Monday, January 17, 2011

Goodbye, my fiberglass and gore-tex friend

Tomorrow is the big day of cast removal, yay. I have the aircast boot packed and ready. Annnd we are expecting a wintery mix that had better not jeopardize my ability to get to my appointment tomorrow.

I had the last one-legged swim today and repeated some marker sets from a few weeks ago done with the pull buoy.  I knocked 10 seconds (combined) off of 4 100's. Evidence of improvement in the pool, I'll take it.

So as I say goodbye to the cast, I ask, in addition to the swim stuff, what would be the silver lining(s) to this cloud?

Upsides:
  • spent $0 on shoes, and never had to think about shoes since I wore the same one on my right foot the entire time.
  • have gotten out of ALL grocery shopping for four weeks (that I would like to keep)
  • didn't feel (too) guilty sitting around a little more
  • discovered the fun of Biggest Loser reruns (or maybe that goes in the disadvantage category)
  • had the time to learn more about nutrition, meal planning, nutrient timing
  • spared the frustration of trying to figure out where and when to run on the cold icy days
  • kids discovered they CAN carry a full laundry basket up the stairs and ARE capable of making their own sandwich.
  • stepped up the strength training with Jake
  • discovered the fun of rowing
  • parking perks
  • will be mentally fresher (hungry!!) for spring workouts and summer racing
  • takes one kind of pressure off of the Boston Marathon. Now it's about running it safely and finishing.
Downsides:
  • fear that I have grown too comfortable in this geared-down lifestyle
  • fear that I will have lost "something" on the run especially.  will I still have my top gear?
  • concern about balancing continued healing with training progress over the coming months.  I don't want any more setbacks.
  • concern that I am not capable of reading the signals my own body is sending.  How did I not know I had a major problem brewing for so long?  I had so few signs.
  • uncertainty about the ability to prepare in time for the Boston Marathon.
  • wondering if I will always feel defective and broken now and if that will mess with my head.

And the big question of WHY?

There is frustration wondering why this happened again and what, if anything, can I do to avoid the recurrence. I was not running crazy mileage, don't have strange biomechanics, I cross train, I strength train, I take calcium supplements, I switch out shoes regularly, I take rest days.

What now?  

Different calcium supplements? Neutral instead of stability shoes? Fairy dust?

This can't happen again. I got countless comments related to the fact that this was a repeat performance for me, having done the same thing to the other leg in April of 09. I will not miss having to explain myself.