Recovery Day
Today was essentially a travel day. We're off to Plitvice Lakes National Park, which is about a 5-6 hour bus ride north of Split, in the forested interior of Croatia. On the way, we made a 3-hour pit-stop in Trogir, a smaller town just north of Split with typically picturesque medieval streets. Tonight, we just relaxed in our cheap but very comfortable bed and breakfast near Plitvice Lakes. I'll tell you all about the park after we visit it tomorrow.
Anyway, you may have noticed that I cut off the "800 miles in 80 days or less" part from my blog title. I'm officially recognizing the fact that I'm officially
injured and will officially be unable to complete the goal I set out
when I started this trip. It's official. I did a little research
online and found that I probably have Achilles Tendonopathy (aka
Achilles Tendonitis). I also read that one is strongly discouraged from
running so long as the swelling is still there. Bummer. I'm quite
lucky, though, to be honest. For one, it doesn't hurt when I'm just
walking around - only when I overuse it or go downhill a lot - and two,
it's happened at one of the best possible times. Sure, it stinks not
being able to run in really cool places on a trip that I planned
specifically with a running focus, but I'm just thankful that it's
happening now and not at any other time over the past 10 years. Now
that I'm graduated and done with cross country and track, I'm not
training for anything big, and, most importantly, I don't have a team
counting on me. I've been incredibly blessed... impossibly blessed
...to be healthy through all my years of cross country and track from
junior high to college. I've seen so many teammates with injuries of
all kinds and degrees, and I've seen them all grow as athletes and as
people as they overcome that adversity. If I ever get really bummed
about not being able to run through a really cool park or on an awesome
trail while I'm on this trip, I'll remember the perseverance of those
teammates and realize how ubelievably blessed I am that I never had to
deal with the feeling of not being able to run for my team, for my
school, for my family, for my God. Or better yet, I'll remember how
blessed I am to even have the ability to run in the first place. We
take so much for granted!
So yes, I'll avoid running for a
while now, though I might have to throw in a few easy miles here and
there or I'll go insane. I'm not expecting my Achilles to fully heal on
this trip: no matter how much I try to rest it, I'll still have to be
doing a ton of walking. I might as well make that walking go by faster
and just jog it if it's short and not much downhill. I'll also bike and
swim as much as possible, and I'll continue to blog about what I do and
see in the process, so stay tuned!
 |
| Bell tower in Trogir |
 |
| Medieval Street in Trogir |
 |
| Trogir |
 |
| Castle in Trogir |
No comments:
Post a Comment