California International Marathon to MRI

Sunday is the California International Marathon (CIM). The race goes from Folsom to Sacramento and ends at the State Capitol.

Last year, I signed up to do the race after I literally running 26.2 miles the same day as the CIM– just not as part of the marathon.

It was the longest run I had ever completed and I loved it. I couldn’t wait to officially run it this year.

As with most marathon trainings, I started building up my mileage months before the race.

About five weeks ago, I noticed a slight pain in my hip area. That pain grew over the next few days and culminated a few days later when I felt unbearable pain during an 18-mile run.

 

Since then, I’ve only been able to lightly jogging for a few minutes.

 

I have been to the doctor twice and a physical therapist.

At first, they thought it was tendonitis of the hip. Nothing a few weeks of rest couldn’t fix. There seemed to even be a real possibility that I could run the CIM.

But the pain didn’t subside at all and the doctors are now pretty sure it’s not tendonitis after all.

At my appointment with the doctor on Monday, it was determined I needed to get an MRI to get to the bottom of things.

 

She asked if I was available on Sunday. Ironically I am completely free- I blocked it out because I planned to run the CIM.

 

So instead of getting up before dawn and heading off to the marathon, I’ll get up whenever I just wake up, and then in the late afternoon, I’ll head over to the hospital for an MRI.

If this had happened less than six months ago, I’d be angry and throwing a massive pity party. But I’m honestly fine with things. This marathon just wasn’t meant to be.

I’ve realized I have learned so much over this year.

 

But the biggest lesson has been that I can fight life because I think it should be different, or I can let go and enjoy whatever is happening.

 

For the longest time, I thought I had the right plan for my life.

I loved setting goals, figuring out next steps, and achieving what I set out to do. And don’t get me wrong, I still love doing those things.

But now I think we also need to have faith when things don’t go as planned. I believe something bigger than all of us is calling the shots. And he/she/it has far bigger and better plans than we could ever imagine ourselves.

So why would I block all that goodness from flowing my way? Resistance only wastes time. Acceptance and realignment leads to unexpected and beautiful adventures.