You can bare to go through it again.

And you may.

Athletes are a long succession of comeback stories. Almost everyone- including yourself now- has one.

I've been injured seriously twice. Two big comebacks. Not just comebacks to sports but comebacks to being able to function and ambulate normally without an appliance or assistance.

During one especially long year, 1987, I spoke with a sports psychologist at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. She told me that when I lost be ability to train and race I lost a significant segment of my self image. That a big part of my view of myself was as an athlete. When that was gone or compromised it affected my very preception of myself. It was very hard. Hard to the point of beginning to lose perspective on reasons to be alive. I had to refocus athletit energy and drive on recovery. And, with a LOT of help from other people, it worked out just fine.

You can dream again. You must. A life without dreams is not a life well lived.

I am finishing a new editorial for our website that discusses this very topic. One of the quote from that goes like this:

“Life is not an easy matter.... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness…”

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

KC, I've told you about my whoes. All I can say is take it easy and don't push it too fast. Set yourself a comeback schdule and stick to it even when you are feeling good and want to push the envelope. Best of luck!

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Tom, you've been in the game longer than me and I appreciate that. I too suffered immensely when the injury happened the first time...it was as if my identity was gone and I didn't know what to do with myself. After going through that I'm reluctant to call myself and athlete, which is a shame. It's like I don't want to go through a broken heart again in case I go through injury again.

But in the end, you are right. I'm going to work on letting myself get excited. It's good to be hopeful, excited and happy--life doesn't have much joy without those feelings. in fact, joy is an ingedient in my life I could use a little more of.

I have tried to find other activities that make me as happy as running--but none have fit the bill, although hiking comes close (being outdoors in wilderness is fantastic!).

what i will do is keep up the therapy, and just like when i trained for my first marathon--have the attitude of taking it one day at a time, and keep dreaming. :)

thanks,

kc

Don't give up. Injury is heartbraking, for sure. But if there's any chance you can get back to where you want to be - then let yourself get excited about that possibility.

I had/have Plantar Faciitis. It 1st happened in '07. It was the one injury that I'd read about that I was like - pu-lease don't ever let me get that one. But, I did.

The 1st PT I went to SUCKED. Didn't help me at all. I couldn't run for a year or so. And I would shoot silent death rays, (not very Sporstman-like, I know. I'm not proud), at runners as I was riding my bike around & around the park.

Then I found a real PT. He was great. He worked on my foot HARD, and after a few months, I slowly was able to start running again. And I've done several marathons & a couple IM's since.

But it came back at the end of '04 - and has been the cause of me having to pull out of all my races this past season. Haven't been able to see a PT either. I did get new orthotics, though - and I think that's helped. It's backed off a little the last couple months, but it's still there.

I'm gonna plan my '06 season as though I'll be able to train & race. I'll just do a little less than I've done in the past. But I'm gonna race. I'll crawl if I have to.

Be optimistic, Kitty. I totally u-stand, although I don't know the extent of your injuries. But I'd say go ahead, if your PT says okay, and get attached!!!

 
Good luck and aim high.

In 5 years I've had chemo twice, lost my girlfriend in a car accident, lost part of my business and most of my lifes savings in the Tsunami and then 2 weeks ago got cleaned up by a car on my ducati, broke my collarbone, scapular, 2 toes and 4 ribs.

Last week I entered IM Lanzarote, and put 500 euros in the bank to pay for my IMH entry.

pues nada, es vida!

Doing the pig? I am abstaining from that race for a few years.

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Striving to have sex more than 66 times per year

oh my God--thanks for telling me that. boy, do I feel like a wuss! perhaps I need to toughen up. sorry to hear about your girlfriend especially...and all of the rest! i will consider this my kick in the pants for the day.

 
I look on the good side, the last 5 years I have also lived and sailed for 2 years from the Uk around the med and back, mostly solo, on a $1M 60' sailing yacht and got paid, lived in so many countries that I cannot count, learn new languages, rode my Ducati from Wales to Gibraltar via the Pyrenees, run with the bulls at Pamplona and started a new life in europe.

"live for the moment, tomorrow may be too late" great quote.

The best thing is to keep at it....take your time and set realistic goals....when you think your ready to push it...slow down!!!!! Gives your body a chance to catch up to your mind...

I suffered a knee injury last November playing indoor soccer [thought i would help myself keep in shape....lol...] the good old terrible triad [meniscus tear/ MCL tear and ACL tear] and after having the ACL recon the knee is good...as much as i want to ride hard/ ski and do the great sports i did before i keep reminding myself to take the time that my body needs to fix itself.....being back in the "OR" for a second surgery is out of the question so i'll settle with an extra few month's...

Just remember it's better to run a little bit than not at all.....take it easy...

Also kitten,

Remember: The measure of a peson is not how they perform on a good day when the sun is shinng and things are going well.

The measure is of a person is how they come to grips with adversity. How they act when times are tough and things are hard.

That is another reason we must always come back.

The harder it is, the more valuable it becomes.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

thank you everyone, this is excellent perspecitve for me. i'm going to promise to take it slow, but allow myself to go ahead and dream and aim high. thinking of a come back marathon is an emotional thought for me and one my therapist even said is reasonable in due time.

these stories are inspriring and i appreciate that you've all shared. it certainly has made me feel that is a good thing to be excited and hopeful!

keep on,

kc

I'll give you one more source of inspiration, KC:

You are going to get your ass kicked on Thanksgiving morning. Keep that in mind as you are doing your training runs, sugar baby.

*yawn* you couldn't kick yourself out of a wet paper bag. :P

<The harder it is, the more valuable it becomes.>

That is the title of my life over the last year. Good one Tom.

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Not a very dramatic story, but it was an experience to go through it, and I know EXACTLY the emotions you're experiecing--- for good or bad, much of our "selves" is tangled up with our identities as athletes. Take that away, even temporarily, and we can get REALLY lost!

I broke my foot at the end of March and feared my entire season was shot. I managed to come back from it stronger than ever! I completed a half-IM in late July, and took third in my AG at another in early September. Then I achieved an IM PR in Kona. Comebacks happen!

I went through a more "chronic" problem in 2002 when achilles tendinitis threatened to permanently end my triathlon career. Took a lot of persistence but I finally found a PT who understood and knew exactly what to do to address my problems. He got me back on track and I had a great season that year.

Hang in there! Be patient, and know that it will be all the sweeter when you finally return to form!

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TriBaby
"The rule is, jam yesterday, and jam tomorrow, but NEVER jam today." ---The White Queen

thanks for sharing tribaby.

i'm feeling much more hopeful now, and ran 10 miles yesterday. that went pretty well. my PT says I'm not out of the woods yet, i'll have to keep working hard for another 6 weeks. that is ok by me!!

after I posted this, some people private messaged me with stories that were, frankly, shocking. i mean people really hurt, like ran over, steel rods in legs, type of thing. in each story, the person came back to great things. it was very encouraging to me--and my PT has done a good job of convincing me that I will be able to keep going. just have to do the work!

keep on!

kc

hey. it will be ok.

i ruptured my achilles in 2000, just after my failed attempt to go to the games. i sat there and saw that my running career was over. i wasn''t fast enough without drugs to be who i wanted to be, and now that i had a screwed achilles, i wondered if i would run again...ever. running defined me as a person for a long time. i went into a blue funk for a while.

so i had surgery. they fixed me up goood and plenty. i was on crutches for 12 weeks. i once had to go on the crutches from the train station to the surgeon's rooms for a check up. there was no taxi about, and my partner at the time was 'too busy' to spare the time from work to drive me there. 4 brutal kms each way, in the rain. i thought my life was over as i knew it that evening as i sat in front of the telly, trying to keep my mind blank.

fast forward 6 months from getting off crutches, and i did my first IM. i was not ready for it, and it is my slowest time of all time, but i did it, amd still qualified for Kona.

there is light at the end of the tunnel. you need to look at it by seeing that every run is precious, as it may well be your last. your confidence will return. it's ok to let running fill your heart.

that's so true. every run is precious. and yesterday during the 10 i thought about marisol and how she teared up on the way to the pier at Kona. i had a similar experience at my very first marathon. both of my parents were there, and while walking up to the start line they played the anthem. a veteran was carrying a flag and he stopped to salute the flag he was carrying. the whole thing was emotional, and when i finished my dad was there to see me. he was a big man and as i came up the line he raised his arms up really high and yelled out my name--he seemed to tower over everyone he was standing near. i hurt so bad but was so happy, and it was awesome he was there, i'll never foget it. i thought about that yesterday on the run and i'll be damned if i didn't start crying!

tell you what, just being out there means the world. :)

thanks for sharing your story (i can't believe you qualified for kona coming off of crutches! that is awesome!!)

I became a full-fledged cyclist after years of trouble with my knees while running (and I came from a running background). Probably not what you wanted to hear, but perhaps you're placing too much importance on running rather than simply doing something you enjoy - whether it be running or something else. My only regret was that I worried so much about my knee issues and spent so much time, money and energy on trying to work through them. Today, I'm extremely happy having not run for the last year (but ridden my bicycle a ton). Be sure that you're listening when your body tries to tell you something.

I'm sure my story isn't as inspirational as others, but here goes:

It was Dec 26, I felt guilty for eating so much, so I decided to go for a run. It was wet outside, so I wore my other pair of shoes. They were worn down, and I forgot to switch my ortho insoles. Long story short: flat feet + no insoles + poor running form = injury. I had runner's knee.

I went home and rested. Two weeks later there was still pain. Pain walking, going up/down (mainly down) stairs, getting in the car, etc. I checked online at a running forum. People with the same symptoms were told by others they would never be as fast or as good anymore. This was really depressing with it being the holidays too.

I saw a PT. He is the best of the best I would say. Has lots of experience with sports injuries. He knew what was wrong, ordered new more rigid insoles, prescribed a treatment plan that I followed closely. The key is to be consistent and to maintain proper form.

Now I'm all set again. I have been running to get my base back up. I have a half-marathon coming up too and I am aiming to get a PR in it.

I haven't been around long enough here to know of the story behind your knee injury, but it sounds like you are on the right track to recovery. Good job! Keep your marathon vision close by. You'll be at the starting line soon.

Kitty -

I would love to help you in late winter/early Spring for the Flying Pig. I love doing long runs through Indian Hill and helped a first timer last year as well. Lots of energy through Hyde Park and Mariemont. You will love it!

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

it's a good event. i ran it the second year it was on--it's much bigger now. i'm just held up on committing to the pig because TOSRV is the weekend before. i like to ride my bike into town and then take mom to church the next day. we'll see. like SAC said, it is easy to marathon at home... (not to mention by the time Pig rolls around it will be coming upon 5 years since my last marathon!! that's a long time to wait, i know i'll be eager for it)

it would be fun to run together :). you're much faster than me though, and i like to walk a little bit every now and then. as long as that doesn't bother you let's do it!!

Cleveland is only 3 weeks later, if you are interested in that one let me know. I'll give you the skinny.

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Striving to have sex more than 66 times per year

cool--thanks! are you running it?