Well, it’s been awhile since I last blogged (nearly three weeks to be exact), but trust me, you haven’t missed much. I was (mostly) faithful to my crutches and stayed off my leg as much as possible. My games of backyard fetch with Ike have looked mostly like this:
He drops the ball about 4 feet away from me almost every time, so my crutches have become apparati to pull the ball closer. It works.
I did go to West Palm Beach, Florida for work last week, and I managed to swim and pool run three days in a row while I was down there. If you are an injured runner, I would highly recommend an aqua jogging belt. It’s the closest I’ve gotten to running in a long time. Sure, I looked like a moron, but whatever. It was nothing compared to how stupid I looked trying to get on and off of a plane on crutches.
I also had an appointment with my sports doctor today. He ordered another tib/fib x-ray and we were able to see what I had been hoping for–evidence of calcification at the fracture site in my fibula. I was thrilled, because I’ve had my doubts about how it was really healing. Then, second slice of good news–I can stop using the crutches as long as I don’t have pain at the fracture site! I nearly hugged him for that one. Actually “going for a walk” is still out, as is standing for long periods of time, but I am now clear to walk around the house and work. I got the OK to continue swimming, and also to start doing seated weights for my legs (leg extensions, hamstring curls, seated leg raises, etc–no squats, leg presses or lunges, though). Then, things got bittersweet–biking is not allowed for two more weeks, and running is off the list for six more weeks.
I’ve got some serious mixed feelings about that last one.
On one hand, I’m happy to finally have a date in mind. Six more weeks. June 25. On the other hand, this means I can’t do the Corporate Challenge, and probably not the Boilermaker, either (2.5 weeks isn’t exactly an adequate amount of time to train for a 15K when I haven’t been running at all). Seeing as how I’ve already missed the Mountain Goat, all of the “big” local races are out of the question for this year.
So what now?
I’m pretty goal-oriented (not to mention Type A to an extreme), so I need something to work towards. I’ve set my sights on the Marathon of the Palm Beaches. It will give me an excuse to visit my parents down there and have a decent vacation at the same time. I’m going to hold off on registering for as long as I can, though. I need to see what happens when I actually start to run again, and determine if my body will be ready for the stress of a marathon by then. If I can’t do a marathon, I’ll likely do the associated half marathon.
In the meantime, I’m going to do my best to work on getting back in decent shape so that I won’t be starting over from ground zero in six weeks. Wait, who am I kidding–I know it’s going to not be pleasant, regardless. I just want to make it less unpleasant. 
I do best with a planned out training schedule, so I’ll start posting my planned workouts from now on.
5/14 – 5/17/09:
- Thursday: 60min swim/pool running
- Friday: 60min Pilates
- Saturday: 30min weights
- Sunday: 60min swim/pool running
On that note, you can find me at the local pool… 
