BACK TO SCHOOL: REBOUND STORY

Image taken by Michelle D August 2017, for Earned Runs. all rights reserved.

COLLEGIATE CONTRIBUTOR: MICHELLE D*
The September 11 post featured an interview with Michelle that provides background for her discussions, which began with a September 14 post "Finding Time to Run" and followed-up with a September 21 post, “’Climate’ Change”. Today her 3rd and last post is presented.
 
“Recovering from an Illness”
When I had a health issue in mid-March I thought my running career was over. The doctors advised me to take at least 6 weeks off from any exercise to ensure that I would fully recover and not relapse. Knowing the importance of a good recovery; I wasn’t going to mess with it. Going from running a full 8 miles two or three times a week, to not being able to do anything and having to sit on the couch or lay in bed all day was the hardest thing. Even after feeling in perfect health, I still needed to wait 3-4 weeks before I could slowly ease my way back into running.
                       
In January 2017, I had signed up for what was going to be my second half marathon, The Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon on May 21st. My parents said I wasn’t going to be able to run it, but I told them that I wasn’t giving up that easy. Once doctors gave the all clear to begin exercising again, I slowly got back into a running routine, easing up to my usual 8 mile morning route, and starting to cross train with the elliptical at the gym. Time flew by. Soon it was final exam season with 2 weeks until race day. I was confident of finishing but with a time not as fast as my first half marathon.
 
For me it was important to make sure that I was fully recovered before starting any exercise. As frustrating as it can be, it is important to make the well-being of your body into your priority. It may feel like taking a few weeks off from working out will cause you to lose your fitness, but you would be surprised at how strong and how much energy you will have coming back. At first it will be hard to get back in to your running routine, but taking it slow and starting at low mileage at a steady pace will help you build back up quite quickly.
 
For me, taking a break allowed my body to recover completely and be able to come back very strong. It took me a few weeks to get back into it, but I ended up being stronger than I was before I was ill. I was able to run my half-marathon in May, and to my surprise I finished in 1 hour 38 minutes, beating my previous half marathon time by 4 minutes. I was ecstatic to say the least and couldn’t believe that after a spring semester full of recovery that I had done so well.
 
Being able to find motivation to push through and take a break from running to recover was definitely hard for me. Running is such an important part of my life, so it was quite an adjustment not to be able to complete my daily routine, but it all worked out in the end.
 
RUN HAPPY!

NOTE: Thank you Michelle for sharing your experiences and insights with Earned Runs.  Best of luck and success with 2017-2108 academic year. Perhaps you'll discover more about running to write about next Fall!
 
*Earned Runs is pleased to introduce our first ever guest contributor, TULANE UNIVERSITY junior MICHELLE D. To get into the swing of the Back-To-School theme and to kick off the new academic year, Michelle will write on three topics of interest to students.  She is pursuing a business degree as a “Green Wave” fan at the New Orleans, Louisiana institution, with a dual major in Marketing and Management.
 
www.clevelandmarathon.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland

https://tulane.edu
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulane_University

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