Good morning!

You guys! Thank you so much for swinging by yesterday and leaving the most thoughtful comments. Shucks, you are all just the best. ❤

I had a request to write about life after running. Let’s start with a very condensed background.

If you’re new ’round here, I used to run quite a bit back in the day. I participated in 5K’s to half marathons & ran 3-4 days a week on a regular basis.

In 2014 I had surgery for hip impingement that pushed the labrum up which created a cyst. (Fancy terms for the hip socket was too deep, limiting range of motion.) The surgery was successful, but it took years for my feet, more specifically the sesamoid bones to recover. In fact, just last summer my physical therapist figured out why I was having such a hard time with those punk sesamoid bones…I have a hip imbalance in my right (non surgery side) hip. We worked hard to correct the balance and the sesamoid pain went completely away. Ahhhhhh if we’d only known 4 years ago because during that time, my big toe joint on the right developed arthritis because it was injured for so long. But we’re not living in the past, we’re moving forward with this one.

Do I miss running? You bet, like a fat kid misses cake. I actually miss the mental part of running the most. The clarity, proving my brain wrong, the runners high. The closest I’ve come to any of those, was hiking Angles Landing. No other sport that I’ve tried replaces it.

I learned a lot of lessons since 2014, the most valuable one was to listen to my body. I mean truly listen to the body on a much deeper level. Mike laughs because I’m so in tune with my body, I know exactly what’s going on all the time, can most likely pinpoint where I went wrong & what to do to fix it. If we’re being real here, I should tell you that I have a lot of other health issues & food allergies/intolerances that play a role in all of this, but that’s a whole other post, I’d be happy to write about if you’re interested.

Funny thing is, I just had a conversation with my PT a few days ago about running with (what I think is mild) arthritis. He said I could give it a try, but it might not be a regular thing my body will allow. The only way to know is to try and see how I feel. He believes in moving the joint, not restricting but it’s imperative to listen to your body.

To sorta summerize my thoughts, yes I miss running, yes, I do believe my half marathon days are over, but there is absolutely life after running. I never let myself think I’d never run again, I just kept the door open while I found new ways to be active that my body likes.

It opened up so many other fitness opportunities I didn’t even pay attention to before. Hiking is my current favorite, I tried cycling but never really got into it, pool running is amazing, plus if you go to a gym there’s likely a nice hot sauna to get into after. 😉

If you are/were a runner, have you had to give it up for an extended period of time? What are your thoughts?

Anyone have experience running with arthritis in joints in their feet? Please share your tip & advice!