Confession: I have been in pain for quite a bit of time.
Not life-ending pain, mind you. Just achey. Mostly, though, I’ve been in pain for pretty much every run I’ve done since around last January. I mean, it’s rarely anything too terrible, often just general intense achey-ness, especially on…
i feel you so much, christina. although i never got up to long distance running, i was still training for a 5k. i fell in love with running. and then i discovered my labrum was completely separated and my bones were essentially scraping each other because i had too much on both hips. even with the arthroscopy, i was told i would never be able to run again unless i liked being in pain.
that sucked. especially since running was really the only exercise at that point that did everything i needed it to do-i still had about 20-30lbs to lose, it cleared my head, and yeah i hated it at the time but after, i had that sense of accomplishment-every PR, every down tick in time, every stride, every foot i pushed…it was worth it. being told i would never get to run the way i like to run again was a major blow.
that’s when i found cycling. although outdoor cycling i can’t do to save my life (what are balance and coordination?) indoor cycling saved my spirit. it really did. i now cycle in spin classes 60-70mi a week (that’s a conservative guestimate, but with spin classes being 45-60 minutes and you’re doing an average of 15-20mi a class….) and between the instructors being everything from drill sargeant to zen-like to hating it with you (my favorite one, ben, loves to say GODDAMN GODDAMN HOLY SHIT WHAT IN THE FUCK ARE WE DOING WHAT THE FUCK ARE OUR LIVES RIGHT NOW), incredible music, and just zoning out in a class of 30-50 other people, i was able to find my next chapter.
i know you will find yours, christina. you are incredible and you and penelope both were my inspirations to pick up running when i was still able to, and you will continue to be inspirational no matter where you end up, be it sport, education, or just life.
So, I somehow didn't see this until right now because... reasons? Because I suck? But I was writing something and saw it.
So, publicly saying
1) I suck, and I'm so sorry I missed this beautiful post.
2) Dear everyone who might follow me, go follow Kylie because she is the shit.
3) Your dedication to being a good human and pushing yourself to love yourself inspires ME to do the same. Thanks for being awesome. <3
