If you run Boston...

You could never run again! When the Dr calls and says, "If you run the Boston Marathon, it could be catastrophic...you could never run again!" Would you listen and follow his advice? Attempt to put yourself in my shoes for a minute and then answer that question. I had my first Dr's appt last Thursday in which he thought that I had a hip labral tear, something that requires surgery to fix. He said I could take prescription strength anti-inflammatory to get through the pain and run the Boston Marathon, which was a little over 3 weeks away. He also ordered a preliminary MRI "just to be sure" I didn't have a hip stress fracture. I had already rested for 10 days, so I was eager to do my final long run. He assured me that once he had the results, he would call and clear me. My MRI was on Friday evening and the results were done by Saturday, but I wasn't worried about them sitting on the fax machine over the weekend, since I KNEW I had a tear and would be okay to run. So I joined my Sunday morning group of girls who agreed to run flat (his only advice at this point) and we headed out for 22 miles. I was on the slow side, but finished it. My body hurt more than normal...my muscles, but I chalked it up to them overcompensating for the injury.

On Monday, I called the Dr's office for my results. His nurse let me know that they had them, but the Dr wanted to actually see the films which he would have by Tuesday. I was a little frustrated. I planned my normal afternoon run with my running partner, Scheri, for Tuesday and was even talking about throwing in some speed. We were going to do 10 miles on our normal concrete path. Yikes! I received the call around 2:30pm in which he began with, "If you run Boston, you could never run again. You have a hip stress fracture." My response, "I ran 22 miles on it on Sunday." So I pondered my next steps, of course posted it on Facebook, and decided that I would keep my plans to run Boston. I will train on the elliptical and bike for the next 2 1/2 weeks, walk around on crutches to rest it as much as possible, and faithfully take the doses of calcium and vitamin D that he prescribed. It is about everything that went into it...that started so long ago. I know I could defer my entry, but I just don't feel like going through all of it again. I may regret it, but hopefully it just ends up a good memory!