35° hilly course highly competitive good experience racing against northeast best runners.
2022 USATF MASTERS 10 KM (6.2 mi.) CHAMPIONSHIPS
James Joyce Ramble
Athletes from around the country, as well as New England, converged on Dedham. The course winds through the classic New England small town of Dedham.It was windy, cold, and hilly. I gave it my all.. i got out fast and held on for dear life last .2 miles.This race hurt. Dinner last night in the restaurant turned out to be a Covid-19 disaster as team members and coaches became ill.
One of my biggest accomplishment is also my biggest heartbreak.
In January 2020, an MRI scanning technician at University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY. I successfully won my age group for The Greater Rochester Track Club in 2019 and was coming 9ff an incredible year of racing PR’ing in the 1600 track event, 5k, 10k, and 13.1 half marathon distances. I started running in 2016 after a messy and complicated divorce and custody battle that ended relationships and running was my way of coping with my mistakes my losses, to start over, and to get into shape and to reduce stress.
Quickly, running progressed into a passion, not just for that but a way to deal with my energy and new life. By 2020, I had completed over 100 races including 5 half-marathons. But I’d also had healthy knees. However, by the 65 miles a week and running long distances almost every day became a desire to do more. But ahead also a surgery late 2020 in repai meniscus tear, acl micro-tear, tendon tear, and a vastus intermediate quad tear.
I had joined my teammates completing 1 mile to 13.1 mile distances and wanted to take it to the next level with dub 20-minute 5k and a sub 6:00 minute mkle In 2020, I didn’t accomplish that goal as Covid shut down everything and I went into recovery-mode after the surgery.
There is something cathartic about running. The simplicity helps to clear my mind. I also like the commitment it takes to run a race every weekend — following the training schedule, putting in the time, and then meeting up with thousands of other runners and crossing the finish line together.
Eventually, knee pain caught up to me, however, and I couldn’t continue running.
My knee pain rapidly increased prior to the Johnny’s 5k in March, 2020, when I had to wave the white flag but was confirmed when everything was canceled that weekend because of the spread of Covid. My activity level was greatly reduced due to the pain in my knee, and I knew it was time.
That’s when I consulted with six different orthoppedic surgeons from both Rochester Regional Health and Universityof Rochester Medical Center. Since only non-elective surgeries were considered I’d have to wait 6 months. So, I started swimming and cycling. I bought all the gear and a trek madone and kept in shape until surgery.
During my appointments, the surgeons had different procedures they do for the surgery. They recommended that I undergo surgery to remove the damaged meniscus in the white zone 9f the knee which was getting caught in the bone causing pain and to stitch up the other tears in and aorund the knee and quad area.
I agreed to surgery after talking through my goals and options. I had dome doctors tell me “you’re done, you”ll never be able to run again” and another stating ” you will walk with a limp” and another ” ypu will need a cane”. This didnt sit well with me and I didn’t believe a word of it.
Dr. Christopher Brown is amazing. He is incredibly kind and patient. He listened to me and knew what I wanted to achieve after surgery, He knew that without the surgery, I would have never been able to continue being active, and my quality of life would not have been the same. He stated because of my physicality of being in less than 10% b9dy fat and my determination that it would be challenging and arduous but I could fo it.
There was work to do after the surgery. T
he recovery process was humbling.
I treated recovery like a full-time job and began physical therapy right away.
I got to know my physical therapy team well. They were so knowledgeable and gave me the right tools to help me regain muscle strength, Dr. Amy Aronson was absolutely amazing. It was fun celebrating milestones with her—– making a complete recovery walking up stairs, bending my knee past 90 degrees.
My commitment to physical therapy paid off when Dr. Christopher Brown and Dr. Amy Aronson gave her the green light to start running again. I laced up her shoes and started training for first post-surgery race — the Syracuse Half Marathon and the Dedham 10k
Not slowing down
About a year later, I returned to see Dr.Brown and Dr. Aronson for a follow-up appointment.
My favorite moment was when he asked what activities I had been doing. I told him I had been using my Madone bike and swimming every morning at 5:00 am in the pool, doing strength training, and I ran the Suracuse Half Marathon and the Dedham 10k.
They were genuinely happy for me. I felt like I had crossed the finish line again.
Since that visit, I have completed 13 more races, and I don’t plan to slow down anytime soon.
My goal is to PR in the distances of 1 mile, 5k. 10k, 13.1 distances better than I was in 2019. Speed work yikes time as well as nutrition, recovery, cross-training, stretching, and test in a busy corporate life stylem
With no races crossed off m6 list, that leaves me with a better training schedule and more strategic racing plans.
I am running in some races shortly and have already applied to run some I’ve run before that I really enjoy. Running with my friends and team mates has been such an amazing experience. I have never crossed a finish line without crying tears of thankfulness to those doctors who believed in me when others didn’t.
And I can’t thank Rochester Regional Health staff and Dr. Christopher Brown and Dr. Amy Aronson at Lattimore Phydicsl Therapy enough for fixing their up and getting me back on track to pursue my passion.
Since surgery and recovery I won the Greater Rochester Track Club Runner of the Year 2022 for my Agr Group.
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