Hey there. Happy Humpday!

It’s raining yet again here in NYC. Duncan is still less than thrilled.

Yesterday I was able to squeeze in a 30 minute cross-training sweat sesh at the gym on my lunch break.

I hit the rowing machine for 10 minutes and the bike for 20. I pushed myself on the bike with random intervals of intense resistance at slower speeds and less resistance but more speed. I had compression socks and my ankle brace on but paired with capris meaning i was a far cry from a fashion plate. It’s ok though because I was actually feeling mismatched and un-pretty on the inside too. 🙁 Running really has helped my self-esteem in leaps and bounds….without it I’m starting to feel that esteem dissipating.

Saw the foot doc this morning.

Appointment started out great. She pushed in a bunch of spots and asked if I felt pain. Nope. No pain there. None there either. Then she went on to say how lucky I was. And so I thought I was going to get good news….but then she dropped the bomb…

“I recommend no running for the rest of the month. Keep biking. You don’t want a setback. Then come July you can try a mile or two. See how you feel the next day. If you have no discomfort then keep increasing your mileage.”

That sounds reasonable to most I’m sure. I took it better than expected but was already plotting ideas in my head. I then asked her if I had any limits on walking and she said no. I also inquired about going back to PT which helped me so much last time and she agreed. So I’ve got a script and now just waiting on a referral for insurance purposes, but by next week I will at least start getting some massage, ultrasound, strengthening and balance work and hopefully acupuncture too.

So here’s my plan (and this is a decision I’ve made for myself and don’t ever take my advice because i’m nothing but a blogger). I AM going to participate in the two 10ks that I have signed up for, The Oakley Mini 10k this Saturday and The Queens 10k next Sunday). Based on course time limits i’ll need to keep a 14 minute per mile pace so that means I can walk most of the race and just pick up the pace here and there to get me across the finish in time. And I won’t do any other running for the month of June. I’ll continue to build mileage on the bike and shoot for 30-40 miles over the next few weeks (I’m at 21 so far).

That’s as good of a compromise as I am willing to make. =)

As for July. I will ease into a running schedule that will get me back into the swing of things but with only 4 weeks before the San Francisco marathon it looks like I have no choice but to drop back to the half which I am really bummed about. But seriously. My friend’s mom was just diagnosed with ALS. (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). I have no right to complain. Speaking of….Duncan and I will be participating in the Walk to Defeat ALS in support of the ALS foundation on June 21st and have started a little fundraising effort. If you would like to donate here is the link. I have had cancer hit my close circle of friends so much that I never even imagined a second horrible illness would invade. A month or so after my husband passed away I joined a support group for young widows. There was a woman whose husband died from ALS. Her stories were some of the most heart wrenching stories I’ve ever heard. There’s also that amazing husband wife duo of Chris Benyo and Denise DiMarzo who ran the NJ Marathon just 6 days after the Boston Marathon.

That’s them right behind me. So inspiring. Please ignore the heel strike. #fail

I’ve been holding back tears much of the day today. It’s so embarrasing that I get this emotional about not being cleared to run. I am smart enough to know this is only a minor blip in life but I wear my heart on my sleeve and can’t seem to suppress those emotions. I miss it. I really really miss running! My eyes get really green when I cry.

green eyes and ham

I remember the day my hubby came to my office to surprise me with the “good news” that he was officially on disability. To him, that meant a vacation of sorts but when I looked at the paperwork it said “REASON: Stage IV Melanoma. I knew stage IV was the last stage and it hit me in that moment that he might die. I started to cry and he just said “wow, your eyes are so green right now”. He couldn’t “go there”. His denial was probably the coping mechanism that kept him going. I’m rambling now. But hey, why not. It’s my blog and I’ll ramble if I want.

OK, on to funner things….They opened a new Urban Outfitters right across from my office. I took a peek and ended up leaving with this cute iPhone case.

And how great is this?

I just use a timer camera app called Timer Camera (genius name right?) but this would be a cool alternative.

And then I used a gift card that still had money on it from my birthday to get a caramel latte at Dunkin Donuts. MUCH BETTER!

This is officially the longest I’ve been sidelined with an injury. What’s the longest you’ve been sidelined? 

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