“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.”
Napolean Hill
Reflections
A month ago, I wrote the following:
“After several months of following an ultramarathon training program and falling in love with running again, I started having some nagging foot pain. What I thought might be a stress fracture is likely a badly bruised metatarsal (thankfully, I suppose). I’m currently sidelined from running for the foreseeable future. Battling this foot injury is taking its toll on my mental well-being. I’m trying to stay positive, but it’s been a challenge.”
After five months of being in and out of boot, trying to heal my injured foot, I finally decided to get an MRI. Today, I got the worst, best news: I don’t have a stress fracture, nor is there any sign of injury in the area where my foot hurts. Upon further evaluation, it appears the cause of my foot pain is due to an inflamed nerve, for which the treatment is a series of steroid injections that should relieve the pain almost immediately. The cherry on top — there’s no required downtime following treatment. I can resume activity right away with little to no pain.
I have mixed feelings about not getting an MRI sooner. On the one hand, I’m beyond frustrated. Had I gotten the imaging done to rule out a stress fracture instead of treating based on symptoms, I wouldn’t have had to stop running. I wouldn’t have lost the fitness I worked so hard to gain over the last year. I would have finally run my first road marathon and maybe even a trail ultramarathon.
On the other hand, I’m grateful that things happened the way they did because something beautiful came out of this forced downtime: my passion project, this website, finally started to take shape. I put my extra time and energy into writing and began publishing content to my website more regularly, something I’ve been trying to do for years. Had I kept up with my demanding running schedule, I’m not sure this would have happened.
During this period of rest and recovery, I also made a serious effort to address the potential weaknesses that contributed to my injury. Now, five months later, I’m coming back to running stronger and with a newfound love and appreciation for movement.
At the end of the post I wrote a month ago, I said:
“Overcoming hardship is what life’s all about. To move forward with a little more ease, I must embrace the struggle.”
Upon reflection, I’m reminded that in times of hardship, we must remain hopeful and find within us a willingness to keep moving forward, even if that looks different than how we were doing it before. Change is inevitable, but there’s beauty in change. My forced hiatus from running led me down a new path, resulting in a stronger, more resilient body, an outpouring of creative work, and a renewed enthusiasm for both running and writing. What a gift.
A few hours after the steroid injection, the pain is nearly gone. The struggles I faced not long ago are a thing of the past. Now, I face new challenges: regaining my fitness, staying injury-free, and finding a new rhythm that leaves enough space to pursue both my athletic and creative endeavors to the highest degree. Here’s to embracing the struggle, knowing there’s something beautiful waiting for me on the other side.
As always,
One foot in front of the other, we make our way forward. Nothing brings the rewards of moving. Just keep moving.
