Less than a quarter of the way into my 12-mile run, “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child started playing.
It was the perfect song for my run because just 12 hours earlier, I was limping around my apartment to ease pressure on one of my toes on my right foot. I banged my foot against the couch the week before, and accidentally hit it again that night. I’m not even sure if “clumsy” accurately describes me anymore.
The pain from the second impact almost had me in tears. Almost.
During the minutes that followed, I started wondering if this was the final blow that would keep me from running the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini Marathon the following weekend. I went to sleep with a cold pack covering my toes and not knowing whether I’d be able to endure my last long training run I had scheduled for the next day.
I woke up that morning with my foot feeling how it had been for days — OK, but not great. Could I run on it? Probably. Should I run on it? Probably not.
But I have never let an injury stop me, so I certainly wasn’t to start now. I knew I needed to get in another long run before the Indy Mini. My longest training run had only been about 11, which is plenty by some training standards, but I’ve been training with the goal of setting a personal record. So, I slipped on my shoes and headed out the door.
I managed to survive about 12 miles, which is probably impressive given the state of my right foot.
I know this post doesn’t really have anything to do with having one hand, but my attitude before and during this run reminded me a lot of my attitude immediately after my accident — I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I wasn’t going to listen to anyone tell me that my life had to be different or had to dramatically change. Was I injured? Absolutely. Did I ever say I wouldn’t do something just because of that? Absolutely not.
Some would call this being stubborn. I call it being determined.
I used this determination to run my sixth half marathon Saturday and achieve my second best time. I didn’t set a personal record, but I’m proud of finishing in less than two hours after I spent days wondering if I should even run the race.
Some people advise me against it and suggested I let my toe heal. But I knew it could heal in the days and weeks that followed.
It’s this determination that has gotten me through the past seven years and will continue to help me through every day to come.
Lindsey Erdody 