Part I: The 17-miler!… and the Aftermath

The past 4 weeks have been a mixed bag of emotions  – there have been moments of elation and those of disappointment, of inspiration and renewed resolve, yet more setbacks and confusion, and finally efforts to find some peace. Since an elaboration was turning this post into an epic in terms of length, I have split it in 3 parts..I apologize for the verbosity – regard them as the ranting of a beleaguered wannabe runner.

Starting where I left off, August 8 was a high point – I completed my 17-mile run..yippee!! And was hoping it was going to signal a comeback of sorts after my previous bout of shin pains. It was also a great mental motivator..17 just seems closer to 20 – and although the number seemed quite intimidating before the run, I had decided that I needed to overcome it if I was going to be running the full 26.2 miles…Fortunately, things seem to fall in place that particular sunny Saturday morning – I ran at my pace, and after a couple of miles of discomfort in my shins, felt pretty strong throughout the rest of the run – and of course the smile strategy helped too I believe ;)    I was able to appreciate just how challenging it is to run long distances..to be engaged in a back and forth dialogue between your mind and body, fend off the temptation to stop and be fueled by the desire to get to the finish. As I came running in towards the finish line, Abhi was already there with camera in tow so thankfully there are some pics for memory’s sake! I could never ever imagine that I could run 17 miles..and here I was, both humbled by the effort and yet proud of the accomplishment.

And then there was the AFTERMATH-yep, as great as I felt immediately after the run, the story was a little different as the day wore on..by the time we got home my legs started feeling more and more sore. By afternoon, I was hobbling around the house with a piercing pain in my left knee and calves—and by evening the pain became so unbearable that I could put absolutely no bodyweight on that leg…which meant that Abhi had to literally carry me from one room to the next. Hmmm…this was not looking good at all—we were both scared that that I might have developed the dreaded ‘stress fracture’ and we did not even want to contemplate what that would mean for running the marathon. Anyways, long story short, I called up the emergency dept. and fixed an appointment for the next day.

The doctor knocked and pressed at several spots on my leg and was able to discern that there didn’t seem to be a fracture—so that was a good news!!..Yet, he cautioned against putting any weight on the leg and gave me crutches to use for a few days!! Imagine that—running 17 miles one day—feeling all fit and healthy and being in crutches 24 hours later! I was quite demoralized to say the least and anxious to get back on my feet asap. Took the Monday off from work, downed a few ipubrufens, iced, elevated—followed the whole shebang and the pain seemed to be getting better, if only slightly so. Limped my way to office the next day – it was pretty clear that I was going to have to sit out on the upcoming weekend run. Infact by Saturday- Day 7, I was still limping and running seemed quite incomprehensible.