What's been going on...

No training recaps this week or last (mainly because there is nothing to recap). But I did want to provide a bit of an update on things with me. The lack of upcoming races and my recent level of training will probably make a little more sense after this.

Yes, I am wearing a hospital bracelet in the photo above. Last Monday, I had surgery. If you remember from my check in, I mentioned I had some personal stuff going on. Yes, this was the personal stuff.

I am not going to go into too much detail about it (somethings should remain personal), but just give a topline.

Last fall, during a routine GYN appointment, they found a mass in my stomach. It turned out to be a fibroid, which are benign tumors that grow in your uterus. Long story short, mine was large enough that it had to be removed. I was very lucky in that it was not causing me pain and I could (mostly) run as usual. The only issue was having to pee all the time. It was sitting on my bladder (I have an increased respect for what pregnant women deal with). Otherwise, no side effects or issues.

I worked with a wonderful surgeon here in NYC (at NYU Langone) who was able to remove it robotically. The traditional way to remove these is through a procedure similar to a C-section, which I would have done if needed, but the recovery time is 6-8 weeks. The procedure my doctor was able to do only has a 2 week recovery time.

The surgery went very well and they removed the fibroid. There was also no signs of endometriosis, which sometimes occurs alongside fibroids. They also tested the fibroid for cancer (even though they are almost always benign, always better to be safe then sorry) and the tests all came back benign.

I am recovering now and every day is a bit better. Last week was rough - everything hurt and I was exhausted. I basically lived on my couch for a week (my fitbit totals looked sad).

This week, I am still slightly sore, but feeling so much better. I am going to keep resting this week and letting my body heal. I had my post-op appointment this AM and everything is healing nicely. The doctor even gave me the OK to start running again next week (slowly). I am going to ease back into working out and running, taking it one mile at a time.

So that's whats been going on with me and why I've been a bit MIA this winter. I needed to process all of this one my own, and to be honest, I was a bit in denial at the beginning. But now it's all in the past and I am looking forward to getting back to training (and racing eventually!).

What's been going on with you?