Yesterday as promised I cheated and ran at lunch. I did a cost benefit analysis and improvements to my mental health outweighed what I perceived to be being cautious about my foot. I took it easy and tried to pay attention to how my foot felt. I was pretty nervous actually that I would hit that 2 mile bench mark and it would act up again. But I made it all the way back with no pain...woohoo!
When I got back to the office I was practically euphoric. Apparently when you havent run in 3 weeks the runners high is that much better :) It was like everything was right in Jess-land again. I was so pumped I found it easy to resist the safety day lunch treats in the lunch room that included smokey's, donuts, cupcakes and a tub of Halloween candy large enough to bathe a small child in...
The only thing I felt slightly guilty about was I knew that I would have to fess up at my physio appt the next morning! I wondered if her magic physio hands would know as soon as she touched me that I had broken the rules... Either way it was worth it to me! It also made things better that during the run I had a call from my Dr. who was helpful in trying to talk to me off the ledge about some test results that I had already interpreted to mean I'm dying. Rationally I am aware that that is probably not the case, but the non-running, anxious, stressed out version of myself is not always the most reasonable person to deal with.
My Physio appt was first thing this morning and I tried to look appropriately contrite when I explained my act of rebellion. She gave me "the look" and then admitted that she could tell as soon as she met me that I was going to have a hard time following the rules! She had me do a few exercises to see if there was any pain. Hopping around in a square pattern on the injured foot and flexing it against resistance. Nothing made it achy which was good. She felt around and said it was at most a tiny bit inflamed after the run yesterday, which I'm not quite convinced she didnt just say as a bit of a reprimand... :)
She gave me the go ahead to start running again "gradually". I think she used that word at least 5 times. She recommended a run 1 min, walk 30 seconds mix. I tried not to look at her like she'd lost her mind...I'm not sure I succeeded. She explained that if I went out and ran 15k I would probably be so excited to run and have a such a great runners high that I might not realize until I'm finished that my ankle was actually getting sore again for the last 5k. That the 30 second walk breaks are just to check in with my ankle and if after 30 seconds there legitimately is no pain than I can continue on my way. Sounds reasonable I suppose. But there's gotta be a happier medium between every minute and 15k...She said that if I dont have any more pain we are good to go in terms of needing anymore appointments, but that if anything flares up to come back in and we'll continue to work on it. As I walked out the door she shouted one last time "gradual Jessica!" (she's got me figured out).
So in a fit of being reasonable I decided since I pushed it yesterday I would take it easy today. I ran to the gym (0.4miles), rode the bike for 35mins and then ran back. See how obedient I can be :)
No comments:
Post a Comment