High on Aspiration, Low on Ability...Part 4

 

"Fall seven times, stand up eight."

Japanese Proverb

 

I thought this would be a good time for another update since I fulfilled my destiny of ending up in the orthopedic doctor's office today.

A few weeks ago, I started feeling a twinge in my right ankle, so I did what any intelligent person does and ignored the crap out of it.  Did I think that there could possibly be anything wrong as a result of increasing my mileage from 2 miles to 6.4 miles in 6 weeks?  Noooooo!

Well after my epic 6.4 mile adventure on Saturday, my ankle was just super obnoxious about hurting so I called and made an appointment.  I had an awesome nurse, by the way, who reminded me of someone's really fun aunt.  Also, she laughed at my jokes and wasn't annoyed by my WebMD references, so she gets a gold star.

She looked at my charts from my last visit and said, "Oh, you haven't been here since 2010!"  "Yes, that was the last time I was a runner," I told her.  "You aren't a runner anymore?" she asked.  "Yes, I'm a runner AGAIN.  That's why I'm HERE."  She laughed, but had no clue how freakin' serious I was. 

She was also nice about the fact that I had obviously been a total idiot about the whole injury.

"Did ice help any with the pain?"
"Uhh, I didn't put any ice on it."
"What about Tylenol or Advil?"
"Yeah...I didn't take any."
"Well, what did you do honey?"
"Ignore it?"
"There's no box for that on our form, dear."
"Right.  I suppose there's a reason for that."

Anyway, after some poking and prodding, a series of x-rays, and being made to run in place for an audience of 1 doctor and 2 nurses....I was given the diagnosis "stress fracture."  Sorry doc, but I don't have time for that! 

A stress fracture is basically when your muscles get tired and overworked and cannot absorb the shock from something high-impact (like running) and so your bones take over as shock absorbers.  All of this makes perfect sense, EXCEPT - my muscles didn't ever feel super tired or overworked while I was running.  I did 5 months of weight training before I ever laced up and took off on my first fat-kid jog.  I have not had one cramp in my side, one sore leg muscle, or felt weak while running.  I HAVE felt like there was not enough oxygen on the planet Earth, realized what little endurance and strength have to do with each other, and wished for a pair of bionic lungs.

So I asked,  "If my muscles aren't tired, then how do I know I'm overdoing it and putting too much on my BONES?!"  The answer, "I don't know."  1.Thank you for admitting that.  2.Don't you have Google?!  Now I have to look this up myself.  Thanks.  They did put in an order for me to get my Vitamin D levels checked, though.  NO CLUE what that means.  I'll look that up later, too.  I haven't given myself a good "OMG I probably have 3 different kinds of cancer...and a rare blood disease!!!!" scare lately.  I'm overdue.

In addition to the stress fracture business, I was deemed a "toe runner" and told I needed arch supports while running (he tsk-tsked me for not bringing my running shoes to the appointment for him to inspect....uhhh, what?  I'm weirded out that I had to take my socks off for you to touch my foot...you want to look inside my sneakers too?!  This relationship is moving way too fast for me.)  There was also some nonsense brought up about me "cross-training" instead of running.  After he explained to me what that WAS, I told him sorry - I own sneakers....not a bike...or a pool. 

So there you have it.  Update = I've been benched for a few weeks.  Looking at my ankle brace makes me Hulk out a little on the inside, but I don't plan on letting it discourage me.  I won't throw away all the hard work I've done, just for a pity party.  Well... I'm still going to HAVE a pity party, I just plan on lacing my running shoes back up when I'm done. 

♥M

I Told You So

 

 

I did the usual, "What do I want to write about tonight...hmmmm...?" and then decided to give up and give in to the personal rant in my head.  I might as well get it out so I can clear my mind.  I just had such an interesting experience today, that it's still bouncing around in there.

Have you ever had someone tell you, "I know you're right and the other person is wrong, but since they are upset, you just need to agree to make them feel better."  That's a summary of a super awesome 30 minutes of my life that I won't get back from today.

Here's the thing - I almost said, "Ok."  Then something happened...and I have a pretty good hunch what it was.  It's this damn blog.  I told you in my very first post that the freedom of speech afforded to me by writing on the world wide web could go to my head and things could get crazy.  "No, it'll be great!" they said.  "Start a blog!" they said. 

NOT that I was inclined to hide my feelings before I started the blog, but I have lost juuuuust a little bit more of my ability to remember that there is no backspace when you're talking out loud to an actual person.  Oh, yeah. Whoops.

So I did not say, "Ok."  Instead I expressed my condolences that the person was "highly upset" with me, but that I felt it fair to share that I myself was "highly upset" at being expected to fold over and accept blame for something that I hadn't done.  Furthermore, I cited a dozen AWESOME things that I had done for this person without anyone noticing THOSE things - so if we were going to say that I had screwed something up - when I DIDN'T - then let's make sure we paint the whole picture.  I get no pleasure out of anyone else being upset, but MAN, am I sick of there being no consideration given to the fact that I have feelings too.

Should I have just said, "Ok?"  Maybe....but sometimes you have to remind people (and yourself) that being easygoing and laid-back is not the same thing as being a doormat.  Just because I can get along with anyone doesn't mean that I won't push back.

 

All done.  Thanks for listening! ;)

♥M