A Story of Perseverance
Joanie loves romping in the snow while I ski.
In January 2021, I injured my left knee in a cross country skiing accident.
I had just started down a short, gentle slope into the woods at the edge of my yard. My right ski tip snagged in some bushes while my left ski kept going. My left knee twisted and I felt something inside it strettttttttch like a rubber band.
Although it hurt, it wasn’t excruciating. I was able to get my skis off and get to my feet. Then I felt my knee give way. Not good.
I limped slowly back to the house. By then the knee was starting to hurt more. I called the nurse help line to see if I should have it looked at.
Yes, she said. The instability was a problem.
My husband drove me to urgent care.
I tore two ligaments, the MCL and the ACL. The MCL was partially torn and could heal on its own, but the ACL was completely severed.
I had two options: 1) Have it surgically repaired, which would involve a lengthy recovery period (several months) or 2) Leave it alone and see how I recover. Muscles can learn to compensate for the lack of an ACL.
I went with option two.
Not a story of lemons and lemonade
I’m an athlete. Having an injury that inhibited my basic movement for months was NOT fun. It was frustrating and painful.
I had to use crutches for a few weeks because I wasn’t supposed to put any weight on the injured knee. Once I was done with the crutches, I had to wear a brace for several more weeks to keep the knee from bending.
I had to sit out the rest of the 2021 skiing season. But I did buy myself some snowshoes. My dog, Joanie, is used to daily exercise, so the snowshoes helped me get out for very short jaunts with her.
As soon as my orthopedist said I could put full weight on the injured knee, I started slowly building my strength back in that leg.
Low-impact exercise, like walking, was fine.
She looked alarmed at the idea of my resuming running. “No more than three days a week,” she said. “On flat, smooth surfaces.”
“Okay,” I said.
Patience is not one of my virtues. I may have pushed the knee a little too hard a little too soon.
Although the knee wasn’t hurting, it was clearly not back to normal. My running gait had been altered and that was giving me lower back pain. I could live without running if I had to, or if I couldn’t run more than three miles at a stretch.
As I continued to do strength training, I discovered some new-to-me exercises for my hamstrings and lower back, which I added to my regular stretching routine. They seemed to help.
Cross country skiing is my favorite outdoor activity. As winter drew nearer, the big question was whether my recovering knee could tolerate skiing.
And then enough snow arrived in early December that I could try skiing again—11 months after my injury.
Oh, glory be! I could ski! I could ski!
Pursuing a goal despite multiple obstacles
For four months I skied, snowshoed, walked, and continued doing strength training and yoga.
In April I tried running again. 3 miles.
No knee twinges. No lower back pain.
Slowly, slowly, I rebuilt my running.
I added distance, one mile at a time. Then I added a little speedwork. Then some interval training.
My “long” run of the week is up to 7 miles now. I run three days a week. The other days I walk in the woods with Joanie.
I decided to sign up for a road race, a 10k (6.1 miles), on Sept. 24 in Minocqua, a nearby town.
My speed isn’t what it was before my injury. Pre-injury, my average training pace for an easy run was 10-minute miles. These days, that’s a goal pace.
Today, I ran 7 miles faster than I have so far this year, averaging 10:05 per mile. It felt wonderful!
So why the long story about running?
What does it have to do with writing?
Writing a novel is also full of obstacles and challenges. It is work. Just like recovering my athletic ability is work.
We don’t need inspiration to get our work done. We just need to show up.
When we persevere, we win. We finish the manuscript. We finish the race.
We accomplish our big, scary goals.