Mak Shea Smith

6.5 weeks post op: my notable walks

Catching y’all up to speed on my recovery journey if you’re not on Strava - I got off crutches entirely at 3 weeks and was cleared to start building ‘flat walking volume’ while being mindful of any pain/flare-ups. Within the week, I got up to walking for an hour pain free so I started walking a little faster. At my 6 week follow up I got cleared to start ‘increasing distance and incline’ so naturally I hiked up to an alpine lake. I also front squatted 95 pounds this week (only 100 pounds less than my 1RM but we celebrate all the little wins around here)! I even kicked a rock with my operative leg and didn’t have the usual deep hip pain from before surgery!! AND I am still 100% pain free and have had zero flare ups to speak of!

Taking this time offline to just focus on my own thing has been so freeing. I decided early on in this recovery that I was going to start expecting the best instead of fearing the worse and it has breathed new life into my routines and mindset. Before surgery, I was really scared about taking a long break from running and having to rebuild from nothing. Now, I can’t believe how much pain I was living with and had normalized. My left glute just wouldn’t turn on and all my stabilizer muscles were so pi**ed off from overuse despite so much time spent in PT.

More than just physically, I mentally feel so much peace with where things are at. Recovery is actually extremely satisfying if you allow yourself to live in the present moment and not get caught up in where you used to be. Walking a mile further than the week before, climbing a bit of elevation when I could only walk flat, using a heavier band in my PT exercises, and feeling noticeably more stable on my operative side are all fueling this enjoyment of recovery for me. Taking this journey week by week and being excited about the new exercises and restrictions lifted has made it so easy to love recovery!

Anyways - there’s plenty more walking, biking, hiking, elliptical, and swimming in my future until I’m allowed to run in a few months!

i have loved learning about training physiology since my first ultra training block in 2018. i was a junior in undergrad and just wanting to finish a training block without getting injured - that led me to finding my first coach who i ended up working with for 7 years! i didn’t grow up running and i certainly never expected this sport to play such a big role in my life but i’m so grateful for every single day that has led to here.

i freaking LOVE being both an athlete and coach for ! this team is so rad!!

i’m accepting a few athletes right now - i’m planning to expand bit by bit each month! send me a DM if you’re interested in setting up a call or if you have any questions about coaching 🫶🏼

did you know that the average duration between onset of symptoms and diagnosis of symptomatic FAI is almost three years? i’ve had a cascade of left sided symptoms over the last six years that have increasingly gotten worse and worse. i’ve been able to manage it by limiting intensity and removing the activities i can do until i had nothing left that didn’t cause pain. i’ve seen countless medical professionals and spent so much time and money on physical therapy that did nothing for my symptoms before finally getting a labral tear diagnosis and pursuing the surgical route.

i know that this recovery will be long and difficult, but in my eyes the hardest part has already happened! from here, i know that i’m making progress towards living a pain free life :)

now vs before!

when i started scheduling consultations with plastic surgeons back in September, i was so scared they were going to laugh me out of the office. when you start looking for examples of breast reductions online, there’s maybe one photo out of every 30 that show a ‘small’ reduction. however, i also knew that i had all of the classic symptoms: indents on my shoulders, rashes under my breasts, neck pain and headaches. since taking Lexapro last year, my breast tissue changed and became more heavy and firm. i was uncomfortable before last fall but it’s only gotten worse and worse this year especially as my labral tear injury has also gotten worse.

i have never felt like my body fit my identity as an athlete. i was always envious of my friends who could go for a run without a sports bra. i wore baggy clothes, wore sports bras full time to compress my chest, slouched over, and winced in pain while i ran when my breasts felt tender. as a 32G, you can’t just walk into Target for a bra - you have to go to a lingerie store or order bras online. since i was in high school, i wished for a smaller bust! i never wanted the attention that came with my body type.

even just one day post-op i’m absolutely thrilled with the results! i don’t get to see what’s under my surgical bra until Tuesday but knowing i’m walking around with a full pound less on my chest is so freeing. my surgical experience was as smooth as i could have wished for and i’m so grateful that this was an option for me. you deserve to have your voice heard when you are uncomfortable! even if you have ‘small’ big b***s like i had, it’s still enough to detract from your quality of life especially as an athlete.

my last time in crampons was the spring of 2023 climbing Shasta in a day! Shasta is a steep volcano but it’s certainly not at 18,500’ - Pico de Orizaba definitely had its own unique challenges but it reminded me of what i love most about mountain activities! moving through beautiful terrain and being completely absorbed in the task ahead of you 💓

sometimes i get caught in the paradox of being a trail runner who doesn’t explore new places too often. i get fixated on training and wanting to match workouts with terrain - i know what my typical pace is on certain routes and i don’t have to route find or deal with the unfamiliar. i’m lucky to live off some pretty famously hilly dirt roads (which is great during winter when conditions in the mountains are questionable) but one of my goals for this next year is to run new trails more frequently. this trip reminded me of the magic that’s in not worrying about pace - at high altitude, you’re maxing out at ‘mountaineering pace’ which is much slower than even power hiking pace. there was so much joy in this discovery and i can’t wait to apply that knowledge in other aspects of training and life :)

i am SO grateful to for allowing me to host this incredible trip. we had the most fabulous, badass guides and i felt supported every (literal) step of the way. i trust Alpenglow 100% with my life in the mountains and i cannot imagine this experience any other way! i had so much fun with this group of women and i am so grateful that they took a chance to come to Mexico, climb a volcano, and try a new activity!

i would be remiss not to mention for this expedition - they sent me some incredible pieces of gear. most notably, my soft shell pants and my mountaineering boots. the Nepal Cube GTX boots immediately surpassed my old mountaineering boots in comfort and stability!!! was very happy that i decided to get a bigger size boot for this trip! i didn’t have any foot troubles on summit day :)

discovering a new pace in the mountains of Mexico with - turns out moving slow is really fun, especially at 16,000’! i had absolutely zero idea how my body would respond to climbing higher than Whitney today, especially after how unpredictably it has responded to most of my post-PCT training this fall. new altitude PRs, plenty of time in zone 1, and the BEST group of women who were willing to come hang out with a bunch of strangers on some big mountains! i feel fantastic and ready to stay up all night to climb a big volcano in a day or so!!

today is my 27th birthday!!!! some highlights from the past year of living :)

26 was a time for sure - from telling my advisor i’m mastering out, to graduating grad school, to hiking a lot of miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, and everything else that has lead up to this moment in Mexico City! i have been challenged so much this year and ultimately i am so grateful for the support of my partner, friends, and family for getting me through it all. i wouldn’t trade a second of the learning lessons, especially knowing that it’s all building towards something. i have covered more miles this year than any year before and i look forward to building on those miles while i return to running races and spending more time in the mountains of Colorado next summer!

not every year is going to feel like the ‘best one ever’. my mid twenties have held so much uncertainty - from living with chronic pain from a back injury and thinking about my career, i haven’t quite felt like i see a clear vision for the future. the benefit of that is that i am learning how to live in the uncertainty! i have made some pretty big decisions for next year (ie breast reduction, going back to school for dietetics, working in a bridal shop) and i am feeling so hopeful about FINALLY resolving my injury. these few years have taught me about living in the gray area and although i can’t say i’ve loved it, i have certainly been taught lessons.

all of this is to say that anything you see on social media probably doesn’t begin to cover the whole story. we all go through these periods of uncertainty where it can feel like we are taking steps backwards. the point of life isn’t to always be moving forward, it’s just to live! i’m hoping that this next year of life gives me guidance and vision 🩷 in the meantime, i’ve got the BEST support system around me to reflect with and enjoy the day to day moments. i think max and i laughed more in this past year than any other year together!

reading ‘Wintering’ and realizing that perhaps the last six months or so have been a lesson!! what!!!

some things this past month that have brought me joy: being healthy again instead of sick, trying a new hair color, quality time with and time with friends!!! in some good news - i have a new job!!!!! i start next week so i’m more than happy to share more of what i’m doing then 🤭👰🏼‍♀️

fitness wise, i’m just happy to be moving and building strength again! spending more time on the than i have in a long time.. i looove a rebuild and i’m so excited about Pico de Orizaba in a few weeks! i’m also signed up for next years Hardrock qualifier (Run Rabbit Run) and i’m getting excited for another year of big mountain 100 training 😊

honestly, i’m feeling so grateful for this community here and i appreciate everyone who has sent kind messages these past few weeks! i’ve been down for the count but i am so excited to put my energy into some new projects!!! life can’t always be ‘summer’ and high productivity and these periods of life moving a bit slower always makes me so appreciative of my friends and community 💞

i think we all know that feeling at the end of a long year of training and racing when it feels like you just don’t have any more gas in the tank 😅 this is why i’m such an advocate for taking an off season as well as appropriately utilizing rest days during the year. we all have different tolerances for volume and intensity - i’ve even noticed first-hand that this can vary based on my background life stress! off season is an opportunity for your body to rebuild as well as refresh the mind for the racing and challenges in the year ahead 🦋 i still run a bit of volume and do some speedwork as maintenance but i don’t feel pressure to prepare for a big event! it’s running for the sake of running - as a lifelong athlete, you have to get comfortable with the periods where you aren’t pushing as hard in order to recover and keep growing

things often don’t go as expected in a race and this post-PCT build has taught me so many lessons. heading into the weekend, i was feeling excited to run back to back 50Ks and be with the trailrunning community!

for me: SI joint pain within 30 minutes and total lower back and hip lock up within another 30. i had a very similar thing happen at Boston so i knew i was in for gritting my teeth, shedding some tears, and just getting through it. unfortunately, whereas at Boston i only had to deal with about 3 hours of severe pain, i had about 6 hours here which is just the joy of running a trail 50K instead of a road marathon. the last 20 miles of this first 50K physically felt like the last 20 miles of a 100 miler (minus the severe sleep deprivation!). it’s so funny to me that a 50K can hurt like this - although it could’ve been an hour long run and it would’ve hurt too given what my back was doing!

the truth of the matter is that sometimes a race is just practice for suffering. your tolerance for pain goes up, you put another experience into your mental toolbox to draw upon when things get tough in the future, and you find a way to keep moving forward when you would really rather just stop. it’s not always smart but that’s ultrarunning for you - if you’re going to be stupid you better be tough 🙂

it felt like out of nowhere my back decided to rebel on me and while i have some ideas, i don’t have a clear cut answer for a years-long lingering SI joint dysfunction. i don’t pull anything from the floor heavy anymore and i’ve seen sooo many specialists and had so much body work done. i have a few paths forward over the next few months, but more than anything else i think that some lower volume and more strength will do me good right now!

moreover, i’m SO grateful for this community. i said hi to so many friendly faces, i ran ~20 miles with a guy named Barry running his first ultra ever, and i got to spend the weekend with and 🩷 a life spent running is a life spent failing, succeeding, getting injured, improving slowly but steadily, and having lots of good and bad days! it’s so much better with amazing people around you!

in may of 2022, i was running down from the north rim of the grand canyon when a group of runners passed us going uphill. one of them shouted at me ‘hey, my girlfriend follows you on tik tok! can we send her a video?’. that runner, , quickly became a good friend and since that brief passing in the grand canyon we have seen each other at races, chatted on his podcast a few times, and now he’s my coach! i’m officially joining team and i could not be more excited about it 🤠 now that i’m out of the pressure cooker of grad school, i’m so excited to go all in on this running thing and try a totally new style of coaching. i’m feeling so lucky and grateful for this life! shoutout to all of you (especially the ones that have been here since 2021, y’all are the OGs) for making this possible by being here and ofc thank you to the brands that continue to believe in me - ESPECIALLY for all of my hydration and carb needs and for the gear that keeps me going!! btw - ILY GIRL 🫶🏼 thanks for setting all of this in motion over 3 years ago 🥹