Back to Zero: The Undulating Path of My Running Journey

I’ll be honest, my running journey wasn’t smooth. I had to start over so many times, I lost count of them. Sometimes I felt it’s not worth it. 

Running was never easy for me to begin with. Unlike my husband, who can run a half-marathon with almost zero training (stinker!) for me any distance took discipline and perseverance. I am that person who wasn’t dealt with genetics of an athlete. I have to earn every mile on a trail and every pound at the gym. With structure, systemic approach and regularity. 

And then there were injuries. Too many for my taste.

We got into running races in 2017. Did our first 5K, then 10. Simon was pushing a stroller with our 2-year old. It was so much fun, and we were really getting into it. Started adding a little bit of mileage here and there. Did 12K, then 10 miles. And then something went wrong. Most likely, my neck problems were not caused by running, but nevertheless, I had to stop doing it and go to a year-long rehab. And then begin from scratch.

The first time we planned on making a Half-Marathon was in 2020/2021. We wanted to run it on our anniversary in January. But 2020 was a weird year, right? To not lose my sanity I not only trained for the race, but also walked for 6-12 miles EVERY DAY, hiked, and taught virtual step-aerobic classes. Ended up with overuse foot injury in late December, and had to postpone the race to summer and again begin training from scratch after finishing the rehab.

I’ve learned my lesson. Ordered the orthotics. Began with walk/runs. Planned my training gradually.  I’ve done everything right this time. I’ve run the full Marathon. Only to find out that I shouldn’t have done so. Ever. Because the anatomy of my hips is a bit abnormal and they can’t withstand hours of running. I got labrum tear and went right into another rehab, this time 1.5 years long.

The Marathon was in November 2021. It’s 2024 now. And I haven’t run since. It’ll be honest to say, I’m in another down phase here. But recently I started to feel the mood of hitting the trail here and there again. I will hate to begin from ground zero again. I dread the turtle pace and crazy heart rate that accompanies me every time I need to start over. But there are some things that running gives me that are so worth fighting for.

Freedom. The feeling of my body being a well-oiled machine. Peace and quiet of solo runs. The feeling of achievement. Feeling capable.

Should I go for a walk/run tomorrow, what do you think?

#TamaraTestsTheMoves #RunningJourney #RunnersLife #RunningStruggles #RunnersRehab #FitnessJourney #MarathonJourney #InjuryRecovery