Body Language

Okay, so I'm 34 years old... at what point does one listen to their body when it speaks to them? I LOVE TO RUN! If Columbia Pics was searching for a female to run along side Forrest - I would've been their gal at one point - oh, let's just say about 2.7 years ago! UGH! It was then that I started having knee problems. Doc said STOP RUNNING! HA! Yea, right! And then it got to the point I physically could NOT run b/c my knee locked up ... ggrrr! So several months of physical therapy, and I was back running with a waaaaaaaaaay too expensive brace on my knee!

So I gradually got back into it and then I started having progressing pains in my foot - left knee, now left foot! Ignoring the pain yet again, I was finally forced to stop running and consult the doc again - ugh! Are you kidding me??? I'm friggin 33 years old (at this point)! So we did the usual xrays, found out I have 2 extra bones in my big toe (btw, lemme know if you need one... I'd be happy to share)... was told to take it easy, let the swelling go down, take these prescription anti-inflam meds... and in a month or so you should feel better. Oh, and by the way - STOP RUNNING!

I've tried folks... I really, really, really have! But running is an addiction! Surely there's someone else out there who feels the same. It is SUCH a stress reliever, it makes you feel good... Rocky Balboa ain't got sh*t on me! But why, why, WHY is my body rejecting it? At what point do you throw the towel in? I'M NOT READY!!!

So August 12th rolls around... a few drinks and a midnight walk home - and I, Julie Bennett, have a broken ankle. Guess what?! You can't run on a broken ankle.... so I was laid up for what seemed like EVER! Obviously if I'm able to break my ankle walking... it's probably not a good idea to put that same girl on crutches - CRUTCHES?! Are you kidding me? You might as well cut off both legs, b/c I was about as immobile with crutches as I would've been w/out. I AM NOT COORDINATED!!!!! Not to mention being on pain meds.... I missed my beer! I'm drifting here - but this is funny... so a week goes by where I've been laid up at home - eating, drinking, sleeping and working from my couch. The only attempts of movement I make is to go potty. Had insurance been willing to pay for a catheter... I MIGHT have just signed up to avoid the crutches. So mind you - at this point I've been stuck in my square house for 7 days now! Not seeing the world outside of my box, probably getting bed/couch sores, and even worse... NOT A DRIP OF BEER to touch my pallet! UGH! NO, I don't need a 12-pack... but I DO enjoy a couple beers every other night or so. And to go over 7 days w/out a single sip... ugh! I was going nuts-oh! Nuts-oh enough that after the 7th day my dear mother called the local coroner!!!! Yes she did! I'm still a lil' uncertain of her original motives; however, keep in mind there is an advantage to being in good with the coroner - we're buds! Had we not been, I might still be digging dirt out from underneath fingernails.... BUT, instead.. my mom leaves there and shows up to my house with a wheelchair and 12-pack of Busch N/A!!! Talk about seeing "the light"!!! I was like a mouse who just found the block of cheese on an already tripped trap - I couldn't scoot my buns over to it all fast enough! I never understood before this why old people in nursing homes sat outside and... well... just SAT there! Now I know... you need confirmation that there is life outside the walls! So, if you can picture this, my mother and I finagled (is that a word)... but got me in the wheel chair, my hubby strolled me around the block to my parents front yard since they live on a main road - and I sat outside this lovely Friday evening in my wheelchair, drinking my N/A beer and absorbing all that mother nature had to offer! My husband says I sat out there for sympathy.... I say I sat out there for sanity! THANK YOU to our local coroner, and thank you to the great folks who manufacture N/A beer! It kept me from getting the walls of my house padded!!!

Alright - so that was my funny I drifted off on. So back to my body language - obviously being laid up with a broken ankle I wasn't running. Well, now the ankle's healed, I've been cleared by the doc... and so guess what I'm attempting to do again? RUN! Yes, I'm taking it easy... but Good Golly - define "easy"! I only went 3 miles today, and after I cooled down, stretched, relaxed a bit - I could barely move my friggin ankle! I hear my ankle is likely to always swell anytime I run... but SERIOUSLY! First the knee, then the foot and now my ankle! My point to this blog... how many signs does your body need to give you before you listen and accept it? I'm NOT okay with thinking I should give it up! I've found joy in no other cardio like I've found in running! I'm open to suggestions! I even tried switching from cans to bottles thinking I'd be burning my calories from the lifting since they're clearly heavier! HA! I think I must be somehow ingesting a portion of each bottle b/c the other day my jeans sat me down and had a heart-to-heart with me.

SUGGESTIONS???!!!