Now I know what you’re thinking, “I think you got it backwards, isn’t it couch to 5k?” And normally you would be correct. That is the trajectory that we typically see, or at least hope for.

Having spent the last year and a half working towards running an ultra marathon, and now a few since then, I suddenly find myself going in a completely different direction. I received the call that my number has come up for shoulder surgery that I have been waiting on. And with that, I am pulled from the course. Sidelined. Time to take care of something that has caused over a decade of challenges for me, and something that I have finally taken seriously enough to address.

It’s hard to not feel a bit at a crossroads. I am one to take the harder route. The less favorable. I push. I challenge. I don’t like to let limits set themselves upon me. And yet I am here. I am.

I am happy to have the opportunity to get this shoulder corrected, but it comes at a cost. The attention I put into pushing my limits of what running I can do has been such a focal point since the middle of the pandemic. A normalcy, a freedom, a focus. And now… A break.

I’ll tell you what though, the short term challenges of recovering from surgery and starting training from scratch, will pay into future dividends of stability and longevity that far surpass missing half of a race season. I am looking forward to bouncing back and continuing to see how far I can take this Ultra thing, and now with both shoulders properly working!

Day 1 of Recovery!

Cheers