Pikature

Here is the pic of the last cast I will hopefully ever sport...

P.S. I love my new cell phone!

Grrr.... Arg....

So sick of my couch...

Here are some more tips when trying to get around on crutches...

10. A backpack has a dual use, to carry everything and anything you need to have with you, and a counterbalance for when you get a little too enthusiastic with the crutching.

11. It is the best ab, arm, and back workout you will ever have (besides working 7 days a week with a personal trainer and lifting more than your body weight...)

12. Wait until the bus has completely come to a stop before attempting to stand up while having to use crutches... no matter how stable you think you are... you are wrong

13. No matter how independent you think you look on "walking sticks" you will still get looks with sad puppy dog eyes from 50% of the people you see, from 25% you will get the knowing glance, and the other 25% will not give you a second look or thought even if you are yelling at them to move....

14. Your balance will increase exponentially, you will feel like a graceful ballet dancer when you go to pick something up you have dropped... although to the rest of the world you probably still look pretty clumsy.

15. Your palms will hurt, no matter how good you think the muscles in your hands are, it will get worse before it gets better (think cracking muscles).

Just a few more observations from this peanut gallery. Maybe some comments to add as well, the bathtub does start calling your name... and it gets increasingly louder as your "cast destruction" date nears. I am currently T-6 days and it is currently screaming at me. If you know how I can shut my bathtub up (short of smashing it) please let me know...

WOOT! (That is what is going through my head...)

Happier news is that I had another cast change today! Apparently everything is going well... my stitches have almost completely dissolved and my next cast change will be in two weeks. The next time I will get a walking BOOT! The picture here is a walking boot which is uglier than a cast... but it is removable! I will be able to take an actual bath and take it off to scratch and even stretch more than I am able to now!!! It seems like such a small thing but I am so excited! I also snapped some pictures while the cast was off... pretty gruesome here but still kinda cool. This is the inside ankle, a little nicer than then outside. My ankle is a little sore today because it is at a higher ankle than before. Should be better by tomorrow.... still really happy! WOOT you're getting a BOOT !!!!!

Progress.

Today it has been exactly a month since I crushed my ankle bones. On just such an occasion I thought it fitting to attempt something a little more difficult.... I took the bus to work. That's right, I waltzed right out to the bus stop, waited, and got on at the appropriate time. I even got off and on to another bus before getting to work. I worked for 8 hours and then I repeated this process in the reverse order to find myself back at home, muscles a little sore, but none-the-less unharmed. Yes I realize this is a little step... but it is HUGE for my independance. I can't go anywhere that requires me to crutch for too long at a time... but it is still progress!

Lessons Learned

I did it. I didn't want to. I went for my Tuesday run. I decided that it was a really nice day and I should run outside. It was so nice outside that I would have liked sunglasses and a hat maybe. The week runs are more of a timed run than distance so it didn't matter where I went. It would have been nice to have a watch on mind you. I was feeling really nauseous around kilometer two and had to walk the rest of Walford. I figure this had to do with the curry I had for lunch. Curry + running = bad. I stopped halfway on Regent at my grandparents for a drink of water because I was dying of thirst and too embarassed to go into a fast food joint and ask for free water.

So I had some lessons learned:

- buy sunglasses and a hat

- get a digital watch, a heart monitor would be nice

- do not eat curry on run day

- bring water on your run (buy a water belt)

Like a Hamster on a Wheel....

On Sunday I went to my dad's to jump on the treadmill. The dreaded 14.5km run was upon me and I wasn't happy about it. The treadmill is located in the basement in Fiona's father's equivalent of a 'man-cave.' It's where he has his lazyboy and a tv that he can turn up real loud. The lazy boy is surrounded by various papers, magazines and stock markety things. The tv is usually turned on to some business channel. So I was kind of intruding. This time the tv was broken and he kept coming in and out of the room fiddling with the remote. It's hard to watch someone tinker around with technology they know nothing about (I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it either mind you). So I was a little distracted.

The run went okay. It was long. Very long. Two hours and ten minutes long. God I'm slow. I started with 10-1 intervals (10min run - 1min walk) and then it went to 5-1 intervals then 5-2 and before long after the 10km mark I was doing 5-5 intervals. I stopped at some point to stretch. My legs get really tight after a while. Man this half marathon is going to take me like 3.5 hours at this rate lol. I'm going to be walking all funny I bet. Sigh. Now it's countdown to the dreaded 18km run which should be next weekend (but I'll be in TO) so I'm moving it to the weekend afterwards. When I come visit you this weekend I have to go to Carleton on the treadmill or on the canal for a 10km run at some point.

Sneak attacks are impossible on crutches

A few things I have learned:

1. You cannot, no matter how hard you try, sneak up on someone while using crutches
2. Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night is made harder as you have to fully wake up before setting out on crutches... or face the alternate outcome.
3. Socks last twice as long
4. You can totally rock the one pant leg up look with a cast and no one will judge you (also, sneakers go with any outfit while on crutches...)
5. People who you have never met will randomly break out into long dissertations on how they, their child, or a friend of a friend broke ANY bone in their body...
6. A Chair in the kitchen is a god-send
7. Anything slippery on the floor is the devil incarnate
8. Being able to bring a whole plate of hot food from the kitchen to the living room without spilling it WHILE using crutches IS and artform
9. The insanity resulting from cabin fever will either crush you or comfort you... the voices aren't all bad...

As I continue to learn my lessons I will share them... just in the case that you run into someone with similar circumstances to mine whom you've never met, you can tell them "A Friend of a friend of mine had this blog and she said...."

oh the newness....

That is right, I got a new cast today! And yes, it is that exciting. So I got to the hospital, and was waiting in the waiting room after checking in. They finally call me after about 20 minutes, time for x-rays! I said "allo" to the lady who came to tell us where to go and because of my first name she talked french to me the whole time. I find this very strange... but oh well. So I had three x-rays taken, one which was very awkward... but I held it until the took the picture of my bones. Then back to the waiting room for another while and then into a plaster room.

Here Mr. Plaster Man cut my cast with a saw and some cool scissors. He then handed me a washcloth which I got to wash down my leg, which felt way better then it sounds. He also took off the tape holding my incisions together (besides the stitches) and I got to see them. There is about a 2" incision on the inside ankle and about 1.5" incision on the outside ankle. I then sat there for awhile which was weird, because I can move my toes, but really can't move my foot from side to side or up and down. Also the top and bottom of my foot are numb, apparently that feeling comes back... but still a very strange sensation. Then the cast was put on and it felt nice and warm. This whole experience showed me how much muscle I have actually lost in my calf and how much my ankle has lost it's range of motion. This is slightly dissapointing as I might need way more physio then I thought I did... I can't let it bother me though because I don't know what is actually going to be perscribed until I get there.

Sudbury Rocks Marathon

Yesterday I ran the 10 km race at the Sudbury Rocks Marathon!

It certainly was an interesting race...I got dropped off at the Y in the morning. I really didn't want to get up in the morning! My race was supposed to start at 9:35am. I didn't have a watch and it was cold outside so I found a guy inside all decked out in running gear to stand beside. He had a watch and seemed to know what was going on. We waited and waited. So I went outside to check. The 10 km start had already left! Some confusion ensued about what I was exactly supposed to do at this point and I was off (in the right direction).

I was feeling anxiety in the morning going to the race. When I missed my start it definately shot up, and therefore my heartrate did too. I also hadn't warmed up at all; no stretching, walking etc. The first 3 kms were not good. Not good at all.

I've been posting about the doom and gloom of the weather forecast for this day. I wore a rainproof shell to keep dry, so did everyone else. Well it turned out to be much warmer and sunnier! So overheated. I ran with my sleeves rolled up and my shell tied around my waist. When I went to take my shell off I had to unpin my number bib, and I lost a pin....so I was walking backwards to find it. Some nice ladies behind me were packing some extras and helped me out!!

After the 5km mark I was feeling much better and able to run continuously. I had calmed down from my terrible start. Plus at this point I had passed all the walkers. The course took me around one hell of a scenic route through the flour mill and back downtown.
And the end of the race when you come to the finish line, the announcer calls out your name. I thought that was nice. And because Jennifer from the CDA office was up on stage too they called out I was a Team Diabetes Participant. Awh sweet.

My official chip time was 1:18:01. Something to beat next year.

Second Week Back at it

Tuesday I did a 6.4km run on the treadmill. I'm still trying to gain back my endurance. This time I increased the speed but kept the number of walking breaks. I did over an hour of strength training afterwards. I was feeling energized so I uped all of my weights. I normally do 'endurance weights' aka lower weights for higher reps. I do 3 sets normally so I decided that my second set I would try a much higher weight for lower reps. I left the gym with my legs shaking. Good for them, bad for me when I got home and the elevator was broken. sigh.

Thursday I started with a 'time test.' I tried to see how far I could run in 30 minutes. Good recreational runners can do 5km in 30minutes. I did 3.86km! yuck. I can typically do 5km in about 40mins or so. Realistically I'm going for endurance running but I would still like to be able to go much faster without hyperventilating. I ran for an additional 30mins and walked another 10mins combining to make 8km total. I did strength training afterwards. I skipped any torso work and the glute machine. I hate the glute machine.

Today I picked up my race kit at the Y. It's pouring today. Tomorrow is now forecasted for 12C and raining. I'm planning to go sit in my dad's hot tub afterwards.