As the middle of July swings around, I am realizing that my time in Colorado is quickly coming to an end. For many people, this could be cause for sadness or disappointment. The end of the summer does mean going back to school and starting classes again. For me, school is the easy part of the year. I work myself so hard over the summer that getting back on campus and starting classes is a huge relief to my body. Today was my 20th straight day of work when counting both the PT internship and Domino’s. I ran 95 miles this week with two workouts and a hard long run. Despite this, I am finding the silver lining in the work.
On Wednesday morning a middle-distance runner at Stanford came in to rehab a stress fracture in her foot. She
had been in a few times previously, so I knew where she was at in the recovery process: today was the day that she could run again! After helping her through a quick strength routine to warm everything up, we hooked her up to the Lever, an attachment for the treadmill that reduces body weight, and let her run for a few minutes. Ordinarily, 3 sets of 2-minute runs and 1-minute walks would not be cause for celebration, but these were her first steps running in months. For non-runners, running may seem like a punishment or something that is done to lose weight or get in shape, but for runners the daily miles are a part of the routine, a place to see your friends and chat about your life. When that is taken away, it is very easy to spiral into depression or unhealthy life habits. Seeing her running again reminded me of when I had my own stress fracture and could not run for almost 2 months. When I was coming back from that, I told myself that never again would I take running for granted; I would run all the miles, do all the little things, and try to control all that I could to be the best that I can possibly be.
Besides that big step forward for one patient, it was a routine week in the clinic. A few professional runners came in for treatment as they build up to big races with the USA track championships quickly approaching. A few older patients came to do general strength routines to slow the effects of aging. A few of the regular patients who I have become friends with were either unable to make appointments on Tuesday or Wednesday or no longer require treatment for their injuries.
Because I am so busy with work and running, going on runs with people is one of my main forms of social interaction. I had a double session on Tuesday, meaning that I do a speed workout in both the morning and evening. Because I did not finish up in Boulder until almost 9 pm and would have to be back there, an hour away from my house, at 9 am the next day, one of my friends in the area was gracious enough to offer up his guest bedroom to save me a few hours of driving. He is a professional runner, so we went on a run the next morning before I had to be in. On Saturday, I drove down to Colorado Springs to run with a few people that I know there. One of the guys just transferred to Cornell from Wyoming. He is hands-down one of the most talented runners to ever enter Division III, and I am extremely excited to see how he changes our team in the upcoming seasons. Most of my friends here do not attend Cornell though, so I am making the most of my time with them before I will be training and living on my own again in just 2 weeks.