Coming back

I know it's been forever since I last posted anything but I've thought about it many times, as if that counts for anything.

Seven weeks ago today, I went for a run when I knew I shouldn't. I was tired from too much stress and too much effort. I even remember thinking, "I should just go home and get on the spinner instead of doing a run." But I said I was going to run four times that week, and I am just stupid that way. I mean it's not like I'm even training for anything. I am such a slow learner sometimes.

So I made a deal with myself: I would walk for five minutes to warm up and then start jogging. If I felt as tired as I thought I was I would be able to tuck back into my neighborhood in a quarter mile and call it a day. Unfortunately (although it seemed fortunate at the time), I felt fine when I started running. I wanted to do 3 miles. Mile 1 went fine. I was at 1.9 miles when I felt a pain in my right foot. This pain is something I've felt from time to time over the last few weeks sometimes when running but it happened even walking. But either way it lasted only 100 yards or less and would go away.

It seemed a little more intense this time and it got my attention. So I figured I'd just do that tenth and take a walk break. If the pain persisted, I'd walk it home. A few steps later (actually at 1.99 miles), the ball of my right foot hit a small tree branch. The foot twisted and torqued in a nasty way. I immediately knew I couldn't take another step. I barely hobbled home. In fact, I should have gone up to the first house and asked them to call my husband. But instead I took probably 30 minutes to walk a half-mile. I had to take the tiniest steps, I think a 4-year-old could have walked faster.

On Monday, I got into the orthopod. Although no broken bones, he said he figured it was a stress fracture that would show in a few weeks when it started healing. He wanted to do a bone scan to confirm the diagnosis. I asked him if he would treat it any differently based on the scan. When he told me "no," I passed on the scan. (No wonder our health care system is such a mess. Doing tests that don't really matter.)

So I spent almost 5 weeks on crutches (they tried a boot but it messed up my calf and my back). The ball of my foot swelled a lot after the injury and it probably wasn't until the fifth or sixth week that my toes actually touched the ground. After I got off the crutches I spent 2 more weeks just trying to walk without a limp.

I worked out on the spinner a few times in the last couple of weeks and headed to the track on Wednesday and Friday this week. I'm doing 2 mins of slow jogging/1 min. walking. I did 1 mile on Wednesday and 1.5 miles on Friday. I'm incredibly slow but I'm trying to be careful with the foot. I've also decided as I come back to work on a few basics like posture and heel lift and not pushing off with the toes.

I'm also trying to work on breathing only through my nose as much as possible and keeping my heart rate down. I've already written this but just a reminder: When I run my heart rate tends to skyrocket no matter how slowly I run. The doctors say I get a rush of adrenaline when I run that causes this and there's really nothing to worry about or do about it. Still, I'd like to try to get it under control, so I'm trying to run slowly enough that I breathe only through my nose and see if that results in a lower heart rate.

So my new plan right now is to build up to 3 miles at the track (softer surface) and then go back to the road. I plan to run 3 times a week and spin or bike on the road 3 times a week plus one day of yoga and a couple days of weights.

I don't plan to add miles for a "long" run for at least 2 months. We'll see how it all goes.
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