Still on for 10-10-10!

That's right! I got the news this afternoon that I do NOT have a stress fracture, and will indeed still be able to run the 2010 Chicago Marathon!!!! I cannot even put into words how ecstatic and relieved I am right now!

I was literally on the verge of tears while waiting for the doctor to come in. I had definitely prepared for the worst. I had even looked into an upcoming marathon in December, and had brought my training plan with me to go over options with him if it was a stress fracture. The first thing he told me was that my MRI looked great, and there was no stress fracture. At this point I almost cried from relief, but held myself together. I asked him why my hip was still hurting then, and he said I did have some swelling in the joint from inflammation (bursitis). He started telling me what we could do to treat it, and I promptly interrupted him to confirm that I would still indeed be able to run the marathon. :) I then let him continue explaining my treatment which is just a prescription anti-inflammatory and some stretching exercises. If the prescription doesn't work, I can also go back for a cortisone shot, but I opted to try the prescription first because I hate needles... He then said that I could ease back into running this week, and be back on track next week.

This past week has been absolute hell, not knowing what was going on, not being able to run, and most of all facing the possibility that after putting in so much training since the spring, I might not be able to run the Chicago Marathon. At the same time though, I am actually slightly happy that this whole thing happened. First off, I was able to skip a week of running without too much guilt because it was on doctor's orders, and that made my life a bit easier with the start of school and a big wedding over the weekend. More than that though, it made me appreciate my training. I was at a point where I was getting very burnt out on my training, and although I wasn't thinking about quitting, I was getting very crabby about everything and had a very negative attitude. After facing the possibility of having to give everything up though, I am just so thankful that I can still go through with this that I can't wait to get back to my training. There is only a little over 5 weeks until the marathon left, and I only have 2 more training runs left that are longer distances than I've run before. I can do this, and crossing the finish line is going to be so much sweeter now that I have even more appreciation for it. :)