Hello friends!
It has been a minute since we have posted an update because SO much has happened (and also not happened because of cancellations).
January 27th: Surprise! I moved to St. Louis for work! I am super excited about the move, but already miss having MaryLynn to keep me company on long runs.
February 5th: We decided to cancel our trip to run our Mississippi/Arkansas race on February 8th. We were excited to cross 2 states off our list, but felt too unprepared to make the trip. The combination of my move and the recent icy weather had negatively impacted both of our training schedules. We were worried about being able to feel good running 13.1 miles and didn’t want to go into a race weekend if we weren’t ready. The decision to cancel the trip alleviated a lot of stress and allowed me some time to settle into my new home without the nagging feeling of unpreparedness.
March 6th: Spring finally arrived in St. Louis! Unfortunately, on one of the first 70-degree days in months, I sprained my ankle on Mile 1 of an easy run. Thanks to some friendly neighbors, I was able to hobble the quarter mile back to my building. By the time I got to my apartment door, the swelling was so bad I had to scoot on my butt across the apartment to get ice, ibuprofen, and water. Welcome to living alone in a new city where I don’t know anyone! Thank goodness it was a Friday and Anthony was coming to visit for the weekend (if you don’t know me already, Anthony is my boyfriend of 3ish years who lives in Kansas City).
By Monday morning, I still couldn’t walk unassisted (Anthony had been giving me piggy back rides across my apartment when I had to go to the bathroom). I stayed home from work on Monday and by Monday night, the swelling had gone down enough so I could limp along a little better. I went to work Tuesday and hoped some time on my feet and a little stretching would result in improvement. On Thursday, I decided to go to urgent care. They did x-rays which showed no breaks, put me in a boot for 2 weeks, and referred me to an orthopedic doctor if I wasn’t back to normal in 4 weeks. We also decided to cancel our adult spring break ski trip to Breckenridge.
March 14th: MaryLynn’s ski trip (different from our sister spring break trip) in Vail got cut short. The resort she visited was deemed a high-risk area and she had to enter into two weeks of quarantine. She couldn’t even leave her apartment to go for a run!
March 23rd: St. Louis City began their “Stay at Home” order due to COVID-19.
March 24th: Kansas City began their “Stay at Home” order due to COVID-19.
March 24th: Our Wisconsin race scheduled for May 3rd was cancelled.
March 28th: MaryLynn’s quarantine was finally over! She started running again and just three miles felt difficult, but you’ve got to start somewhere!
April 3rd: I was deemed an ‘essential employee’ and started wearing a mask to work. The company I work for started producing masks for our employees as well as donating to local hospitals. With the majority of the world under some sort of mandated stay-at-home order, we are living in a truly crazy time!
April 6th: After a total of 5 weeks off, I went for my first run. Every step was uncomfortable / painful and I was definitely not back to normal. I scheduled an appointment with the doctor that week.
April 9th: Our Minnesota race scheduled for May 2nd was cancelled. That’s right. We were going to attempt two half marathons in one weekend! However, I likely would not have been ready to run 13 miles after 5 weeks off and continued ankle pain.
April 9th: I finally visited an orthopedic doctor about my ankle and learned that the ligaments were completely ruptured. My ankle is “severely unstable” and the doctor could see “past trauma” in the x-rays from previous injuries to this ankle (whoops). I can continue running (yay!), but must wear a brace at all times for the next 3 weeks to hopefully gain back stability. Unfortunately, I’m at risk of chronic instability and may require surgery to avoid long term pain (not yay). I’ll know more in a few weeks. Until then, I will be wearing this brace religiously and trying to get back in shape after so much time off!
April 14th: We are officially in Week 2 of training for our Oregon race scheduled for June 27th. We have booked our flights and are hoping that the COVID-19 pandemic will be resolved soon (fingers crossed). The Wisconsin race is offering a virtual option and we are planning on running our 13.1 miles on May 31st. We won’t get to check off Wisconsin from our 50 state list, but a virtual race is still a cool bucket list item!
Stay healthy and wash your hands,
Delilah