Fall is typically my favorite season for running. The cool weather is easier to tolerate, there’s lots of races, and beautiful scenery. I was able to log some beautiful miles while tapering for Madison Marathon.
Running with friends always makes the miles fly by. It’s easy to talk myself out of running if I am not feeling it, but I will never stand someone up for a planned run. Thanks for the miles, Mike!
I had lunch dates with some of my favorite people… Nancy and Rickopedia…
…and talked shop with Bill. 🙂
I had a shoot over at the School of Performing Arts… little kids with tiny violins are the cutest.
I love shoots that are related to music. The owners of this music school are colleagues of mine from my college days.
If you’re a new reader, you might be starting to get the idea that I have widely varying interests and activities. You are so right! To fill up some of my “free time,” I auditioned for and got a spot in the musical White Christmas, so I had some tap dance rehearsals. This was a really fun group of people to work with, and it was great to show Brian that yes, I actually know how to tap dance.
Really.
I’ll post pictures from the show soon! 🙂
That busy schedule distracted me from the predictable taper crazies, and before I knew it, it was time to race. You can read my recap here, including Santa hydrating me at mile 23 and some of my favorite signs from the race course.
I finished the race in the morning, ate a ton of frozen yogurt, slept in the car on the way home, and headed straight to teach ballroom. I had tap dance rehearsal on Monday and Tuesday, and I was still feeling pretty sore, especially in my left foot. On Wednesday, I took Abbie for a walk in my house slippers, since my foot was still hurting. I was hoping my body just needed a good shakeout run and a stretch, so on Thursday morning, I laced up my shoes and took Abbie out to the river. As soon as I tied the bow on my left shoe, there was some serious pain. I was hoping it wasn’t anything too bad, and left anyway. Abbie was so happy to get out of the house… she is a typically active Jack Russell, and she doesn’t care if I’m resting post-marathon or not. She needs her exercise! 🙂
To my dismay, I only made it out about a mile before I realized that something was seriously wrong with my foot. Two miles logged for the day, and worry creeped into my normally optimistic brain. I took my shoe off, but the pain remained, and seemed to resonate through my ankle, foot, and calf.
I called my doctor, hoping for a cancellation so I could get in, but there wasn’t anything available. I did what any insane runner would do- I went to urgent care. The pain wasn’t urgent, but my mental state was.
They did an X-ray, but educated me that they usually can’t tell a stress fracture immediately on an X-ray, that it takes a couple weeks to show up. They did recommend that I see my regular doctor, and she recommended that I see an orthopedic specialist. And she gave me a special kind of shoe that didn’t hurt to be on my foot.
The orthopedic doctor appointment wasn’t for a few days, and I was ordered to rest. So I crocheted a scarf. 🙂
When I finally made it in to see the specialist, he pushed and prodded all the spots that hurt me. He thought that I had a stress fracture in one of the “chunky” bones in my ankle, and some irritated and inflamed nerves in my foot. He said that he could order a bone scan to be sure, but that his treatment recommendations would be the same, so I opted to save the money, and headed straight to physical therapy. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not run. And wear this big walking boot all the time.
Please enjoy this montage of my foot situation for the past 8 weeks.
There was a small lapse in judgement, where I decided to still tap dance in the show. Turns out, tap dancing will prolong the healing of a stress fracture. It’s okay, I was wearing some of my favorite compression socks while doing it…
I went in for my seventh tally mark…
…and basically tried to rest. It’s hard to be such a busy, active girl with this boot, but I tried to make the most of it. 🙂
I hung out with friends and made Möbius strips.
Went to coffee with Stef, and celebrated the liberation of my curly bangs…
Visited my mom and grammie…
Had drinks with Nikki…
Witnessed the engagement of two of our good friends, Amanda and Andy!!!!
Had my mind blown about a Trout Museum that wasn’t…
Went shopping with the Benishek ladies and my momma for hunter window weekend…
Bought a hat with ears…
…and taught some adorable little girls how to make scarves, too!
If I’ve learned anything through this process, it’s that I need to be more patient. Healing takes time!
Up next? Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, a bunch of photo shoots, and photos from White Christmas. Thanks, friends 🙂
artist & athlete | a glimpse into real life, Heidi style 