Visited Dr. N yesterday and received some good news.  The tendon is strong and healing nicely.  Yes, I've been a good girl and have been following his instructions.  It's not easy for me and my anxiety/crabbiness is off the chart but nonetheless I am doing what he says.

As of yesterday I have been okayed to walk around the house without the boot.  This morning I have slippers on both feet and it feels great!  My foot and ankle are both very tender so prolonged periods without the boot won't be happening yet but at least I'm better off then I was two weeks ago!  I should be boot free in the two weeks.  Baby steps, I know.  It looks like I will be back to swimming (and dancing, yes H, dancing!) by mid-January.  I'm looking forward to something that gets my cardio going!

Peace out!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

It's been 7 days since surgery and over a month since my last run.  I miss it but I'm getting used to it.  However I'm dealing with headaches and anxiety daily and I do not like that.  Running is like a pressure relief valve for me and for now the pressure keeps building.  I do not know how I am going to survive 6 months off the road.  I'm also worried that after taking off 6 months making a new start at the age of 43 will be extremely hard. 

I'm thinking I need to change the title of the blog to My life on the mend since I seem to be doing more of that this year than any actual running.

CIM is only 10 or so days away.  In some ways I'm thankful for this damn injury because it is unseasonably cold and I think it would have been a pretty miserable race.  I'm setting my sites on fair weather marathon in early 2012.  God, that sounds so far off in the future.

I'll try to keep you updated on my progress and impending insanity.

Peace out!

Who knew?

I swam for exercise last night and guess what, it was super fun!  Oh and super hard!  I can run for miles and miles but a 100 yard swim kicked my butt.  But I kept at it and managed to stay in the pool for about 40 minutes.  I have no idea how many laps or yards I swam but I plan to go and do it again.  Possibly tonight.  We'll see how the day pans out.

Swimming? Hmmmm....

Remember a couple of days ago when I mentioned that I’m kicking around the idea of swimming in lieu of running while I get this foot thing all sorted out?

Well it sounded like a good idea to my pal Heather who is currently nursing a hip injury caused by an irritable IT band. I tell ya, I’m one lucky girl. Who else could make the rare to find of a running buddy that suffers an injury as grievous as mine? Seriously the cosmos must be aligned just right! Any whoo Sunday afternoon as I blew up her phone with text updates about Bill’s NYC Marathon progress she asked if I wanted to start going to lap swim with her. Our community pool offers adult lap swim in the evening. It’s pretty cheap and the pool is heated so I said sure.

But here's the problem:  Most of my life swimming has been merely to cool down or a way to get to my pool float so I can soak up the summer sun with a cool drink in my hand. On occasion the ocean calls and I will Boogie Board until I am near exhaustion. But lap swimming, not so much.

Yesterday H gave me a call. She is all signed up and ready to swim. She sounded pretty excited and in turn I got excited that I’d be doing some sort of cardio while recuperating. Last night Heather even posted about the new adventure and found a swim workout. Now I am the queen of run training schedules but it never occurred to me to make a swim schedule. How did I miss that deet?! Also, I need to find a suit built for swimming not for sunning. I own a dozen bathing suits and I don’t think a one of them will do the job. The Hubs says wear board shorts and a rash guard like you would if you were Boogie Boarding. Yeah that might work. I’m feeling behind the curve and we haven’t even hit the water yet. Yikes!

Today I’ve got butterflies like none other. I am not graceful and am pretty sure that swimming in a straight line is going to be tough. What if I have to share the lane with another swimmer? That has the potential to be no bueno!

Stay tuned; I’m sure there will be a good story coming out of this!

Peace out!

MRI Results

Thursday night I went in for an MRI.  I had never undergone one.  The process was really interesting.  Son #1 went with me and kept me abreast of what was taking place around me.  Out of the whole experience I am still surprised at the amount of noise the machine produces.  I hadn't expected that.

Dr. N called yesterday afternoon.  The MRI results are inconclusive.  The Radiologist believes the tumor is the same as the first one.  Ganglion in nature.  Which means in all likelihood it will once again be a benign bump.  That's the good news.  The not so good news is the mass is growing on top of the tendon rather than along side of it as Dr. N hoped.  Also, the Radiologist was unable to determine how much of the tendon is involved and how much Dr. N will need to remove this time.  So it will be a wait and see game.  Here's to hoping it's not any worse than last time!

Surgery is scheduled for the 17th.  I can use all the luck, prayers, and well wishes anyone cares to send my way!

Today I started resistance exercises and am trying a few different things to see what I'll be able to do after surgery that will not involve the tendon while it heals.  Obviously squats are out.  I tried a couple different leg raises today.  I think I'll be able to do most of those and of course core/upper body work.  I am contemplating swimming once Dr. N clears me to do so, hopefully in early December.  A local swim center offers lap swimming both early in the morning and later in the evening.  The pool is heated but I'm not sure I'm tough enough to to bear the frigid air once exiting the water. I'm going to have to think about this one for awhile!

Peace out and happy Saturday!

New week. New attitude.

MRI is scheduled for Thursday evening. I’m feeling a little nervous. I’ve never undergone an MRI and have heard it can be very nerve racking for some.

Looking forward to some spring races. Barring any unforeseen complications I should be able to start training around New Year’s. In the meantime the Hubs and I will begin a workout regime that will strengthen my core and upper body. I’m going to take this opportunity to work some most often neglected areas. My plan is to return to running stronger than ever.

My friend Bill is heading off to New York this week to run his first NYC Marathon. Head on over to his blog and wish him good luck!