She had a marathon and a surgery date

Marie-Claude had a stress fracture, a surgery date, and a marathon on the calendar.

The plan for after surgery was rest and hope. Nobody would give her a straight answer about running again, and the answers she did get sounded like months.

She’s a runner. CrossFit through the week, races on the weekends. So the thing keeping her up at night wasn’t really the bone.

“This might be it.”

I hear that sentence a lot, and it’s usually less about the injury than the fear underneath it. That this is the version of you from here on out.

We started the week after her surgery.

Nothing dramatic. Basic strength work matched to what her body could handle at that stage of healing. Then running mechanics with no impact. Then short, controlled runs.

Every stage was earned, and every stage gave her a bit of proof that the leg was still hers.

Six weeks post-op, she was cleared to run.

Her surgeon handled the bone. That part was never my job. Mine was everything around it, keeping her strong while it healed and rebuilding her trust in that leg one step at a time.

Because that was the real fight. A body that needed six weeks, and a head that needed evidence it wasn’t over.

She’s building back toward CrossFit and the marathon now. The win I care about is that she stopped bracing for the worst.

Somewhere in the middle of it she sent me this.

Six weeks out from surgery, having fun in rehab. That’s not a sentence most people get to say.

If you’ve ever sat with that “this might be it” feeling, hit reply and tell me about it. I read all of these.

Hope you’re moving well and brewing better. ☕