On the Mend

So, after 3+ weeks of fairly intense training and 1+ weeks of convalescing due to a hurt ankle, I do believe I'm finally on the mend.  Today is the first day in over a week that I can walk without limping.  Whee.  Additionally, I am officially registered for the Brooklyn Half-Marathon.  Double whee.

Turns out I wasn't the only one eagerly awaiting registration to open; you could finally sign up yesterday starting at noon, and the race was sold out in record time, 10 hours later.  What's more, last year just under 6,000 people ran this race, but this year the organizers are changing the course to accommodate a whopping 15,000 participants.  That means 15,000 people signed up in 10 hours.  Wow.  They are all going to be so bummed when I win...  haha.  Maybe not exactly win, but let's not get caught up on semantics.

I've never seriously injured myself while running before, so this injury has been an adjustment for me.  Last week I tried to stay off my foot as much as possible, which found me sitting while teaching a lot more than seems reasonable.  My students kept asking for help and were continually perplexed when I insisted they get up and walk to me, as I apparently lounged, foot propped up on a chair.  On Friday I was trying to get across the classroom quickly, and--tired of hobbling--I hopped on one foot like half of a three-legged race team.  Luckily 14-year-olds are reliably self-involved, so no one appeared to have noticed this stunt.  My limp is most obvious going down stairs, as this requires quite a bit of adjustment so as not to further torque the ankle.  I have it down pretty well at this point, but imagine I must look like an off-kilter and over enthusiastic frog as I strangely hop down one step at a time.  I've always enjoyed an off-kilter frog, though, so I am at least slightly proud to suddenly find myself among their ranks.

Fortunately for me, one of my best friends is a college track coach, so he had all sorts of advice on getting back to my training regime as quickly as possible.  A key component of this turns out to be ice baths for my foot.  That sounds sort of pleasant, right?  A nice bath for the foot, let it relax, etc.  Um, no.  One might recall that ice is cold.  Freezing cold, in fact.  Nonetheless, I have been told to plunge my foot into a bucket full of ice water twice a day for 12-15 minutes at a time.  That's what everyone wants to do upon awaking at 5:45 in the morning, right?  I surely do.  And while in the ice bucket bath, the toes are instructed to write their ABCs so as to increase mobility and looseness.  At 33 degrees Fahrenheit my toes do not remember their alphabet, so I find it necessary to recite aloud.  Everyone enjoys this.

It's okay, though.  Because on May 19th I'm gonna kick some half-marathon ass.  That's still the plan, anyway.