Lululemon Giveaway Winner and Trying to Stay Positive

The winner of the Lululumeon gift card and yoga stuff is Laura from She Did It (and now she wants more). Please email me at brisdon@comcast.net with your address and we’ll get  you your stuff. Congrats!

F*cking stress fracture.

I think I finally figured it out -the key to blogging success. If you want to get a quick 170 comments on your blog, get a stress fracture. Preferably get it right before the race for which you’ve been training to drum up more sympathy. Throw in a panic attack in the MRI machine and you’re golden.

In all honesty, you have no idea what your 170 comments have meant to me. I read each and every one. In fact, last night I posted about the injury quickly, then we went out for dinner wine and crying in my crutches. By the time I got back, there were already a boatload of comments. I sat and read and sobbed. Not only do you guys get it, but not one of you told me to give up running. You all told me to fight. You made me feel like I could make a comeback and go to Boston on April 18, 2011.  I am signing up for that damn marathon on Monday and my ass will be at that start line in April. I didn’t bust my butt to get my BQ, only to give up now. Femur neck stress fracture be damned.

And, to think before yesterday’s doc appointment I actually thought the femur neck was in the neck (as in the thing that holds up your head). When Google-nosing in the days leading up to the MRI, I was sure that wasn’t my problem because my neck was just fine. I wondered what the hell kind of person injures their neck and can’t run due to hip pain. Losers. Look, I never said I was good at anatomy. Hurting myself and crapping my pants are my specialties.

Giving up this weekend’s race and the reality of not running for the next few months is devastating. You would have thought someone died around here last night. But, if you know anything about me, you know I don’t stay down for long. There are worse things than not being able to run (I guess. Are there really?). I need to focus forward. To stay positive. To take all that energy I put into running and put it into something spectacular.

Are stripper pole lessons weight bearing? Doesn’t look like it:

 

But then my kids might draw this:

After much pondering, this is the question: If you run so much you fracture your bones are you a devoted and/or hard core runner or just stupid?

Let’s break it down. This is my second stress fracture in 13 months. I have only been running for 25 months. Those are some shitty odds for sure (even if I did qualify for Boston between the two fractures – cha cha). Some may think I train poorly or take a hammer to my bones to get attention. Let me tell you what I think.

I train hard. Very, very hard. But, I am reasonable. 

• I follow the ten percent rule.
• I keep my mileage low (35-50 miles per week).
• I take my daily calcium (1000 mg) with Vitamin D (800 IU).
• I only run four days a week and take at least 1-2 days when I do absolutely nothing but rest.
• I cross train.
• I stretch and build strength with yoga.

For shit’s sake, bones, what do you want?

Seems my bones may be weak (duh). I will be that 90 year old woman on a cruise ship who breaks her hip (hopefully running on the ship’s track), and have to be med-evaced out by helicopter. But, at least I went down running.

I am in a high risk category for weak bones: female, white, single (that was a movie I think), thin, history of a previous fracture. I will now have a myriad of tests: blood, bone density, etc. to see why this is happening. It could be that a hormonal or metabolic imbalance is causing my bones to fracture. It could be biomechanics. Maybe I have one leg that is longer than the other and I need a lift in my shoe (freak!) or some special orthotics. Lord, don’t give me these:

I’m not sure how the cheetah skirt would look with those kicks. I wonder if Dean K. would like them. Aaahh, Dean K. Wonder what he is doing now (probably running the Chicago Marathon for the 49th time since Sunday without water or food) and if he knows the peril of his favorite running partner.

Whatever the cause and whatever the case, I am getting to the bottom of this injury.  In the mean time, I’m trying not to cry whenever I pass a runner in my car or someone mentions the word “marathon” (even when talking about back to back TV reruns). It will be okay, right?

Trying to stay positive,

SUAR