Yesterday was supposed to be my last one-mile run before ramping up to a run of 1.25 miles as I steadily progress…
But progress, or success, and even life itself, doesn’t always go in a straight line. Progress is not always forward. Sometimes, in order to go forward, we need to take a step back.
The fact that I am writing right now says a lot about my enthusiasm for this run today.
It’s not that I don’t want to run. I do. I wanted to run last night, but the locked gate ended that idea.
No, I want to run. I do. I just don’t like running when it’s cold and wet outside and… it’s cold and wet outside.
Well, I can keep this post short.
Today was supposed to be the day I attempted the mile.
I didn’t.
They finally locked the track. (We could call this post, “Locked Out.”)
I’ll try for the mile tomorrow, but I’ll either be out on the roads or on my treadmill. I think I’ll go outside so the speed is more natural, and not determined by a machine or the speed I set the machine at.
I’m disappointed. I wanted to do this on a track… today. But, such is life during a pandemic.
Until tomorrow…
It was bound to happen.
I’m a runner. I love running. But, I didn’t want to run tonight.
Today was Day #2 of my running comeback.
My goal was to run a half mile without stopping. I measure all my runs in distance, not time, but my physical therapist wants me to run just in time increments. Her recommendation was for me to run for five minutes.
My goal was a half mile.
In the end, it was basically the same thing.
Twelve weeks ago I arrived at the surgery center, walking in, knowing that I wouldn’t be walking out, and, in fact, that I wouldn’t be walking at all for quite some time.
When I checked into the surgery center, I told the receptionist that I was there to begin my training for the 2020 New York City Marathon. She smiled and said, “You must be Mr. Semendinger.”
Indeed I am.
I hobbled out of the surgery center on crutches my foot wrapped and in a heavy boot. The surgery was a success.
I believe that the marathon is about equal amounts of physical and mental toughness. I think the mental toughness aspect of the race is often times more important than the physical side. There comes a time in every race, and in every training run, when most runners want to quit. I can say this unequivocally, there comes a time, usually multiple times, in every run when I want to quit.
Running is hard. Very hard. I have to continually and constantly resist the urge to quit.
It had been over a month since I last pitched.
On June 23, I enjoyed pitching against Jersey City. Then, on June 25, I had my first visit with an orthopedist who did as I feared he would… he shut me down.
On June 25, my baseball season ended. On June 25, my softball seasons ended. And, on June 25, my hopes for running the 2019 New York City Marathon also ended.
The orthopedist looked at my swollen right ankle, the MRI that showed tears in the Achilles tendon, and his own X-Rays. He said, “This isn’t good, Paul.” The word “surgery” came up, but he also said, “I’m not ready to go there yet.” I think the thing that made him shut me down totally was when I could perform a simple exercise in his office – standing on just my right foot and going to “tippy toes.” When I couldn’t do that, it cinched the deal.
I was given a night brace, an anti-inflammatory prescription, and little hope.
I left the office with the brace, a discouraged countenance, and a follow-up appointment.
But all of that is old news.
Continue reading “One Last Shot… A Real Life Baseball Story (Part 14): Making It Back To The Mound”
This is the story I didn’t want to write…
***
Two days after I pitched on June 23, I had my first appointment with the orthopedist. This doctor is very well known and very respected. He took X-Rays, put me through a battery of small tests, he examined my legs, took careful note of my right Achilles, and, after all of that, said that my baseball season, my softball season, and my running season are all over.
I knew this was coming.
We all knew this was coming.
I just didn’t want to hear it.
I still don’t.
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