Hi everyone! I just wanted to give the Florida running family a quick update on how I am doing. I hope everyone is enjoying the last few days of summer or has had a great start to their school year. Summer has flown by and now we all await to see the tremendous cross country season to get underway.
I am grateful to say my recovery is still going extremely well. My summer has been filled with physical therapy and I have been cross training by using the stationary bike, elliptical, swimming, and weight training. Slowly muscle and strength in my leg is coming back but will need more time to rebuild and get back to where it was. My parents remind me daily on how time is my best friend and to continue to stay patient.
Yesterday, I was super excited to finally receive my bone growth simulator after taking an X-ray to see how my bone was healing! The X-ray showed my bone was healing excellent and all the fragmented pieces were coming together around the titanium rod. It is crazy to think my last surgery was less than three months ago and the bone is already healing at this speed. The bone growth simulator is a healing system that brings a low intensity ultrasound to the area where I broke my bone. I will be using it for 20 minutes a day to hopefully speed up the healing process. Thankfully, runners are known to have a great blood flow and are super healthy all around. Those factors have been helping my bone heal faster as well. But if the simulator could help make it even faster in anyway, I will definitely use it! By seeing my orthopedic surgeon yesterday he has given me the green light to start pool running. I am very anxious to slowly begin, but I remind myself to still be very cautious as I continue to pray for no setbacks.
I hope everyone has had an awesome first week of official practice with their teams! I cannot wait to see what this cross country season has in store for the state of Florida. It is all pretty exciting just thinking about it! I wish each team the very best, as meets will be approaching before we know it. Throughout this week I have been attending and helping out at Lakewood Ranch’s practices. I am very excited for the team and looking forward to see their hard work pay off. Of course, I wish I could help and be apart of the team on the course this season but for now I am taking on the role as the motivator and encouraging them in any way. I love being around the team and the cross country atmosphere even though I am unable to participate. I am not going to lie, it has been tough watching, like I expected it would be, but I will use each and everyday as another piece of motivation to get back out there at what we all love to do!
I look forward to seeing everyone at meets this season and watching all of you do AMAZING! The meets Lakewood Ranch will be attending I will be there. That’s the plan. Flrunners has been incredibly kind to help me to stay connected this season. I thank them greatly for giving me the opportunity to take on a role to help cover the meets I attend. During my senior year, it truly means a lot to be able to stay connected and involved. Thank you for everyone’s continued support.
Have a blessed day,
Olivia Ortiz
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