I came to HSS in 2017 after an ankle sprain that just wouldn't get better. It turned out that I had an osteochondral lesion that my primary care provider did not catch, and was made worse by me going back to running after waiting a reasonable amount of time for a sprain to heal. By the time I accepted that surgery was unavoidable, the injury was so severe that it hurt every time I took a step.
The same year I underwent surgery with Dr. Drakos I had guaranteed entry to the NYC Marathon. It would've been my first time running New York, and I was crushed that I had to not only forfeit the chance to run it that year, but potentially hang up my running shoes forever.
Normally in a story like this, people will say "fast forward to today," but for me the recovery journey was anything but fast. I went through years of physical therapy to regain strength and mobility in my ankle, heal from extensive bone edema, and in the process also developed hip tendinitis as my body compensated. Then, even when I could have returned to light running, I was too afraid I'd re-injure myself.
Year after year, I'd watch the NYC Marathon in my neighborhood and wish I were out there with the runners. In 2022, five years after the procedure, I finally took a leap of faith to lace up my shoes again. After consulting with Dr. Drakos and Dr. Goolsby, I started with just 1 mile, then 2, then 3. I promised myself that I would stop at any point I felt my ankle regressing.
Slowly but surely, 5ks turned into 10ks, then the Brooklyn Half. Last year, I signed up for NYRR's 9+1 program just to see how far I could go. Fast forward to today, I am so excited and proud to report that I redeemed the dream this November and completed the NYC Marathon!
Running
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