Das Brace!

A couple of things I left out from the report about the Bikefest century ride

• Horse and buggy - I saw 4 carriages on the ride!  WTH? I didn't know there was Amish country up in north central NC.  One of the buggy's pulled off to the roadside when I rode by, and a little girl maybe 10 years old jumped off and ran out into the middle of the road. First I looked at her parents, because I know what I would have done (grabbed the kid).  But she stuck out her hand out to give me a high five with a laugh from the parents, I did it and it totally made my day!  Very cool kid.
• I still haven't pulled the data off of the new Garmin 310xt.  Stupid Windows 7 won't recognize the device!  grrrrr.  Good thing I'm not a technology professional or anything.  oh wait.  I'll have it figured out soon enough, but this part is supposed to be easy. Supposedly there is also a software update for the 310xt that fixes the widely documented swimming zigzagging problem with the gps unit.  Got to get that working too.

I mentioned in the ride report that my foot was acting up again after running 3 days last week.  Since it's still being problematic I made an appointment with a podiatrist, and got the news today.

Tendonitis

It is currently a problem with inflammation. There is a tendon just below the ankle that is all blowd up. The inflammation is causing tendon problems that is causing all of the rest of the pain.  Treat the source, break the inflammation and the tendon will heal. 

The doc gave me a brace to wear for 2 weeks.  I can take it off to sleep, shower, and swim.  No running or biking for 2 weeks.  I can bike some, lightly, short distances, and while still wearing the brace.  And 2 aleve every 12 hours (that's prescription strength) for the entire time.

This is bad news.  Ironman is 11 weeks away.  Only swimming and deep water running for 2 weeks is scary stuff. Not for my ability to finish the ironman, but to complete the rest of the build and peak phases of training without any further injury.  and still be able to run marathons next year without constant foot pain.  The entire thing makes me want to stress eat large quantities of comfort foods.

This is good news. It could have been a broken metatarsal bone.  It could have been a stress fracture.  It could have meant 12 weeks in an air cast or 6 weeks in a hard cast. It could have meant no ironman at all.

I can do two weeks.  I'm not going to lose that much fitness.  I will swim a lot and discover how to do deep water running. I will wear the brace all the time.  I will take the aleve every day.  My buddy Brian also turned me on to a product he's used from Hammer nutrition called Tissue Rejuvenator, which is a glucosamine with MSM and some natural anti-inflammatory agents like turmeric - Costco used to carry a Glucosamine+MSM that I loved but ran out of right before all of these problems started creeping up (conincidence? not).  The inflammation will break and the tendon will heal. and I will be able to run for the rest of the year without foot pain.  Plus, I'll get to eat all the curry I can get for the turmeric.

I will also focus on what I can control.  My swim form.  Time with the kids. Dial in the nutrition and get down to race weight (hint: I'm only 3 lbs away now). Plan, smile, and have some fun.  Don't stress.  Well, that's easier said than done since my primary stress reliever is running.

I took 9 days off, ran for 3 days, and now have to take another 14 days off. When I go back to the podiatrist we're going to talk about orthotics, and if this current treatment hasn't worked then we'll look into something else. My hope is that he'll say everything feels clear and I don't need orthotics.  I'll take it easy when I do start running again, but will get back on the bike asap.  2 weeks is pretty short.

Finally a throwback.  Kelley found my old fraternity shirts that I haven't worn since college, and I graduated in 1998.  15 years is a long time, and they fit me again.  What's the difference between muscle and bodyfat?  When I graduated college I was 40 lbs lighter than I am today, and I'm still pretty fit today.  This old shirt still looks good.

Phi Mu Alpha is a professional music fraternity.  I'm still very close to a large number of my brothers.