Not the one you’re thinking of…
Thinking back, the year has been an interesting one. Off to a great start with the Goofy Challenge
in January. And not just the Goofy
Challenge, but the Goofy Challenge with the Hubs by my side the entire way!
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| Fun at Disney! |
And then, I completed my first trail race. Sure, I could have done the 10K as my first
ever trail race. But no, as usual I had
to jump in with both feet and register for the half marathon. It was a blast! I loved it.
Well, except for the bad fall at the end that resulted in a mighty fine
looking shiner. But still, no
regrets.
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| Doesn't look too bad...but a few days later, I had a lovely black eye! |
Most of you don’t know, I’ve picked 2014 as my year to get
all those pesky dental issues taken care of.
Soooo….a couple of root canals, some old fillings replaced and an
extraction (and prep for an implant) later and well, I’m still in pain. I’ve been taking ibuprofen on a semi-regular
basis since late May. Definitely some
regrets here. Don’t worry, I am seeing a
DIFFERENT dentist very soon.
And next – the dreaded “B” word.
Broken.
As in bone.
My foot. My 5th
metatarsal to be exact.
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| In case you were asking yourself, "Where's the 5th metarsal?" |
How, you ask?
Stupid story. Three weeks ago, I thought I was
going to have boring evening at home – the Hubs was out and the kids were at
the Grandparent’s house. At the last
minute, I texted two friends to see if there was any chance at all they could
meet up. It was highly unlikely, since
they also have kiddos and busy schedules, but I figured why not. And much to my surprise, they were both
available…score!!!
So, we were out having dinner and while walking toward the
back of the restaurant, I managed to trip and fall. I’m quite sure I looked very graceful. Honestly, it didn’t seem that bad. I was more embarrassed than in pain. Dinner was great, conversation with friends was great...overall, a great time and no idea that I had really injured my foot. However, the next morning I knew I had more
than a bit of a bruise. The Hubs and I
went to the Woodlands Fit annual pace placement run (I watched) and I had to
hobble to the start of the run. On the
way home, we decided that I would go to the nearby urgent care and have my foot
checked out.
Here is the result…
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| Lovely purple toes.... |
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| My very fashionable orthopedic shoe! |
So what does a triathlete do when they break a bone?
Ask how quickly they can start swimming, biking and running,
of course. The doc at the urgent care
was hesitant to give me a timeline, so I was off to see an Orthopedic who
specializes in the foot and ankle on Monday.
His prognosis?
Yep, still broken. I
can swim as soon as I feel comfortable…my foot has been sore so far, so I’ve
been scared to even attempt to swim.
And, I am scared to death of slipping on the slippery tiles surrounding
the pool at the gym. I will get there
eventually, but until then I will do some strength training.
I can bike in a few weeks (I hope). Only on a stationary bike or trainer, but
it’s better than nothing. I am hoping
that in another week or two, I will be brave enough to get the bike shoe on my
foot and ride. It seems really unlikely
at the moment, but I’m trying to be optimistic.
And running? Well, running is the wildcard. At first, I was told that at around 6 weeks I
could start walking for exercise and very slowly try adding in the
running. Later, I was told 3 months. No
questions. And, that was IF my foot was
healing properly. Sigh.
What does this mean?
It means that you have a very sad, depressed
TXRunnerMom at times.
It means no races for the rest of 2014. No Cypress Triathlon this past weekend. No Towne Lake on Labor Day. No 10 for Texas in October. No OILMAN 70.3 in November! That last one was the toughest to
swallow. I was really, really hoping to
be able to do this one again in preparation for Ironman Texas. Besides, November seemed so far away. I’m not sure what this means for the Aramco
Houston ½ Marathon in January just yet.
We’ll see…
What else does this mean?
Well, for someone who doesn’t train for marathons and triathlons,
it sucks. It’s an inconvenience –
walking the dog is impossible, going to the grocery store is difficult, going
up and down the stairs is a challenge.
For someone who does (constantly) train for marathons and
triathlons, it sucks even more. It means
not doing that 56-mile bike ride, going stir crazy from watching too much HGTV
and DIY TV while sitting on the couch with your foot propped up (something most
of our kind is not used to doing). It
means that instead of going into IMTX training feeling strong and fit, you hope
that you can at least not lose too much of your swim and bike endurance and
hope to have a little bit of a base built up on the run before IMTX training
starts in January.
I am trying to look on the bright side…
I was afraid of getting burned out by January, especially after all the
training that Oilman would have required.
Guess I don’t have to worry about that.
So far, I’ve been able to sit my arse of the couch in front
of the TV. Believe it or not, this is
something I have occasionally wished I had time to do. Of
course after about an hour of this, I begin to go stir crazy…I am not
good at sitting and doing nothing.
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| Taking a break from all the HGTV to watch some Harry Potter |
I do get to spend more time with my Hubby and kiddos. I am bummed that some of our summer
activities will need to be postponed…there will be no going to Wet n’ Wild (I
can imagine hitting my foot going down a waterslide), no going to Space Center
Houston (way too much walking), limited time at the pool, etc. But, we can still do some fun things together
– movies, making tents in the living room, etc.
And think of all the money I am saving on race entries,
coaching and nutrition!
So that’s my update.
I figure that if I can at least get some swimming and biking in over the
next few months, I will only have the running to worry about. If I truly can run in late September/early
October, I can start building my base between then and January. I have to believe that it will all work out.
