Reporting In

Funny how I feel the need to "report in" to my blog here. I feel like I'm writing only to myself, but still, just in case...

I went on a long cold run in December and got hit with snow and sleet on the way back, making my feet numb from the cold. That's to be expected, nothing much to worry about. However, I must have stepped on a little baddy and got something in my left big toe. I thought I had just bruised it or gotten a regular blister. So I waited an appropriate length of time for it to heal, kept it bandaged, etc. Only it wasn't healing very well.

Okay, I thought, it must have been deeper than I thought. Give it more time, etc. More time went by and still it remained very sore and tender. It affected the way I walked and I had to severely reduce my running, although I did venture out a couple of time with the toe bandaged up nicely. During one run it actually felt pretty good, but later on I noticed what appeared to be a deep blister that had broken open. So I removed the dead skin around the edges and saw a little piece of glass sitting in there. Ahah! The culprit!

I removed the piece of glass easily and thought it would heal up quickly now. Only it was still very sore and tender despite all the Neosporin and bandaging. One night I lay in bed and it was throbbing. That told me one thing -- infection and pressure. Sure enough, it had partially healed over the top but was still festering inside. Once again I opened it all up, removed the dead skin, and this time got serious about clearing this thing up. I drenched it with tincture of Iodine, bracing for the sting which never came. For the next week, I kept on changing the bandaids and respotting it with Iodine. Finally, it is starting to feel better! I feel like it is healing properly.

On Monday this week I went out for a 4 mile run, but I felt so good it ended up being 7.5 miles! Skipped Tuesday and went out again yesterday (Wednesday) for a longer run of 10 miles. I felt the effects of not running much these past 3 or 4 weeks! Stiffness , muscle fatigue and harder to keep in my proper running form.

Today, Thursday, I'm considering if I want to run again. The ambitious part of me says, Yes! Keep pushing yourself to gain more strength and endurance, gain back what you have lost. The lazy part of me says, No! You must rest after yesterday's run. Maybe I'll compromise and only run a short 4 miler (ha-ha, like I did last time?)

I am going to see if I can be ready to run a marathon on April 14th in SLC. I'll have to get my miles up and my form down to be ready for that!!

That just inspired a cute saying, "To get your miles UP you must get your form DOWN!"

Ryan