Wednesday Workout Update - Trail of Tears Edition

I was all set to come here and tell you about my 10 mile run on Saturday, complete with a huge dead snake in the parking lot, running in the rain, chocolate GU - all things crazy and fun, right? Well. What I haven't mentioned in my previous posts is that my right ankle has been bothering me a bit - it made itself known during a 9 mile run, really came alive during mile 7 of last week's 10 mile run, and hello, there it was again on that 3 mile treadmill run. So I have been resting, icing, and Motrining it. I didn't say anything because I just wanted it to be a non-issue, you know?

But from the first step on Saturday morning, it hurt. I mean hurt-hurt, not muscle soreness. I figured it would hurt a little, and had planned on powering through the run - I have a pretty high pain tolerance, and hey - after the run, I was going to put on my sweats, climb back into my warm bed (that I left at the too early hour of 5:00 am) and hunker down for a day of Netflix. I could deal with a little pain for a couple of hours in exchange for all of that, right?

Wrong. Y'all, this hurt so freaking bad. I stopped running at .82 of a mile - I had to, because I couldn't put any weight on that foot. I started limping my way back to the parking lot. Coach Erica caught up with me and walked with me as I cried both tears of pain and frustration. This is not supposed to happen! I have TRAINED. I have not added too many miles too fast. I have been doing what I was supposed to in order to get to Austin on February 20th. Plus I have the Armadillo Dash half marathon two weeks after that! And the Dallas Rock and Roll half the end of March. I have plans! An injury does not fit into my plans!

After I got home and was elevating, icing and Motrining it, I texted and emailed with my running guru, who advised getting it checked out by a doctor. Well, the practice that the doctor who I'll never see again has Saturday hours, so I made an appointment. Luckily, the doc working that day is a triathlete. He understands runners and injuries and wanting to get back to running and racing! Yay! I felt much better. However, he wasn't super optimistic about Austin and sent me for xrays. I limped there - unfortunately Jeff was out of town, so I was on my own. It would have been nice to have him driving and dropping me off at the entrance of all of these places, but oh well.

Then I limped into Target, to get my prescription filled:

I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs...but I DO do candy.

Oh wait...I got this, too:

Basically cheap, strong Aleve.

Here is a comparison shot - and by the way, when did I end up with Madonna's feet?

(I'm just assuming that her feet are as vein-y as her arms) Left - normal. Right - see that bump of an ankle bone? That is the problem.

I spent the rest of the weekend lying around, watching Netflix instant streaming movies on our Roku (I feel like I just typed a foreign language) - that Christmas gift from our kids has really been nice! Ate a bunch of candy and felt like crap - apparently, you can't go home again.

Monday, the doctor called. Wanted to get me set up with an orthopedist, to get me "back to running as quickly as possible" - I have to say, I was just so amazed to be taken seriously by a doctor. But that is a post for another day. Long story short (yeah, yeah, too late I know), I saw a sports medicine orthopedist yesterday - a runner. He listened to me. Did some more xrays. Found some bone chips around my ankle. Which would explain the inflammation and pain. What is weird is that he said the bone chips were not recent, and since I never broke or sprained my ankle that I can remember, I can only conclude that my body is disintegrating, chip by chip. I may have aggravated this by all the kicking I keep doing to my ankles when I run...I've whacked myself hard enough to draw blood, and have taken to running with band aids on my ankles so when I kick, at least I'm not wrecking my socks. He gave me an air cast to protect the ankle while it heals:

I put on my fancy socks for the picture!

And I'm supposed to ice it every time I workout, from now until forever. Good thing UPS just dropped this off last night:

MizFit recommended Artic Ease. I'm thinking it will be less awkward than trying to hold an ice bag to the side of my ankle.

So. Today I will go to the gym (good thing I joined it last week, eh?) and workout on the recumbent bike. Once the swelling in my ankle goes down and it stops hurting, I can use the elliptical, and then I can try running again. I'm holding out hope that I will still be able to run the Austin half marathon, which is 31 days from now.

And now, the rant:
I am so mad. For the first time in my life, I could go for a run and not be dying after a mile. My legs worked great. I could actually DO this, and got a lot of satisfaction out of completing a long run. And now what? I'm going to lose all of the conditioning I've put in. I ran during the hot Texas summer. I've been seriously training - following a plan - since the end of August. While I am thankful that I reached my first goal, which was the Seawall Half Marathon, I am pissed that my second, and our running club's group goal, the Austin Marathon/Half Marathon, may not happen for me. And don't even get me started about what this means to my weight. I've been maintaining my loss with the running. Take away that, and you know what can happen? Ugh. This is not in the plan.
Rant over.