Last summer I got more seriously into running and increased my distances – maybe I’ll run a half marathon! Running distances is wonderful – it’s a long time you get to spend with yourself, enjoying some music, away from screens, keyboards, just seeing the world passing by and feeling that sweet runner’s high that kicks in after the first dreaded 10 minutes. It was great.
Then, by late fall I hit the 15km mark and also got a really bad injury. Something on my right upper leg. I assumed it was my IT band that had caused me problems before, so I just stopped running for a month and started the IT band physio exercises I knew.
About a month later I tried running a 5k. It was Not A Great Idea. Things got Much Worse and I started having trouble sleeping because of the pain. I decided to change my exercise routine to cycling and Pilates to see if that would help.
By January things were not much better, and I went to a sports doctor who told me I did not have IT band syndrome, in fact, I had hip bursitis which can happen if you run too much and don’t rest enough. I needed more rest. I also finally got some ultrasound done, which diagnosed more complex injuries than initially thought: glute and hamstring tendonitis in addition to the bursitis.
I had to stop doing all the fun cardio – cycling, running – and was also suggested to not do Pilates for a while. I returned to yoga because it has helped me in the past. So from exercising pretty much every day I went down to yoga twice a week.
Physiotherapy, medications (including the dreaded cortisone shot), yoga and a few months later, I’m finally back to cycling (a little) and I can do yoga every other day now. I still can’t run, but the physiotherapist believes that can happen soon.
Yoga is not new to me. I had my first yoga class when I still lived in Rio, and I have been on and off depending on how close I am to a yoga studio. It’s really great for my body and also does things for my mind. I even did a Yoga Teacher Training back in 2011 – I never got into teaching but, hey, maybe one day I’ll retire and teach. And I think if I go back to running, I should keep yoga as part of my routine to prevent injury.
Recovery is a very annoying and slow process but I’m happy I got to keep moving during the last few months and doing something I like. Spring is finally here and I can ride my bike again. There is a lot of content out there about people finishing ultramarathons, doing five backflips, winning crossfit competitions, but not a lot of people talking about how frustrating it is to get injured and having to back and reset all of your training progress because you overdid it, and now sleeping hurts.
The great part of recovery is when you feel like you’ve won an Olympic medal for achieving a personal milestone. For me, it was this week’s 10km bike ride. I don’t care what anyone else is doing. I care that I achieved something special for myself. Thank you for reading my motivational post, I just had to talk about it. This was really important to me.
And, again, yoga is great. Breathe!
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