Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of

This morning I woke up thinking I should go for a run, then I remembered I couldn't.

F***ing injury.

I'm having a moment.

It's hard to keep a positive mind set when my entire schedule has been whacked due to this injury. I know that goes without saying, but that's how it is. The diversions I enjoy aren't available every day, either.

I had another ortho appointment on Tuesday and I honestly can't see a lot of improvement in the x-ray. Of course, I'm not am x-ray tech and I don't know what to look for, but it looks about the same as it did two weeks ago. The PA didn't say too much, just to return in three weeks. *gah* Three weeks...

Wednesday I had RU, which used to be twice a week, then was cut to once a week due to my PT Bryan's change of schedule, now it's every two weeks because of the injury. It was almost stretched out to the next three weeks due to my ortho appointment being in three weeks, but I don't think I could hold out an extra week. I still need THAT diversion at RU, even if it is two weeks apart.

At Wednesday's RU session I received my custom orthotics. I've heard mixed reviews about custom orthotics, and they're not cheap if your insurance does not cover them, but it was sort of like having a Cinderella moment when I tried them for the first time, except without the music, singing mice and prince charming. I have very high arches and the insoles I buy to accommodate my arches don't accommodate the entire foot properly. These babies felt really good, made just for my feet. Since they need to be "worn in" before running in them, now is the best time to do so, since I can't run right now. * In addition to receiving my new orthotics, Bryan had me do trimmed down versions of certain exercises, just to keep some mobility in my feet. He also worked on my foot and ankle, just to keep everything circulated. I mentioned that my calf muscle in my left leg was still pretty tight, even though it had been 6 months since I blew it out. I sort of forgot how brutal having my calf worked on can be. Silly me. I should have kept my mouth shut.

Yesterday's Song:
I'll Wait - Van Halen

PEACE

*A silver lining, I suppose.

I'll Wait

Monday's Song:
Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op 86 "Pastoral" - Beethoven - Extra Bonus Points to Run-DMZ

PEACE

Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op 86 "Pastoral"

Lately, I sit at the computer thinking I should blog about something, but it's just not happening. It's the same old thing. I have plenty on my mind, but the words aren't formulating. It's sort of like I'm stuck. I'm sure this has to do with not being able to run, and my mind really hasn't shifted gears. No running = no blogging.

Since I'm busy not running, I've been taking a lot more pictures, gardening, and have been taking pictures of gardening. Honestly, I'd rather be running, but I can get really aggressive when it comes to digging and pick axing the huge plot of soil that occupies a good portion of our backyard. I've also become acquainted with a family of Blue Jays that have declared our backyard their territory. My dog isn't too thrilled about this occupation.

"She's up there. Maybe if I bark long enough they'll all go away?"

They're not going anywhere. This one is quite good at taunting the dog.

As part of a homework project and in leu of Earth Day, I've spent some time with the kid showing him how to seed some plants:

K-Cups, not just for coffee. He's carefully peeling the foil from a used cup.

Adding the used coffee grounds to the soil.

Scraping out more coffee grounds.

Adding the soil to the K-Cup.

See?

Sweet Peas are a good choice.

Just add water.

We don't want to forget what we're growing!

Now we wait.
To be continued...

Wednesday's Song:
In Bloom - Nirvana

PEACE

Bonus points to whomever guesses the song.

In Bloom

Yesterday's Song:
Life is Beautiful - Vega4

PEACE

Bauhinia Tree

Life is Beautiful

Since I'm busy not running, I've been doing a lot of gardening. I did manage to start some vegetable seeds, plant some flowers, pull TONS of weeds, and turn over the soil. It's the turning over the soil part that's giving me the best workout, but it's a lot of work. I just strap on the "Frankenstein" boot** and go. I have a huge backyard and I feel like I've barely put a dent in things. Gardening is not a weekend project in my yard. It's probably about a 4 month project, especially since things went by the wayside. I've also become acquainted with a few bugs I've never seen before, like this one:

Potato Bug or Jerusalem Cricket

I've lived in Southern California forever and haven't seen these bugs until recently. I shot that picture and posted it on Facebook just to find out what it was. I tried looking for it on the internet, but there are only a zillion bugs in the world, maybe more. My FB friends gave me the info.*

Last Saturday, Evan came up with this outfit, and I felt it was worth a picture, but he would only have his picture taken if he could show off the marble he found in his room:

Yes, he has a unique sense of fashion...

Here's the marble, which is now lost inside his Great Grandma's piano.

I've also been faithfully tracking calories, which is helping to prevent weight gain. This week I'm working on getting in more protein, which is tough since I had relied on ready to drink protein shakes. I didn't have to think about it, they were ready to go, no blenders or mess. The last one I used was Muscle Milk, which is lactose free, but for some weird reason my system no longer likes it. I'm itchy right after drinking a serving. I'll probably go back to soy protein, but it would be even better if I could find a decent one that tastes good, is an RTD, and cheap. I'm trying to keep foods as natural as possible, but sometimes an RTD is good to have on hand in a pinch. Suggestions are welcome!

Friday's Song:
Life in Technicolor - Coldplay

PEACE

** AKA: The ginormous overkill boot they gave me in orthopedics. I might as well use it for something!
*Justifying that Facebook is not a total time suck.

Life in Technicolor

This Week's Recap:

1. Taxes - Done, and with several hours to spare! Woohoo! Paid some to Federal, getting some back from State.

2. Healing - Still in progress. 4 more weeks, I hope. Still using the bone stimulator.

3. Doctor's/orthopedics visits and Rehab United - Back to both in two weeks.

4. Marathon - Switched to the half. See #2.

5. House - Clean. I had someone else clean it.

6. Work outs - A lot of upper body bands stuff, push-ups, abs work, plus some squat matrices within reason.

7. Nutrition - Back to tracking. Trying to stay with in 1500 calories per day so I don't turn into an Oompa Loompa due to the lack of running. Will fine tune the macros later. Calories first.

8. Sugar Free Jello - A lifesaver.

9. Muscle Milk - No longer works for me. I broke out immediately, even though it's lactose free. *sigh* Back to square one and soy protein.

10. Daytime TV - Still sucks.

11. Dreams - Been having some weird ones. I had a dream I was a shopping at Macy's in Chicago, went to the top floor, but could only get to the first floor by getting on a water slide. In another dream my PT Bryan carried me across a football field while I was sitting in a Igloo ice chest. The crazy thing is that I've stopped taking pain meds 2 weeks ago, so I can't use the drug excuse. Analyze if you wish, but on the surface it seems I have travel issues, but how in the heck did I end up in an Igloo ice chest?

Yeah, I look *just* like this when I sleep. *cough*

12. Lentil stew with brown rice and warm, crusty bread - It's what's for dinner.

Wednesday's Song:
Winner - Justin Timberlake

PEACE

Winner

Monday's Song:
Melancholia - The Who

PEACE

Carlsbad 5000 April 11, 2010 - Masters Women's over 40 Winner Marilyn Arsenault, Canada - 17:16

Melancolia

Randomness

Sunday was only the second time that I paid for a race in which I didn't run, and both times due to injury. The Carlsbad 5000 looked like a good course, plus there's no major elevation changes, just very small ones. The timing for this race was chipped (D tagged) which meant more accurate results. I went to support my hubs and all of my RU and SDTC friends who were running, brought the big-ass camera* (she needs a name) and watched on the sidelines. It was fun watching and snapping photos, but I really wanted to be running, too, and that made me a little melancholy. A bright side to my day was breakfast and mimosas with some of The Herd after leaving the event.

Celebrating! Aka Alice and my hubs had PRs!

After an wonderful breakfast and mimosas, Hubs decided that he really needed to attend his soccer game, and I went to drop him off at the soccer field, but no one was there. Turns out we were at the wrong field. Hubs was determined to get to his game, even though he was already a half hour late. We then trekked out to the correct soccer field. I wasn't planning to stay, I was planning to just drop him off and head home, but since he was late, I figured it would be easier for me to just stick around. It was a wee bit chilly so I stayed in the car and checked phone messages and listened to music on my iPod. I really wasn't watching the game, but soon saw hubs playing goalie. Eeek! (Please, Lord, no trips to the ER!) He normally plays mid-field, but their goalie was out and the team needed back up.

Hubs getting ready to block a goal. Big-ass camera came in handy for this shot from the car and through the chain-link fence!

Psychology - I really should have taken a few psych classes in college. Perhaps if I had the knowledge or understanding of why people do what they do, or why they act how they act, perhaps I could deal with people's/a person's reactions (or lack there of ) in a better way. Perhaps I wouldn't take those reactions/lack of reactions so personal. I get the whole concept of how I react to a situation is a big key to blowing off that particular situation, but sometimes that really is easier said than done. I still have feelings and I can't help but feel dissed. Maybe my expectations are too high. Confused? Yeah, me too.

My dog loves me. I am the only one she will follow through out the day. She won't get up for the day until I am up and out of bed. She won't do this for Hubs or any one else. If I'm doing something like putting laundry away she has to follow me. If I'm outside gardening, she's in the dirt with me. Too bad she's a senior dog and has some heath issues because she would have been the perfect running companion and protector.

I swore I'd be on top of exercising and paying attention to what I eat while not running, but I haven't been good. I am getting some activity, but I haven't been paying attention to nutrition. I've been feeling sluggish, and it has to do with eating. I've lost muscle, even though my weight has stayed relatively the same, and I'm feeling that shift in my clothes. Nothing is fitting right. Maybe PMS is screwing around with my head and body at the moment, but I feel anything but physically fit. Time to track nutrition again.

Tomorrow is my ortho appointment and x-rays. My foot is still a little sore, but I'm hoping to see improvement. I hope I can toss the boot completely, but I have a gut feeling that the doc will tell me to keep wearing it.

Landry - Ugh. Piles of it.

Happy Monday.

Saturday's Song:
Same Ol' Situation - Motley Crue

PEACE

*I posted some of the race pics on Facebook, but mostly shot pics for my friends.

Same Ol' Situation

Not running is really messing with my blogging and Daily Mile updates. It's more of not being as mobile which throwing things off. I'm attempting to keep busy with in reason, but when you're used to doing certain things as a part of your daily life it puts a kink on the chain of daily events to not do THAT thing, and running is that thing for me. Yes, this is a temporary situation, and I hope I'll be back to doing some sort of running and training in less than three weeks.

Gardening has been the activity of choice these days. It really isn't the fun part of gardening, yet, it's the prep part, like pulling weeds and digging up the dirt with a pick ax*. I have a big back yard, but it has gone by the wayside since May 2008 when I had the hip fracture and surgery. There's no problem with the lawn, that gets mowed and trimmed regularly. It's the planter and garden areas that have become unruly. Those areas were sort of my thing, and when I could no longer squat and easily get up and down after surgery, gardening was out of the question. When my grandparents were around, gardening was a serious thing. They planted just about everything, apricots to zucchini. The garden area was beautiful and always lush. They also had a beautiful array of of flowers growing, no matter what the season. It seemed like the Land of Oz to me when I was a kid because the yard was so pristine and colorful. I've told this story before, so I won't recap it, but I'm back on the gardening thing, perhaps not with the same verve my grandparents had, but at least it will be less unruly. Hubs and I thought putting in a lap pool(fire pit, new patio, granny flat/office, etc...) would solve most of the gardening issue, and it would, but maybe when the economy turns around and we actually have funds for something like that. Meanwhile, it's just me, a shovel, and some seeds.

Photo from May 2005- Currently looks about the same - Sad, I know....

Hubs celebrated a birthday on Wednesday. Since it was a work/school day, and everyone's schedules were all over the place, it was just Hubs, the kid and me celebrating. The three of us went out for sushi at the neighborhood place just blocks away, then we came home for cake.

I swear, I do have some mad cake decorating skilz and a degree in Art, I even own special cake decorating tips, paint brushes and gear, but that would have required a trip to the store, and I wanted to use what I had on hand. I made a cake from the Cooking Light cookbook , "Old Fashioned Caramel Layer Cake," decorated with fridge magnets and an Ikea tea-light candle.

OK, not my finest moment in artistic creation, I'll never work for Ace of Cakes, but the cake was delicious.

"Happy Birthday dear Papa..."

Thursday I attended a "Pants and Pinot" party at AKA Alice's home. Her sister brought over a really great inventory of jeans, tops, dresses and accessories. There was also a friend who was buying gold jewelry on the spot, but I didn't think ahead of time to look through my jewelry for things to sell. I wasn't planning on drinking wine (the allergy thing) and planning on buying just one pair of jeans. It has been AGES since I've had a decent red wine, but a certified wine snob told me that my best option for wine would be pinot noir** (less likely to have a reaction, not sure why) so I indulged in a glass of wine. I keep trying because I really miss red wines, and it's a crap-shoot with the taste of organic wines which don't warrant an allergic reaction. After a glass of wine and some really good nibbles of food, I was really relaxed, took a look at the awesome selection of jeans. I grabbed a few pairs to try on , just thinking I would purchase just one, but I also found a pair of jeans with my name on them. I rarely run into anyone who has my same name, unless they're 80+ years old, and to find my name on a pair of white jeans was just hysterical. Amazingly, the jeans fit well, so I had to purchase those in addition to the one pair I was already planning to buy. Score! This was a very smart retail event -- Alcohol and shopping. Fun for the guests and a major score for the retailer with all of those relaxed shoppers. I also saw some of the herd at the party. The funny thing is that we looked so different from our running selves, that we were not readily recognizable. One of the Heffers, Betty, walked right past me and said she didn't recognize me with my hair down, and I didn't recognize her when she walked past me - she had just come from work. We're used to seeing each other in running garb, all sweaty and dusty.

Oh, by the way, AKA Alice puts on a really good party. :)

Tomorrow is the Carlsbad 5000. I'm still not able to participate. I was hoping I'd be able to at least walk it by now, but I'm not there yet. I will be attending since Hubs and my friend Rich will be running, plus the Herd, RU buddies, and track club friends. *sigh* I'll bring the big ass camera and take pics. This so sucks not being able to run this one since the timing is chipped, and it's a 5k. Next year I'll be all over this one.

Wednesday's Song:
It Amazes Me - Tony Bennett

PEACE

*I really need to get a roto-tiller.
**Bummer. I still broke out, but it was so good!

It Amazes Me

Yesterday's Song:
The World Ain't Slowin' Down -Ellis Paul

PEACE

Photo credit - Erik, my son

The World Ain't Slowin' Down

In case you haven't heard, we had a rockin' 'n' rollin' Easter. We were at my SIL's house for Easter Sunday dinner and just sitting around in a food coma, eating dessert when it felt like a big truck drove by the house. The house rattled, then we felt the floor, but it didn't stop, it just kept going. My SIL yelled for everyone to get out of the house, and I grabbed the kid and we stood under a doorway - no time to get out of the house. There was nothing out of place and no damage when the shaking was done, but only rattled nerves. No damage at my house, either, just a bunch of text and phone messages from out-of-state relatives making sure we were OK. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake is major, and it's amazing that the damages and injuries around the epicenter wasn't worse.

I'm still nursing the foot. One thing, though, when I had the first x-ray, it showed some hairline fractures in my pinky toe and the toe next to it. Those fractures are gone in the x-ray I posted last week. It's that middle part of my foot that's going to take some time. I've been using the bone stimulator faithfully, 20 minutes a day, every day. I hope it works as it says it will.

I hope this thing does help heal me 38% faster. At least my toenails look good. Hey, I have toenails! *

The added arch insert to the boot has helped some, but my ankle still isn't liking the boot. My ability to fall asleep is sort of messed up, even with the Darvocet. It takes me a good two hours to fall asleep, mostly because I feel my foot more at the end of the day, even after icing it.

The Carlsbad 5000 is this Sunday. I won't be able to even walk it, but it's just a 5k. Hubs and a friend are signed up for it, so I'll be going, anyway. Since I already paid for it I'm going to go pick up the swag and t-shirt. One of the PTs from RU might run for me, but that's if she decides to do so.

I've also signed up for the Nike Women's Half Marathon DRAWING. I signed up with AKA Alice and her group, so I HOPE I GET IN. I ran it in 2007 and have been trying to get back in since. If I don't get in I'll be looking at the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.

Speaking of races, the 2010 San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half Marathon have sold out. This is the first time ever that it has sold out, and I think adding the half marathon option boosted interest. I might not have a choice of switching to the half marathon. If that's the case, I'll plan on walk/running the marathon and toss the time goal out of the window, THEN look for a fall marathon to train for. I'm still wanting to get under 5 hours - and I'm so freekin' close to smashing that time goal. I get my foot smashed at Costco by a lady with a full shopping cart instead.** Stupid injuries. *sigh*

Once again, we're getting down to the wire with taxes. If certain things were different, we'd have them done already, but I won't go there right now. At least we have time to look for extra write-offs and deductions.

Finally, Easter weekend was a big one for the kid. Not only did the Easter Bunny visit, but the tooth fairy visited for the first time, too.


Saturday's Song:
That's the Breaks - George Strait - Running Circles Around Turtles

PEACE

*Last year I lost both my big toenails after a 16 mile run in April. They took about 10 months to grow back and another couple of months to finally look OK.

**Not only the lady with the cart, but add in the shoes I was wearing and running soon after that -- And Bryan thinks there's other bio-mechanical factors as well. It's never simple.

That's The Breaks

My Peeps

I know. I've been a bad blogger. Part of it has to do with Spring Break, part of it has to do with our computer being buggy, and most of it has to do with the hubs working from home this week.

Speaking of Blogger, is anyone else finding the new photo upload option(s) s-l-o-w?

I had an ortho appointment this week. No surprise, but the foot is still busted. This time I had the where-with-all to bring a camera and take pictures of my x-ray.

Middle metatarsal bone... Not just a fracture, but the bone frayed. Yeah, when I break something, I break it good... *sigh* I guess the Costco incident* in addition to running did more damage than I thought. I wasn't planning to post the pic but, apparently, a lot of you are curious and asked me to show the pic -- so there it is!

I came into the appointment wearing my new Pearl Izumis. The doc busted me on not wearing the boot. The boot is hard and flat, and I have a really high arch, and it caused me to overcompensate through my ankle and knee. The doc pointed out that I need a lot more stability while I'm healing so that I don't cause more injury. The Pearl Izumis are relatively firm and stable, but they still bend -- the doc doesn't want my foot to bend. I've added an arch insert to the boot, which helps, but it still wears me out. I return to ortho in two weeks.

I also had an appointment at RU the following day. Bryan seemed a bit more sympathetic to me after seeing the pic of the x-ray -- not that he wasn't sympathetic before, but seeing how smooshed my foot is, he realized it wasn't as small a fracture as he thought. Sooooooo... instead of the usual workout routine, I got a nice foot massage, did some easy upper body dumbbell matrix exercises, and ankle mobility exercises. He also did casts of my feet for custom orthotics, finally. I return to RU in two weeks.

It was also suggested that I get a prescription for a bone stimulator**. [Feel free to insert an inappropriate joke here, because my mind is mush and can't think of one.] It doesn't feel much like anything when I use it for 20 minutes a day, but it's supposed to help the healing process, and according to the site, it says it "gets patients back to their normal activities 38% faster." I guess I'll find out, providing a trip to Costco is normal activity with steel toe boots. Maybe I'll be able to get in and out of Costco 38% faster. Maybe I'll be able to run 38% faster.

Since I can't run I've been doing other things to keep busy. My side and back yards have been quite neglected, and I decided to pull weeds and add some perennials and drought tolerant plants. I've been mindful of my foot and have been sitting for most of this gardening adventure. I've completed one side yard planter area and a small square in the center of the backyard with a new bird bath. Now, I need to slowly tackle the rest of the unruly backyard.

The strategically cropped photo -- So you can't see the rest of the unruly backyard.

I'm also trying to keep some kind of exercise routine going. I have yet to get into a pool, but that's on the list of things to do. I've been doing a lot of upper body exercises that don't require feet, like stability ball push-ups -- which are probably equivalent or equal to knee-down push-ups, bicep curls, tricep extensions, dumbbell flys, shoulder presses, abs exercises, etc. I've been trying to do modified squat and lung matrices, but I really have to pay attention to the foot with those.

In other news...

The hubs had some rather unexpected excitement earlier in the week. It was later in the day, probably about a half hour before closing when everyone in the office started smelling smoke. They went outside to figure out the source, and discovered that smoke was coming through their basement. 911 was called and they were soon surrounded by fire trucks, police and the local news. Luckily, the fire wasn't that big, the damage was confined to the basement, and they've hired a company to take care of the smoke smell. Oh, the news coverage was minimal. I tried to find a news link because the story aired on the 11 o'clock news on three local stations, but I guess it wasn't news worthy enough to keep the story since no one was injured and the building didn't burn down. As a precaution, SDG&E cut the power lines to the building. They actually went up in a cherry picker and physically CUT the lines. Hubs was more horrified with the cutting of the lines than the actual fire because that meant he wouldn't be able to work at the office with deadlines looming and picky clients wanting their projects done NOW. Hubs worked at home for three days. I pretty much stayed out of his way, since he was on the computer most of the time and had a phone stuck to his ear. By the way, everything at the office returned back to normal on Friday.


Last night we attended a party/reception/thing at RU. They were launching a new training program and had vendors with free goodies, plus food and drink. There were several people there who I hadn't seen since the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon/Half Marathon in December, and was able to catch up with all of their race plans for this year. I'm not sure what it is, but every time we go somewhere that is mostly my thing, my hubs almost always sees someone he knows there. This happens frequently. For example, at my 10 year high school reunion he knew someone I went to high school with, and I had no idea because when he referred to her it was by her married name. Their firms shared an office space together. At the RU thing, he saw a guy from Rotary, his former intern, and a contractors who he works closely with. I wish this would happen to me. I go to his industries receptions/parties/things and NEVER see anyone I know -- and at his things it's all about business. It's not a lot of fun for me to discuss square footage, drywall, lighting fixtures and flooring unless it's for my house. ANYWAY, back to the RU party... I had some explaining to do about my foot, and that's where everyone said they wanted to see the x-ray pic. Towards the end of the event, they had a drawing for some nice goodies like massages, hydrostatic body fat testing, shoes, etc. Hubs won a mesh bag with triathlon gear inside, which was a bib holder/belt, Glide, a sun visor, and a few other small items. I guess he'll have to take up doing tris now. Heh.

I'm not 100% sure what's happening for Easter, but I can venture to guess that my SIL will be hosting it. They ALWAYS plan these kinds of things to the last minute.


Whatever you're celebrating on Sunday, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Wednesday's Song:
California Sun - The Ramones


PEACE

* A lady ran over my foot with her full cart at Costco.
**Ultrasound bone healing system