I ran?

Tonight, after being out of commission since an unfortunate CrossFit incident 197 days ago (not that I’m counting), I went on a blind date with Running. My physical therapist said running was just my type with a great personality. As I walked through the gym doors, I was nervous, like heart racing, butterflies in the stomach, nervous. I wasn’t sure if Running was going to be awesome and hot or awkward and painful. It turns out Running was all of those things.

It’s been a long year, a year that isn’t even over. A year in which I still have a lot of work left to get back to “normal”. In April, after having the best running race to date, it all came crashing down at my first CrossFit session. I’m sure there are places where CrossFit is awesome, this wasn’t one of those places. Telling new people to squat deeper and go faster, while you have your back turned to them and their form, is negligent. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

I did 10 minutes on the treadmill tonight, alternating walking and slow running every 100 meters. It felt good and it hurt. I tried to listen to the pain since my body is in a precarious position now and I have to make sure I don’t push too hard too fast. This is a challenge for me. Even though I may have never stood on a podium, I am still an athlete. As endurance athletes we are taught to ignore pain, we bottle it up, we push it down, we let it wash over us. But we don’t listen to it, we don’t give in. But tonight I realized, I have to embrace it. This time, I have to listen.

And so, as my father would say, I mush on.