Disappointment

As I wrote previously “my pain was Scott’s pain”, the opposite is true as well.  Today was supposed to be Scott’s A race.  StoneCat50 miler.  A gorgeous, crisp Fall day presented itself as a perfect day to run.  But back on September 27^th, Scott injured his ankle.  The kicker is that it happened on a silly shake out run the day before he was to run VT50.  Needless to say, he had to sit that one out too.  I'm so disappointed for him.

Many runners face injury at some point.  Running trails creates a formidable threat each time, since ankles and roots just don’t get along all that well.  That’s what happened to Scott.  He’s really honed his trail running, so it was quite a shock when he returned from that run in such bad shape.  I’ve been impressed with his attitude working through this and his drive to stay fit through this experience.  He was in terrific shape and had such a successful and strong training cycle, which made this interruption so much more difficult to process. 

To add salt to the wound, he has had to listen and watch me prepare for and run Ghost Train.  He never made it about him, other than lamenting that he was unable to run with me during the race.  He has barely uttered a complaint and has soldiered on to try to do what is in his control to heal.  Injury is hard.  Granted, it’s not like he’ll never run again (though right now, I’m sure he’s feeling that way).  But the disappointment leading up to and including today is palpable. 

Although his season ended prematurely on September 27^th, Scott’s trying to look ahead.  First step:  heal the ankle fully.  Second step:  use this time to strengthen.  Third step:  get hungry.  I’m sure the ‘get hungry’ step is happening already.  I’m hungry too.  There is nothing I want more than to see him healthy and running again.

His pain truly is my pain.