Coming Back

On Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals were up, 7-1, in the 9^th inning over the New York Mets. With a lead that big, TV commentators thought that the Cards might put in closer Mark Mulder. Mulder has been out with a shoulder injury. The announcers said that part of coming back from his injury is coming in easy situations (like with a six-run lead) would help Mark not only get his arm strength, but also to get back into the mental feel of competing.

I am making a comeback from injury of my own right now. I run long distances competitively (1 and 2 mile races) and doctors said that I ran so many miles that I got a stress fracture in both of my legs. The doctors orders were simple and sad: 3-4 months of rest from running. No running at all. I didn’t want to be depressed about not running, so I kind of forgot about running for that time. When I finally got going again in late June, I had a lot of coming back to do. My muscles ached from the first workouts and I was out of breath on the shortest run. But the biggest come back was in my head. Like Mulder, I had to remember what it felt like to be competing again to really push myself hard to do something I hadn’t for a long time.

Have you ever had to come back from a sports injury or a long break from something you enjoy? Tell us about how you felt during your comeback.