Here we go again…: another injury, another long recovery…and new plans for 2016..

It was quiet obvious to to me after the Nuuksio marathon that there would be a long period of resting ahead of me…and i accepted it . This time , the acceptance was easier than with my first injury this year (stress fracture or whatever that was). This time i managed to severely strain my hamstring (only 100m from the finish line ….). Based on my literature review , i knew i should expect 4-8 weeks of recovery and i was hoping mine would be closer to 4. On the bright side, i think i could write a book called ‘ the complete running injuries’ or be an excellent case study for anyone studying injuries and recovering from them. I do admit that this time i was able to cope mentally and physically better with the time being off-running than previously because the pain was not as severe as the one i experienced with my feet…and yet it was bad enough to cause me great distress.

The first week is the worst…i can barely walk without feeling pain every time i stride with my right leg. Sitting hurts as well, because my sitting bone hurts as well. I try to exercise as much as i can indoors. To my surprise, i manage to complete almost all my group exercises that do not include running. This means almost all my regular group exercises , plus a bit Yoga and at home i use foam roller as much as i can. Weekends are the worse because i’m used to have my long runs which are so vital to me. Eventually, i decide to go to my favorite hill in Helsinki (Malminkartanonhuippu) and run up the 423 steps 10 times. After 7 times i almost quit because of the pain…but somehow i manage to complete 10 climbs and i feel so happy about it. This makes me a bit more hopeful. However, on the following days i suffer from severe pain on my left hip , most likely because my left leg was somehow compensating for the right one. Later i find out that due to this injury, i get so easily muscles cramps in my legs so it reached a point when each morning i could wake up with a ‘new’ pain somewhere in my legs. I cannot give up on my favorite group classes…so even though i know i would ‘pay’ the price somehow afterwards, i continue with them. After 2 weeks i’m able to walk normally, but running is almost impossible. However, on my second round for the step intervals, i’m getting better and this time i complete 10 climbs without any severe problem. Yet, i cannot run , so i walk all my way down each time. At the end of week 3, i manage to run my way down slowly, so i’m happy for that and to my surprise, i’m getting to like a lot those steps climbs even though they nearly kill my legs every time….i just love so much this feeling of exhaustion and satisfaction i have after climb no. 10.

Even though i’m grateful for being able to train indoors and to climb stairs..i’m still sometimes wondering whether i’ll ever run free from pain ever again like i used to…i can’t even remember what it feels like. The worse part is that i feel as if i don’t have control over my body anymore. I feel as if my body is betraying me each time i train or go for a run. I know i need to find redemption somehow. So i read to get inspired the wonderful book : ‘Mud , Sweat and Tears’ by Moire O’sullivan which just makes me miss the mountains even more. Then i decide that if i spent half of this year injured, i deserve to have at least one race this year in which i can run at my best..or at least not injured. Moreover, i really want to try next year the CCC course of the UTMB , but for that i need to collect extra 2 UTMB points. I have one from Swissalpine but i need 2 more by the end of this year in order to apply for CCC next year. Thus, i sign up for Coastal Trail Series (CTS) Dorset, which is about 73km route with approximately 2500m elevation in the southern coast of UK. Yeahhh:) . The race is on December 5th, so hopefully by then i'm fully recovered. I know it might be very cold and slippery during that time but at least now i have a goal to look forward to and that makes me a bit happier.

But i do not stop at 2015. i started plotting my way towards my first 100 miler during 2017. My dream is to run the Western states (WS100) and if i succeed, to run the UTMB (166km).

Meanwhile, 4 weeks after my injury, i’m only able to run very slowly, with an extremely poor running dynamics …but i’m able to enjoy those beautiful autumn colors that i love so much. I will forever be grateful for those precious moments even if my running is poor. Ironically, just as i was feeling so down because of my poor running condition , i went for a bike ride with my friends and i actually realized that my cycling became really faster than it used to be even with completely cramped muscles…at least one positive thing! :)

My only wish at the moment is just to run pain free….not sure if and when it’s gonna happen..but it has to….right??!!!