A couple of
days later, I had such terrible back pain that I had difficulty walking. Thankfully, I had Timber Land Chiropractic to
give me several much-needed adjustments.
I also was having shoulder pain from hitting at my volleyball girls so
much in practices that I was on the verge of an overuse injury and had to rein
it back. The ever-informal Polish Square
Run was the weekend after the Three Eagle, and Andy and I ran it together. It was cold, I still wasn’t feeling well, but
we ran it together and had fun running for a change.
Meanwhile, the cough continued to
get worse, and 10 days after it started, I had such tremendous head pressure
that I thought I had a sinus infection.
I finally saw a doctor the next day and found out I had pneumonia. I was put on an antibiotic and told to
rest. I had already been napping the
last few days (I don’t ever nap either), and so I continued to. At the same time, we were dealing with more
night frustrations with Myles, who was screaming for an hour at night before we
could finally get him back to sleep, only to have an early morning with
him. REST?!
I took one
week completely off from workouts. No
swimming, no biking, and no running. One
of my biggest breaks ever. I started
lifting, and pinched a nerve in my lower back, so I restricted my lifting for a
couple days. Pain is your body’s way of
saying “stop” or “slow down.” We often
ignore it for as long as possible until we are forced to deal with it. This season I have had so many caution and
red flags woven at me that it felt like they outnumbered any green ones. Sometimes you need to push through, and other
times it’s better to pull back.
Distinguishing between the two can be tough, especially when you are so
emotionally invested.
Andy and I took a much-needed break
and went to Florida for almost a week! Upon return, I planned to start my swim-focused
block, only to be at the same time met with another nasty head cold. I’m forging ahead despite being miserable for
the time being. I got on the bike the first
day after being back, and Baya wanted to keep me company out in the
garage. She played with her bike while I
rode mine. About two-thirds through my
ride, Baya ran into the wheel of my trainer and I instantly smelled the rubber
from her wheel. I yelled at her to stay
away from there and her response was to cry hysterically. Thus ended my ride. While all of these things are very little by
themselves, I feel like it has been a reflection of my entire season. I felt like I was constantly battling
something and couldn’t catch a break.
Sleep deprived, struggling to come back from this 2nd
pregnancy, tight hips, back pain, 2 rounds of mastitis (the 2nd made
me miss one of my 2 long runs in prep for the half marathon), and being sick
more times this year than the past 5 years combined.
I only had
one decent race this year, and fortunately it was at Nationals and I did well
enough to qualify for Team USA for 2016.
The rest of the season was full of one frustration after another. Somehow I still managed to earn All-American
status for the 2015 season as well. Not
sure how that happened! And after some
much needed time off, I’m ready to get back into the swing of it. 2016 HAS to be better, right?! If you have experienced struggles like this,
in any area of life really, give yourself a break. Then you’ll be ready to come back fresh and a
whole lot stronger!
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