Fracture Free!

YAY!

I had an MRI. It showed splints on both shins, worse on the left (which is where I have had the most pain), and spots that look "either like the healing of old fractures or the beginnings of new ones." Obviously, we know it's the former, given that I waited 15 weeks post-race to run again and have only run a total of nine miles, I think, since I picked back up in January. I really can't believe I STILL have pain to the touch and my MRI is still showing signs of injury this far out, almost five months to be exact. I don't think I really appreciated the gravity of what I was doing to my body. I know I didn't.

PT needed to wait until we saw what was going on with the shins. Now that we know my bones aren't broken, we can begin to work on the muscle imbalances, knee issue, glutes stuff, etc. I already have two appointments for this coming week. I really need to be patient with this work and trust that it will help. I have often felt pretty incredulous about the relatively "easy" work of stretching and the like, since I am accustomed to working pretty hard at the gym. I often wonder if I could bench-press my physical therapist, for example. (Maybe not now, if I am being honest, but there is promise.) I do know, though, that working pretty hard at the gym with these kinds of imbalances is what landed me in PT to begin with. So, in the words of my physical therapist, "back to basics."

Regarding the half in May, I don't know. I need to map out a training schedule and be really careful about running. According to the doc, pain to the touch is OK. Pain while moving is not. If I ever feel pain while running, or doing any kind of exercise for that matter, I have to call the doc. That means boot. No questions or protestations.  Pain while moving means fracture.  Every time I say that, I am reminded that this all started with me bawling on a curb, not .5 miles into a run, unable to even bear weight on my legs. That won't ever happen again.  There's hardcore, and then there's stupid; and the line between the two can be pretty indistinct, though I think I am better equipped to see it now having crossed it in the past . So maybe a half in May. Maybe not.

So that's that. I feel pretty good. And I am on vacation. And--I just have to say--I have what very well may be the coolest, most amazing toddler in the whole wide world. Every day I fall in love with her even more, even though I swear it cannot be possible to love her anymore than I already do. I am even contemplating getting her a dog for her birthday. ;) Her birthday is in the spring. Fitting.