waning, in fact it's building, and I'm finding much joy in returning to the bike, since I've been so focused on running during the past year.

Not only has it stoked my [00:30:00] fire, but it also gives me the confidence again to know that I can do something pretty darn well. Um, also, can we talk about intervals? I haven't done intervals on anything except for riding up Mormon climb at SoMo in ages, not since my road racing days back in the 2000 teens, it's been a lot of fun to see how much I can still push myself in ways I haven't for a long time.

And I realized that the determination and willingness to put myself in the pain cave, especially on the trainer, is still there. For the most part. In fact, I think it's even more there than when I was training years ago, like my wisdom and like my mental fortitude is on point. So that makes me excited.

On top of all this, I've been very lucky to spend time frolicking around on our bikes with my favorite boo of all time. I didn't realize how much I missed our weekday rides and our long adventure rides on the weekend this past year. So, it was put things in a better perspective for me. So once again, I'm taking what I've learned from this little forced [00:31:00] break in running and let it help me realize what is most important to me in life.

I do have some big goals ahead for 2026, including both running and biking long distances, so I'm definitely looking forward to getting in my running shoes again. More to come on that later. But in the meantime, I realize I can continue to gain fitness and joy from what I can do, which gives me the strength and sanity to be taking the literal baby steps back to being able to run again.

Right now, my running quote unquote training regimen consists of two 30 minute walks on flat ground along with my strength and rehab sessions two to three times a week. The rest of the time I'm riding my bike, two interval sessions, and two easy rides, and one to two long rides on the weekend. The 30-minute walks are some of my favorite time of the week because I'm able to do it pain free without a boot.

And then I'll continue to notch up the walks by time, and then frequency to add volume, and then start to add a little vert as the strengthening exercises start to include more load and explosive movements. I'll be able to start implementing a bit of running, but that's in the [00:32:00] future. For now, I appreciate what I can do and it gives me some motivation to make sure to get all the rehab.

I'm icing, Epsom salt bathing, massaging, dry needling, cubbing, massaging, etc, etc, etc. What's nice is that I don't have any races that I'm planning on signing up for running. So, I feel like I can have all the time in the world to get back to it.

I want to do it in the healthiest way possible so that I can ensure my longevity and success in the sport. My big goals won't be able to happen unless my small goals happen first. So that's where I'm at. In general, most days I have a positive mental attitude, PMA, about the whole thing. But some days are a little rough.

Sometimes I get down in the dumps. There's been numerous times when I've seen events come out from like the running group that I run with or like other things that are like people are doing that involve running or long hikes. And I'm like, Oh yeah, I'm free. And then I realized that I can't do it. So, you know, some days are good.

Some days are bad. [00:33:00] Um, I've learned a lot about myself at the race. And it helps me to look forward to being able to try again when I'm strong and healthy. Imagine being able to run 27 miles pain free, relatively, or pain, pain by choice. I'm loving being on the bike and spending more time in the community there with pals that I've seen more in the last two months than I did all last year.

But I'm also missing my running crew gals. Shout out to twerk. And I'm trying to make a point to check in with them and stay connected. It's just one more thing that gives me the motivation to get back to it. Lastly, I just want to shout out to all y'all that have gone through some of the injury or setback, whether mentally or physically.

It's not easy to deal with, especially rad adventure folks like ourselves. Sitting still drives me crazy. So I encourage you to find a support system to help you and surround yourself with those who love you, whether you're up or down, good days or bad.

Find some things that you can do and try not to focus on what you [00:34:00] can't. It's easy to get bogged down feeling limited or like recovery is going to take forever because it definitely feels like that. But all the tiny little steps that you can do to help your body process will make you feel like you can, and it will help you heal faster.

And lastly, be patient with yourself. The healing process is never a straight line. It ebbs and flows, gets to feeling better, and then you push yourself, and then gets painful again as you strengthen and recoup. Keep at it. It's okay to cry. It's okay to vent. And it's also okay to be okay with it. The same with DNFs.

It happens to the best of us. And most of the time, if you can figure out the coping and the progression from here to there on the backside of things, you'll come out stronger. Lastly, if you are friends or in someone's circle that is dealing with an injury, don't forget about them. Even a simple text or a coffee date or whatever, let them know you're thinking about them.

Sometimes it's easy to feel alone during injury because it seems like everyone else is out there doing all the things and you're getting left behind. Many of us are entrenched in our athletic and adventure [00:35:00] communities, and when we don't have that around us all the time, it's a struggle bus. So don't forget to reach out.

There's a reason why that person has you in their circle, and I know they love to hear from you. I personally have had a couple ladies that I haven't seen for quite a while reach out to me lately and let me know that they're still around, and that we should totally go do something, even if it's just a 30-minute walk.

And I absolutely love it, and it totally made my day. And that's that. Thanks for listening. Keep getting out there and kicking some rad butt. That said, I totally didn't get it out in time for International Women in Sports Day on the 5th of February, but I'm still thinking of all my rad sport lady friends and mentors and role models.

Keep kicking ass and taking names. Lastly, just a couple shout outs and recommendations to send you off with. I just finished reading Finding Ultra by Rich Roll. I know he's not a lady, but he's a super awesome inspirational person. For those of you don't know who he is, he's an ultra-endurance athlete who has a powerful [00:36:00] story under his belt about finding himself through different chapters of his life, including severe alcoholism, different demanding careers, and unhealthy life habits.

His powerfully elegant writing tells his journey about how he got to where he is now, as well as encouraging the reader to take the baby steps to find themselves and really find your passion and what drives you and have the courage to do so. Lastly, the Atlas Mountain Race over in Marrakesh began on the 7th of February and there were 30 women signed up for the field, uh, to try to complete this difficult endeavor.

This is more than ever that I've signed up in the past and I have been dot watching every single day. Some people have already finished. This is the first time a woman broke the top 10 for the finishers. I was, we were cheering her on the whole time and there's also been another woman in the top 20, and it's just been like really amazing to watch.

So, I just get so excited when I see women kicking ass. Um, make sure to check [00:37:00] out, um, more coverage from the Atlas Mountain Race on YouTube. They do an amazing job of capturing footage from this beautiful race, um, and all the racers battling out there in the desert.

So that's about it. I encourage you all to share with your other lady friends and non-lady friends, if they're excited about hearing inspirational stories from women doing rad things in the outdoors and really pushing themselves and experiencing all the type two fun until next time, signing out.