Week 9: Bright spots
A cyst, the Diamond League, and hope
I won’t bury the lede: I have a minor tear in my labrum. While any injury isn’t ideal, this is about the best diagnosis I could have received. And, as of now, I am walking pain-free. In fact, it’s hard for me to reproduce any pain at all.
When I went into my MRI on Monday, I was most concerned about a potential stress fracture or reaction in my femur. Bone injuries seem more scary, plus I remembered the doctor saying that if I had a stress fracture I’d likely have to stop all activities. Until this week, I didn’t know much about hip impingements, or femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) if you’re feeling fancy. But it’s what I have, and mine apparently caused a small labral tear, which is evident by a ~4mm cyst. I find it a bit mind blowing that something so small would hobble me so fully. Bodies are wild…
You already know of my Googling habits — it’s a Virgo thing — so of course I immediately found a Runner’s World article on preventing and treating labral tears. Within it there’s a section entitled What Causes Hip Labral Problems?, which opens by answering with this gem: “The same stuff that causes most running injuries, really: overdoing the running and underdoing the strength training.” It’s hard for me to read this and not feel some shame. I literally wrote this sentence in my Week 0 post: “While I am starting this block hopeful that my body will hold up, I know I’m at a point in my running lifecycle where I actually have to warm up, cool down, and strength train.” Here I am, reaping what I sowed.
Somebody asked me last week if I felt older and wiser (in reference to my recent birthday). My answer: yes and yes. Older because I was invincible (mostly) to this point, and wiser because as much as I feel ready to dive right back in, I want to continue being patient and doing things smart. And with that, this week I share more about my diagnosis, recovery, and what I am holding onto for inspiration.
📋 Total miles: 0*
Monday: 70 minutes (easy, elliptical)
Tuesday: 45 minutes (easy, elliptical)
Wednesday: 90 minutes (included 3 x 15 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy, elliptical)
Thursday: 60 minutes (easy, elliptical)
Friday: 2 hour and 30 minutes (steady, elliptical)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest
* ✨I ran 100m pain-free✨ and then decided not to push it further — but it was a truly glorious 20 seconds. And once again converting elliptical miles with time, I ran ~46.7 miles this week, which feels like high-volume for 5 days.
👯♀️ Is UCSF my new BFF?
On Monday I went to Benioff Children’s Hospital for my MRI. To be clear, the entrance to the waiting room said it was Adult Radiology, but the MRI machine I used was covered with stickers of cartoon animals and hot-air balloons. I’m not sure if I was re-routed once inside.
I’ve never had an MRI before and only a vague sense of what would happen. I was delighted by the PJ outfit they gave me and confused as to why the machine had to be so damn loud. Had it not been, I think I could have taken a nap. Also, stillness isn’t my top attribute (#IYKYK). I was aided in staying stationary by my feet being bound together at a pigeon-toed angle, but I had to expend a fair amount of mental energy trying to overcome the extraordinary urge to kick it off.
My results were shared the next day by the same doctor who saw me last week. He walked through the images so I could see the cyst on my labrum come into view. He prescribed me PT and told me that we didn’t have to make a call on the marathon yet. I am three weeks into healing, and the fact that I have zero pain while walking is a good sign.
All this would add up to me loving UCSF for both the care and efficiency if not for the fact that the first PT appointment available is October 17th. I have resources and support otherwise, but it doesn’t feel right that injured folks have to wait so long to be assessed and get help. Boo US healthcare.
💪 Strengthening
While I don’t have a UCSF PT overseeing my comeback (yes, you can call it that), I have been using both Advanced Marathoning and various blogs to provide me with hip, adductor, glute, and low back exercises. Most of the work has been with only body weight and bands. I have also done some single leg squats and RDLs on a Bosu ball (see below), which really works my lower abs and glutes as I stabilize myself. It’s probably the exercise that most demonstrates the lack of strength that caused this issue in the first place.
💎 Diamond League Finals
This weekend I traveled to Eugene, OR with my friend Owen to watch the finals of the Diamond League at Hayward Field. The Diamond League is a professional track circuit that brings out the sport’s biggest stars to compete in completely packed stadiums primarily in Europe (where my beloved athletics is actually popular) from May through September. In each performance, athletes earn points towards an invitation to the Diamond League finale. Hayward Field, the purpose-built track stadium at the University of Oregon, got to play host for the final this year. The facilities are gorgeous and the site is historic, but it’s unfortunately a pain-in-the-ass to get to for most fans, not to mention super expensive. Sadly, the stands were only partially filled on Saturday, and I suspect the same for Sunday.
Since I am sending this prior to attending Day 2 of the meet, I’ll give you my inspirational highlights of Day 1. Women’s track is my jam, but I actually loved the men’s mile most of any of Saturday’s races. The race saw two men run in the 3:43s, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and American Yared Nuguse. These are the #3 and #4 fastest miles of all-time, and the fastest time run in 24 years. Unreal. Another favorite race was the women’s 1500m, featuring World Record holder Faith Kipyegon. Besides being out-of-this-world impressive, Faith’s presence in a race means everyone else runs blazing fast — a rising tide lifts all boats. Lastly, I’ve encouraged Bill to become a track fan and his favorite athlete, Rai Benjamin, had a strong, come-from-behind win in the 400m hurdles that was a blast to watch. Rai started the season injured and peaked late — truly an inspiration for me at the moment.
🧳 Odds n’ ends
Reflecting on: Lessons learned. While sipping on coffee with one of my closest friends, Cheryl, I was asked what I’ve learned from being injured. I shared that I’ve learned how much I care about this marathon because I now have every excuse to cut corners or step back, but I am so invested in getting back to running. I am going to continue to think about what I’m gaining from this setback as opposed to focusing on any perceived losses.
Questioning: The role of my orthotics. I’ve said the elliptical doesn’t hurt, which is 99% true. If I have a problem, it’s when I’ve used the elliptical for 2+ hours and blood is pooled in my feet. To get it back up, I have to wiggle and squeeze my feet inside my shoe. Therefore, I’ve taken to wearing a more spacious pair without my orthotics and I noticed that my foot feels stronger overall. I might try running without them at some point (once I am healed).
Anticipating: My Lever rental. OMG OMG OMG I am so excited for this. The Lever is a bodyweight support contraption that you attach to a treadmill. It allows you to run with reduced impact. Mine arrives on Monday and I cannot wait to try it. I am sure I’ll be sharing much more about it next week.
Before I go, I want to thank every person who donated towards my #CSforALL fundraiser. As I’ve said many times, it’s an absolute joy to be able to make this marathon about something bigger than me. I am particularly lucky to run for a charity that I worked with so closely over the course of a decade — it feels like coming home. As of today, I’ve exceeded my goal of $2500. This has me fired up for the next 7 weeks.
Until next time…
Your blogs are so interesting that I hope you will be able to keep training so we can continue to root for you!
I'm glad the injury diagnosis is promising. I'm super glad the pain has subsided. And I'm super super glad your fundraising has exceeded the goal. Enjoy the Diamond League competition (speaking of super and exceeding goals...)!