Catch Up!

I’ve been terrible about posting to this blog.  I knew from the start that it would be hard for me to keep this up. 

So, what has been happening since the first of the year?  Well, I’m still running.  I have run numerous races since then, most notably the Pensacola Beach Run Half Marathon and the Seaside Half Marathon in Seaside, Fl.

While training for the Seaside Half, I twisted my ankle pretty bad.  I was on a long run and stepped off the side of the road.  Like a dumb ass thought I could just ‘run’ it out.  NOT!  By the time I got to the 5 or 6 mile point I knew I had hurt it pretty good.  Unfortunately, I was miles from home and just had to run, hop, walk, limp, repeat all the way back home.  I tried to stay off of it as best I could, but didn’t want to drop out of the half.  I injured it on Feb 20.  The half was scheduled for Mar 6^th.  Well, you know what’s coming.  Yes, I went to Seaside and ran the half.  By the time I got to the 9 or 10 mile point, I had to stop and walk a few times.  Overall, I still did pretty well.  My time was 1.57.58.  Under 2 hours.  The bad news was my foot was killing me.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was also already scheduled to run the 15K Gate River Run race in Jacksonville on Mar 12^th.  And, yes, I went.  I took my wife and daughter and one of her friends for moral support.  The morning of the race, I and a couple of friends were going to run to the start as our warm up.  Our hotel was about 2 miles from the start and on the course.  As soon as I pushed off to begin the warm up, I knew I was in trouble.  Instant pain! I mean real pain.  I pushed through it, but I knew there was no way I was going to be able to run.  I had a green chute placement.  Not a bad start at all.  I knew, however, that I was not going to be running at that pace, so I dropped way back in the pack.

I started off with the gun and managed to hobble my way to the hotel area.  My wife was standing there with camera in hand waiting to take my picture.  Unfortunately, all I could do was to signal her that I was ‘through’ and was stopping.  It was horrible. I have never had to do that before. 

I few of us Dailymilers had planned a meet up after the race, so my family and I made our way back to the finish area.  Oh and the buses weren’t running, so yep, we walked there, another 2 miles.  My wife said I was crazy!  I suppose she is right!  Anyway, I managed to find my fellow DMers and it was nice meeting them.  It was also sad that they all had their finisher medals and I was dressed in my civies.  I was so depressed. 

After we got back home, I made an appointment that Monday for an MRI.  Boy am I glad I did that.  The MRI results showed I had a non-displaced fracture of my cuboid bone in my left foot.  I know, what is a cuboid bone right?  Well, I didn’t know either.  Look it up and you’ll see where it is located.  The MRI also showed that I had 3 deep bone contusions (bruises).  My foot was a mess.  No wonder it hurt so damn bad.

The lesson here is, when you have an injury, TAKE the time to heal.  I didn’t and it cost me big time.  I spent the next 4 weeks missing race after race after race.  I missed some of the best races in my area.  So sad!  And to think, if I had taken the time to heal, I might have only missed a couple. 

Well, all is better now.  My foot is all healed and I was able to run my first race this past Saturday.  It was the Fiesta 10k.  I was really hoping I had signed up for the 5K, but of course not.  No, not me.  I had to go for the 10K.  I hadn’t run more than 4 miles up to that point.  But it turned out fine.  I wanted to finish around 55 or 56 minutes and ended up doing it in 56.47.  Success!

I am back to my normal running routine.  I am still not back fully to my endurance levels, but it is getting better.  Another month and I should be back to normal. 

Well, I guess that is all for now.  I think I have gotten all caught up.  Hope you enjoy your running and remember, if you get hurt, give yourself time to heal.