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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The musings of an injured trail runner

Not that I'm counting or anything, but it's been 15 days, 9 hours and 51 minutes since I've gone for a run. I haven't even had to run to the toilet. I've missed the Javelina Jundred (which just happened to be my Western States qualifier) and I'm not so sure I remember any of the names of my running buddies. Now that I've freed up time from washing stinky running gear every day, I'm considering running for office or trying out for American Ninja Warrior.

My shoes are clean. My car is void of any packets of GU, water bottles, or forgotten sweaty towels. Even my Strava summary for the week simply says, "Stop eating Halloween candy". Sigh. Even Smashrun knows that my ass is getting bigger by the day...

Don't feel sorry for me though. Feel sorry for my wife. She endures my parabolic mood swings. The groans and evil eyes I give all the other runners as they casually breeze past our house on Saturday mornings. If I had the patience to learn sign language, I would just throw a big "I HATE YOU" towards them and let karma have her day with me...

To say I've been coping is far from the truth. My days are filled with fleeting thoughts of going on a bike ride or making it to the gym early to get in some laps at the pool. Only to be foiled by warm pillow hugs and the absurd idea that somehow I'll fit it in later in the day when life gets 10x more complicated after the kids get home from school.

I'm encouraged that much of the swelling in my ankle has gone down and smaller lateral movements like dodging hallway Legos or doing the Risky Business slide into the kitchen has become a non-issue once more. I have another appointment with the specialist next week again and I'm expecting him to tell me that I should keep wearing the ankle brace or the boot. Which I probably won't. I'll ask him, "Can I run yet?" He'll say, "You need to go to physical therapy". I'll use my sign language again to reply with an "I HATE YOU" and hand over my 20% co-pay.


I'm pretty good at knowing my body and at least listening to the signs - albeit, sometimes a little too late . But I plan to give myself a few more weeks of rest and low-impact activities. Not like Prancercising or anything. God no. Swimming and cycling mostly...maybe some aqua-jogging if I get desperate for some variety.

Being patient is not one of my finer qualities - I admit that. But jacking up my ankle some more and putting future races at risk is the one thing keeping me in check right now. Besides, who else is going to stay home like a lump on a log and eat all this Halloween candy? :)

Be safe out there and happy trails...

3 comments:

  1. I SO COMPLETELY HEAR YOU! I too, must admit that I throw hate at runners when I'm injured. I sometimes even throw hate at them when I just haven't yet had a chance to run. This is my little ball of jealousy that I harbor close to my heart, petting it, muttering, "My precious."
    HOWEVER, who else is going to eat that Halloween candy? I'm sure that no one else can do it with quite the finesse you give it. Or perhaps there is no finesse, merely anger chomps due to the lack of running? Whatever it is, you eat that candy. You are carbo loading so when you come back, you will be able to absolutely blow all of your un-rested, un-carbo loaded friends off of the trail.

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    1. That's SOOO funny! "My Preciousssss...." I'm not a hateful person either...except when others can run and I can't. I appreciate the support and parallel sense of humor when it comes to being injured. Yes it sucks. Yes it feels like forever. But you're right...all this carbo-loading is doing wonders for insulin levels and adult acne :)

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  2. This is hilarious! I needed some good laughs that relate. ��

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