Bring on the Comeback

As of Saturday, I was officially cleared from all restrictions from surgery. I can lift any amount that I want to (or can at this point) and can do any workouts that my body can handle. The past month has been pretty hard on me. Obviously there is the physical pain after surgery, but going from 60 to 0 mph overnight was tough. I was in an amazing marathon training cycle and it crushed me to have to pull back. I think I’ve struggled more mentally than physically for most of this month and I am so ready to get back at it.

For the first 2 weeks after surgery, I definitely struggled a lot with the physical aspect of recover. For the first 10 days, I basically went from couch to bed to couch and back to the bed. I was in a lot of pain and it hurt to get up and down. I didn’t have much of an appetite either for the first 5 days. I had some great friends who brought me some food and groceries though. Luckily I was eventually able to get my appetite back and it a lot easier to have food already prepared that friends brought over.

I would have never thought that laparoscopic surgery would bring you down so much. It was only 3 small incisions that were made, but it’s amazing just how much those 3 incisions did hurt. It didn’t help that I had a reaction to the surgical glue as well as to the Betadine they used for surgery. I had a break out on the entire area they swapped. I was covered in small red, itchy bumps. It took over a week to get rid of them and I was miserable. I guess I know what to answer now when doctors ask me what I am allergic too.

Coming out of surgery, I felt so helpless. I couldn’t do anything for myself and I am not one to readily ask for help. Again, thankfully I had friends, who just knew to step up to help. I wasn’t able to carry out my trash and for the first two weeks I couldn’t bend down to clean the litter box as well. You know it’s true friendship when friends don’t question helping you out with that chore. It also affected my job since I am moving around a lot at work, climbing ladders, etc. Thankfully everyone, especially my boss, was so understanding!

In my third week post surgery, I went out for my first run and boy was that a mistake. I probably went out too soon, but I was so anxious! I had a lot of pain all night after and the next day. I gave it another go a few days later and that run went so much better. There was less pain during my run and hardly any pain after my run. It was just 5 miles total, but I felt so much better after those miles. Sitting and doing nothing but watching Netflix certainly doesn’t do much for one’s mental state.

So, here I am four week post surgery with no restrictions and ready to claw my way back out. A few people have told me because I was in my training program, I wouldn’t lose a lot coming back, but I find that hard to believe. I know I did and it wasn’t all just a physical loss. I know that I also lost some of the grit to get back out there. The ‘Netflix and Chill’  certainly became the number one thing I’ve done for four weeks and getting out of that routine seems harder than one would think. It’s so easy to create a new routine and now it’s tough to get out of it.

I have a lot of half marathons planned this year and the focus is going to get back into half marathon shape as soon as I can. I honestly don’t think I have too many issues getting back into the  mileage if I ramp it up slowly, but I am more hesitant with the weights and core work. It might be another week or so before I start adding solid core work back into the routine. However, I am going to do what it takes to get back to where I was before surgery and even in better shape than that as I want to either end the year with a solid marathon or begin 2019 with one. I need to make up for missing the Pittsburgh Marathon and when I do I need to make sure I do it with style.