Dumb and Dumber...and Me

Competing at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne had always been on the calendar. In fact, it was my biggest competition in July. Obviously I was bummed I was going to have to miss it, but for some odd reason, everyone thinks strains…pulls…tears--whatever it is you do to muscles that makes them hurt--take a little while to heal. I had already relegated myself to lonely nights alone in my hot, stuffy apartment when I received the email containing my flight itinerary to Switzerland. Surely it was a mistake. But after a quick word with my agent, it was decided that a trip to Switzerland to a hotel that had air conditioning , and a chance to see some good physiotherapists and doctors might be a good idea. OH. And the chocolate. Definitely wanted to go for the chocolate.

So I was there. A day after I did my first actual running on the track and happily reported back that my leg felt pretty good after the little bit of rest I gave it, I found myself facing the ultimate temptation. You see, in the back of my mind I knew it would be a strong possibility I would try to compete if I actually made it to the track meet. I didn’t really discuss it with anybody because I know they’d all give me good advice and tell me it wasn’t worth it. And to be totally honest with you, it probably wasn’t. But my brain doesn’t work that way. I’d liken it to a shopoholic finding themselves plopped down in the middle of the semi-annual sale at Nordstroms. How do you not shop?!! Well, that’s how I feel about competing. I saw the doctor while I was there and after his evaluation he told me he could definitely tell it was coming along nicely in terms of healing, however it may be too soon to really compete, but who knows, it may be fine. I looked back at him as he waited for me to respond with something along the lines of it’s better to be careful…better safe than sorry…I’ll just keep resting and wait til the next one…. But my mind went a whole different direction. ”Hmm I said, ”So you’re saying there’s a chance?!! And for some odd reason I just don’t think he ever watched Dumb and Dumber.

Before I continue on and tell you how the meet actually turned out, let me issue a word of caution to anyone who might be reading this and taking their “come back from injury tips” from me. Plain and simple, I’m a hard headed idiot. I won’t try and justify it and say that it made better sense looking at the big picture and that I knew I’d be okay. Don’t get me wrong, I truly thought I would be okay, but nobody else really agreed with me. But as much as I appreciate people who specialize at what they do, at the end of the day I am the one who knows my body the best and makes decisions on what it will and will not attempt. So, this time I put my executive powers to use.

The competition was okay. I ended up 4th and jumped 6.64 on my very first attempt. I mention that because it was a steep decline of a competition pretty much after that. Two weeks of no training leaves your body in a bit of a rusty state as I quickly realized. But I was very pleased with that because jumping a decent jump at a big meet and staying healthy after it was all said and done was all I really wanted. I guess the beauty of being in such an individual sport and really having a bare bones support structure around me at the moment is that I learn to make big decisions on my own and know that I have nobody to blame or congratulate but me when it’s all said and done. I was fully ready to take the blame if I set myself back even more by attempting to compete. But I am happy to report that I feel good…not great yet…but definitely not worse!