Running Down the Dream: Not Running was a Blessing

If you ask a dedicated runner to make a list of the worst things that could possibly happen, it's guaranteed that being unable to run will be included. Forced time off can be heart wrenching, and the thought of never being able to train or compete again is devastating. I was there.

2010 was, up to that point, the best running year of my adult life. I set PRs in the 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon, and won a good number of overall female titles. Although I was no stranger to injuries, I felt strong and unstoppable. But then injuries stopped me.

The diagnoses/lack of diagnoses/x-rays/tests/recommendations/physical therapies/etc. are blurry, complicated, long stories, but stated concisely: hip issues shut me down competitively from mid-2011 until mid-2014. I had ups and downs throughout these 3 years, and during the ups I could train and race a bit (albeit poorly), while during the downs I was resigned to not running. I tried and tried again to get back to running competitively, but my hip just wouldn’t allow it, and my pelvis and SI joint wouldn’t stay in place to save my life. Eventually I gave up. While running a sub-3:00 marathon had been a major goal of mine, I remember sitting down one day and thinking, “I guess 3:03 is what my marathon PR will always be, and that’s not the worst thing in the world.”

I now realize that God was using this time to give me some other pushes. As early as high school, I was confident that I didn’t want to have children. I adored other’s children, but it just wasn’t for me. I married my perfect match who felt the same way, but God started changing his heart too. In 2013, we decided that we would make perfect foster parents. I don’t even remember how our initial conversation about it started, but we had both been thinking about it individually and quickly agreed to open our home to kids who didn’t have a safe one. We had room, we could help children who were considered “difficult to place” without having to worry about the influence on biological children, and we had both been around the child welfare system enough to know how to parent the children (myself through my employment and my husband through family members fostering).

Somehow I know that I never would have started this journey had I been running. Running is such a passion for me, and I am also extremely passionate about my demanding career, so it seemed that, along with my faith and family, was all I needed. But when I stopped running competitively, after awhile some of my passion went into being a foster parent.

In July 2014, after 18 other children had walked in and out of our door, we were blessed with an amazing 6-year-old girl. Adoption was not in our plan even when we started fostering, but we made plans and God laughed I am sure! Soon, our daughter will legally be our daughter – something I believe never would have happened had I not had so much forced time out of competition. She was worth every day of it. Sometimes you have no idea what you need until you have it, but then you wonder how you ever lived without it. She needed us, and we needed her.

I don’t believe that it was coincidence that also in July 2014 I began to run consistently pain-free again. I put in a lot of work strengthening and stretching, but it never clicked until then. I remember getting up early to run the first morning our daughter was home, just for an easy 5 miler. I built from there and got back into a few fall half marathons, while also getting back to racing weight. 2015 may top 2010 as my best year ever. I’ve set four PRs, won several overall female titles, and will be passionately chasing that sub-3:00 at the Dallas Marathon in December, with my daughter watching.

She runs now, too!