50 in 50 in 50.: Three Weeks and a Birthday

Today is the first day that my calf did not hurt when I got out of bed in the morning. The first day that I was not aware of a pain in my leg while walking.

I hurt my calf one week prior to the Arkansas race, and re-injured or further injured it during the race. That was two full weeks ago today. So, other than running five miles in Little Rock and hobbling the remaining eight miles, I have not exercised in THREE WEEKS!! That would not be the end of the world save for the fact that I also had a birthday celebration in there too. My lovely and thoughtful wife baked me a New York style cheesecake... from scratch. It was incredible! I say that it WAS incredible, because it is now gone. I ate the vast majority of it myself. It was soooo good. I am paying the price for it now. I feel like I am all bloated and as if I have bulked OUT, putting on a good 20 pounds. I have not weighed myself. I am afraid to weigh myself. I seriously do not want to know. The good news is the cheesecake is gone. I am tempted no more. The other good news is that I am feeling like I might be able to run again.

That being said, I felt pain free today -- until... until I decided to run up the stairs instead of walking gingerly up the stairs. To be clear, I did not hurt my leg doing this. I am not limping and I am not in pain; however, I did feel the calf while going up and afterward... actually, I can still feel it a bit. This makes me a bit nervous.

The next race is April 22. This gives me nearly 5 weeks to recover and heal, but I am afraid that if I take any more time off I won't be able to fit in my car, much less get on the plane and secure my seat-belt. Maybe I could buy two seats and add one of those seat-belt extensions. That MIGHT work.

It is a bit of a delicate balance though. The race in May, the one after this one, is only two weeks later. So, I am concerned about re-injuring the leg if I do not allow adequate time for healing, but I am also concerned about my cardio. If I am not training and allowing my leg to heal, then I am turning into Jabba the hutt. I am thinking about riding the stationary bike at the gym for cardio. I wonder if that will translate?

I am hoping that the leg is healed well enough that I can start training lightly and work up a bit over the next four weeks and be prepared for the next race in Salt Lake, Utah... AND be healthy for Indianapolis in May.

BTW. The race in June is in Duluth Minnesota. I decided to race this race for a cause other than myself. I decided that all this time, money, and effort should benefit someone, so I decided to run to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. St. Jude's is a wonderful organization that helps kids and their families when they need it most. Please consider helping raise money to help these kids and families who so desperately need your help. Just click the link to help. Even a little bit can make a big difference.

http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=4464319&pg=personal&fr_id=64831

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