Shut down for a while

Running has been difficult for the last few months, really below the knees. I got in a 13 mile long run, marathon training is in full swing. Then I limped for the next 2 weeks. Got home from work on a wednesday and it was only 73* outside, so I got in a quick 4 miles. Limped around after that for 2 more weeks. There's just no way to feel good anymore, it seems.

I'm almost finished with this front porch project. I finished the cedar on the front side, and had a bird nest in the roof framing. The little baby birds finally flew the nest on Friday, so I could go ahead and finish the ceiling this weekend. Run trim around that, paint the whole thing, install the ceiling fans and I'm done. I just have to fix this pesky roof leak on the last cool day in Raleigh before the summer heat sets in.

Happy to be done with that cedar siding

I got up to the roof and ripped off all of the problematic area of shingles where I was getting the leaking. Then I got rid of the framing. So now there are a lot of tools on the roof, and I need to start measuring to install new framing members.

More tools in hand, I get up to the top of the ladder and get my hands on the shingles. That's when the ladder shifted underneath me. I tried to grab onto the gutter as I was going down, so now I have to repair the gutter too. That spun me around, so I landed on a pile of rocks & bricks with my back to the wall. I remember thinking that I needed to land soft on bent knees, and crumple into the ground to soften the blow. It's an 11' high wall, I'm 6' tall, so I really only fell about 5 feet down, but that was plenty to do some damage.

Kelley was working in the yard so she saw the whole thing. The kids were drawing on the porch. How strange that after building this entire porch by myself the entire family gets to witness me seriously injuring myself. Kelley came running, she saw the whole thing and said that my left leg hit first and bent in a way that knees are not supposed to bend. It kind of crumbled under me.

Kelley spotted some scrapes on my right hand & wrist, and bandaged them on the ground. I gently moved off of the rocks onto a softer surface before trying to stand. After a while the adrenaline rush went down and I was able to get a valid assessment of what was wrong. It didn't feel like my leg was broken so I did try to stand and walk back inside. After ice and rest for the afternoon I was able to gimp around some.

The offending gutter

The pain starts behind my knee on the outside back of the leg, and runs down towards the heel. No clue if it's muscle or tendon, will require PT or a cast or a knee brace. I know I won't be able to run for a long time. My September marathons are probably shot. Tomorrow I'm going to call the orthopedist if this pain persists. If it is muscular, rest may be all that is required. Falling off of a roof is no joke, I'm usually resistant to these treatments but I could have some real hidden damage here. This is pretty scary.

On a lighter note, today is Fathers Day. I hate that we didn't get to go down to SC to see my dad today. He had a very bad car accident last weekend and spent a few days unconscious in the hospital. Then today he fell down the stairs, just rolled into a ball and took a bad hit to his ankle. Parkinsons and diabetes is really kicking him hard right now. Ok so that's not a lighter note. But mom & dad don't need the four of us underfoot while he's recovering like that. I got to spend plenty of time with Kelley and my girls!