To run, or not to run

© Marie Anne St. Jean

So ... guess who's graduated to running again in the last few months?  This crazy ol' grandmother, that's who!  I'm not running far nor fast, but I have worked up to be able to do a 5K without stopping to walk, and that's quite an accomplishment for me!

I've dropped about 25 lbs since the first of the year, and it's definitely made a difference in being able to put one foot in front of the other.  I still have a good ways to go, but am confident that eating right and continuing to walk and run daily will get me there.

I had a bit of a scare after getting the results of my bone scan a couple of weeks ago.  I've been walking forever and had started running some weeks before, but knowing that my Vitamin D level is still low and I've already had the insufficiency fracture in my right tibia several years ago, I asked if we could do a bone density test to see just how bad it was before I stepped off to do much more running and risk another injury.

The results weren't pretty.  My spine is worse than my back, but I definitely have osteoporosis with radiologist reporting "high risk for fracture".  Hooo boy, now what do I do?  I freaked out for a bit, figuring this had me sidelined yet again.  It hurt to run on the road, but I'm ok on the treadmill, so after talking with my physical therapist, we decided it was ok to continue what I'm doing, as long as I pay close attention and stop if I feel pain.  So far, so good, and I even ran my first 5K last Saturday!

Since it was on a paved bike trail, I wasn't sure if I would be able to run the whole thing, so I prayed about it before heading out, and just hoped to beat 45 minutes total, even if I had to walk part of it. Well I surprised myself ... I DID run the whole thing, felt NO pain in shins or knees, with a finish time of 39:18 - I couldn't believe it!  That's an average 12:40 mile/4.73 mph pace, which is the fastest I've ever done, even on the treadmill.  After cooling down, I went back and manned a water station for the half marathoners, and jogged up and down a short patch of trail for probably another mile, then jogged the last 1.5 mile in with a friend who did the half.  I'm happy enough that I made it and in a good time for me, but the biggest praise is that there was no injury.  Thank you, Jesus!

© Marie Anne St. Jean

So ... I'm going to continue to march run and do what I can until my body says otherwise.  Because of the pain/time involved in getting back from the injury several years ago, I have to be really careful and pay attention for signs that I've done enough, but as long as I slow down or stop when that happens, I should be good.

Osteoporosis or no, I'm not ready to hang up my sneakers just yet.

~ Marie Anne