Warning: long post. If you just want to read the lessons learned, skip to the end.

In Aug 2021, I completed Muskoka 70.3.  It was a tough race but I finished and I was on top of the world.  After a couple of rest days, I felt good so I resumed running again.  2 weeks later, I had a sharp pain in my right heel at the end of a run.  I went to see a chiropractor, started doing some rehab exercises, got an x-ray which showed I had a bone spur and I was diagnosed as having insertional achilles tendonitis.  Over the next few weeks, the pain would come and go so I’d try to run a tiny bit whenever it felt better.  But after 8 weeks, I was still feeling pain in my heel.  By Nov, I finally went to see a sports medicine doctor who told me I could never run marathons again.  I broke down in tears.  He prescribed some anti-inflammatories, told me not to run for 2 weeks and sent me home.  Anyone who saw me leave his office that day would have thought I got diagnosed with a terminal illness. 

In Dec 2021, I finally got in to see a physio who told me to stop running for at least a month and changed out my rehab exercises.  I was supposed to see him again in January but then he left the clinic so I saw someone else.  She gave me some other exercises to progressively strengthen my calves and achilles and by late Feb 2022, I was allowed to run again.  The very first run that she allowed me to do was 4 x 2min run/1min walk.  Yup, I did a whopping 12-minute run where I ran a whole 8-minutes in total. 

Over the next 3 months, I ran progressively longer distances and felt like I was on the road to recovery.  But in June, I had another set-back.  I started doing some speedwork which caused the pain to come back.  This was devastating.  I couldn’t believe I allowed myself to get reinjured and it was really tough on me mentally.  I had to rest for another month before I could run again.

In Aug, a year after Muskoka 70.3, I ran the SuperPower 5K.  Since I had barely done any speedwork leading up to the race, the race strategy from my coach was to run easy the first 2k and then race the last 3k.  I completed the race in 27:38. While I was grateful that I was able to run again mostly pain-free, running 5 minutes slower than my 5k PB was truly humbling. 

Very gradually, I started building up my weekly mileage again from 25k/week and slowly increasing by 2-3k a week and taking a down week every 2-3 weeks.  I was finally allowed to do speedwork again.

In Sept, I did Downsview ParkRun and improved my 5k time to 26:48.  In Oct, I raced TCS 5K and got another post-injury PB of 25:49.  In Jan, I managed to squeak out another post-injury PB at Downsview Parkrun with a 25:43. 

Last week, I ran the Chilly Half Marathon.  The race plan from my coach was to run 14k easy and pass as many people as I could in the last 7k.  This seemed fun and felt like a good challenge without having a time goal.  With all the excitement and adrenaline at the start of the race, I held back as much as I could in the first 14k.  At the last 7k, I passed so many people, I lost count after 100.  I ended up finishing in 2:04:30.  Again, I am grateful that I’m able to run again but it was another humbling experience to run 18 minutes slower than my half marathon PB.  And, as if my body needed to prove a point, I was surprisingly sore the next day for having run such a “slow” race.  

I know that I need to be grateful that I’m able to run.  I need to be patient and trust the process.  Part of the reason I’m writing this out is to remind myself of how far I’ve come.  In fact, I am surprised to remember that it was almost exactly one year ago when I was only allowed to run 8 minutes as part of a 12 minute workout.  I need to constantly remind myself that I have come a long way over the past year and to not compare my fitness to my pre-injury and pre-COVID PBs. 

Lessons learned

1. Post-race rest and recovery is critical, even if you don’t think you need it.  Take at least 2 weeks off after a goal race to let your body fully recover and then you can begin a reverse taper to get back into a base phase.
2. Don’t push through pain. As soon as you feel pain, take a rest day or two. Don’t worry, you won’t lose your fitness. 
3. See a health care provider if your pain doesn’t go away after a couple of days.  Find someone who can properly diagnose your injury and provide you with the right treatment plan.  Get a second opinion if needed.
4. Do your rehab exercises. Going to the physio once a week for an hour isn’t going to magically heel you.  Doing the prescribed exercises EVERY DAY is the key.  
5. Be patient.  Don’t progress too quickly.  Many conventional “rules” of running are designed for healthy, non-injured runners.  While it may be safe for a non-injured runner to increase their distance by 10% each week and take a down week every 3-4 weeks, an injured runner may only be able to safely increase their distance by 5% every other week and needs to take a down week every 2-3 weeks.    
6. Don’t compare yourself to others. Every runner is different.  Every injury is different.  Everyone responds differently to treatment.
7. Don’t even compare yourself to yourself pre-injury.  You are not the same person anymore.  Compare yourself to yourself post-injury to track progress. Celebrate post-injury longest runs and PBs!
8. Don’t give up on your goals.  It might take you longer to get there but with consistency and hard work, you will get there.