Free at last...

My convalescence ends today! Went to the orthoped and heard everything I expected - yep it's a stress fracture (what?? a stress fracture??!?), yep it's healing right along, yep you can start running again (as in learn to walk - then run). I did get the "if you do what you did, you'll get what you got" talk, not that I haven't been ruminating on and bolstering myself against going down that wicked path again for the past 5 weeks! The doc cautioned me that I am healing - not healed - stressed rest days, not increasing too quickly, backing off if pain increases, etc. He can caveat all he wants - I am very very excited!!

So, silly as I tend to be, between 5/26/04 and this day I could have been bike riding, swimming, doing some weights - instead, I did not a thing. I'm not complaining - I wasn't motivated, I was grieving (I know, sounds dramatic), I was uninspired because I couldn't do the thing I most wanted to do. Now that I have the go ahead to work slowly back into a running program I'm all like, ok tomorrow I'll walk, the next day I'll bike, the next day I'll do weights, blah blah blah. Now I'm thinking I'll be Susie-crosstrainer. I guess I've been cut out of my psychological body cast :D

My real plan is to not do any running for a couple more weeks as I still do have some occasional pain - more from certain ranges of motion than from weight bearing, but I do plan to get back on my little trail and start walking walking walking, and I am seriously contemplating dragging the bike up from the basement. All of the RBF enthusiasm for biking, plus going on a bike ride with my sis yesterday is starting to wear me down! At this point, my thought is to walk for 2 weeks (and resist the urge to jog just a couple of steps quite yet), then evaluate where I am pain-wise. Hopefully, at that point I will be able to start a real gentle walk/run program. Gentle, slow, patient, kind...

I'm really happy!

Boilermaker Fever...

Well, this Sunday is the 27th running of the Boilermaker Road Race and the Utica area is really keyed up! My original plan was to run the 5K Training Run, which is the last 1/3 of the course, this year and swing for the race next year. The registration for this course usually closes about a month before the run, and even the thousands of positions to volunteer are filled well before the race. The community support is awesome - for the entire course the spectators are 3-deep on the sides of the roads, hootin' and hollerin'. I will definately be at the curb, cheering everyone on and thinking about next year!!! :D