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Back On My Feet, Out of My Seat

Something had to give. Last year I worked hard to establish a full workout schedule sans running, so incorporating running back in inevitably meant I'd have to adjust for a new schedule. And now that I'm able to run three days a week (yay!), I've had to decide what to let go of. I wanted to remain a versatile athlete—and a strong, healthy one. So I knew I needed to keep strength training in, which left me essentially choosing between swimming and biking. And that's not really a hard choice for me; swimming had become a new love over the course of my foot injury, and biking, well, let's just say I never became chummy with that sport. Plus, I committed to a challenge to swim 111 miles over the course of a year, and I still need to swim at least twice a week to meet that goal.


I don't imagine I'll abandon the bike altogether, but I won't try to work it into my weekly training. Maybe that will actually help; maybe trying to force it has made me resent it. Time will tell.

As for running, I'm not quite ready to start training for any races; my pace is still relatively slow, and I don't mind keeping it that way while I acclimate back into regular running. I still need to keep up with my at-home physical therapy to stay pain-free while running. I'm not as diligent about it, but I do what feels manageable and still therapeutic.

For so long I lamented the fact that I couldn't run, and it doesn't take much effort now to be mindful of how fortunate I am just to be able to do it again. But every now and then I catch myself in a challenging moment—I'm lacking motivation to start, my body feels sluggish, I'm hot and uncomfortable—and try to think, I'm lucky to feel this struggle; if this is my struggle, I'm doing great.

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