Bye Bye Blogland

Planning for many future adventures, but simplifying life.

Brooks Launch

A very quick review...




I am in love with this shoe and think I will be forever. So, hear me Brooks - please do not change a thing!

These are very light weight. Cushioned without a bunch of medial support. Even when a shoe is proclaimed "neutral," there still always seems to be something built up on the medial side, or there's just a weak lateral side, making the shoe worthless for we rare supinators. Not so with the Launch. Just look at the above photo and see that nice lateral edge. No rolling over the edge of my shoe. They feel fast and springy. They also feel lower to the ground, but that might be imagined.

Since receiving them from the nice Brooks rep, I have not worn anything else. Not even my beloved Cascadias. I've put about 40 miles on them in the last few weeks on pavement, gravel, and trail. My feet did get pretty wet during a rainy trail run, but I expected that. I'd probably still use my Cascadias on several trails just because the Launch doesn't have much for tread.

Last, they look great too.
10 month update on injury: This week's follow up appointment was positive. The tear is healing; there's less scar tissue to work on each time. I haven't had much swelling or pain in several weeks and very little after my A.R.T sessions. I'm able to work out 1-2 hours several days per week. Never a true cross trainer, I've finally become one. Usually two rides, either road or mountain bike, per week; 3-4 runs of 45-75 minutes; 2-3 strength training sessions; and walking on my rest days. The walk breaks during runs have pretty much been eliminated. The biking has been amazing. My hips and glutes are much stronger and are now fully engaged when I run. The weight is come off slowly and my clothes are fitting again. I'm hoping to have dodged the surgery bullet for good, but we'll see how it is next summer at the 18 month mark.

Brooks Running Co.

Not sure where the time has gone. I am back to running 4-5 times a week for up to an hour at a time. My last run was 5:1 ratio with no pain and swelling. I'm trying to get some time in on the bike each week too, but my work schedule has been packed.

Why the post?

I have to say something about customer service. It's a huge thing for me and good customer service usually makes me a pretty loyal fan. You can see where this is leading. I love, love, love my Cascadias. I discovered them four years ago and have gone through numerous pairs. (Favorite was the frog green ones - made me smile every time I put them on).

After wearing down my last pair of road shoes to a pulp, I went to Tread Lightly in search of a new pair - one that I'd love as much as my trail shoes. I left with a pair of Glycerin 9's. Long story short, ouch, ouch, ouch. SO MUCH PAIN. I couldn't take them back because I'd run outside, so I contacted Brooks through their "Ask a Question" link. Within a day, I'd heard from a rep with the offer of an exchange along with suggestions for a different shoe and why the Glycerin's probably didn't work.

How great is that? So, a big shout out to Brooks for making me one happy customer!

Another long camping weekend done. Possibly the last of this summer season. So sad. My camera completely crapped out on me, so all the cool pictures are lost.

One of the highlights of the weekend was hiking the road from our campground to Porphyry Peak and fire tower. We've skiied Showdown several times, and I had never noticed the fire tower before. It was a 2 mile climb to 8,100 feet, but the views were so worth it. The forest ranger at the tower told us she usually has special prizes on hand for people who hike it. Kind of cool, but also creepy that she was watching us and cheering us on from way above. Our mileage was only 4 miles but my legs felt it. Another scary thing? Imagine one of these in bright yellow built up on huge tires barreling down the very narrow rocky forest road you are trying to hike up. Seriously, when the tires started to slide, I was ready to leap off the side of the mountain. Especially seeing the driver's panicked face. A movie moment for sure.




Buddy and I also explored the Little Belt mountains via forest service roads. We ran/walked our way a little more each day. My legs were tired, but no swelling or pain the entire weekend. I felt bad for a teenage girl at the campground. Obviously determined to get her workout in, she ran the campground loop over and over. So much more to see, but maybe she was the smart one - the mountain lion tracks we encountered were huge and frequent! Wish I had the pictures...

With only days left before school starts, we're trying to get in as many trails as possible. I'm trying to be careful not to overdo it, but there's so little time before the snow flies!

Not Gonna Lie

I'm having a difficult time with this every other day harder workout. While injured with little hope of running, I was overjoyed to be walking. Now that I've taken those first running steps, walking seems so dull. In all honesty, that's not the only thing going through this obsessed brain.

The scale. Weight gain. The thing no one wants to admit or talk about. Truth is, I've gained a lot of weight in these seven months. That's not just the former dancer talking. It's reality. As in the reality of having to buy new clothes and actually think every day about what I put in my mouth.

Luckily, earlier in life, I avoided the disordered eating that other dancers faced. I definitely don't want to pick up negative food patterns now. I know the weight will come off. I know I have to be patient and find some balance. It's just so blasted hard.

My New Favorite Thing

Steve got me this for camping. Love it so much it now makes my coffee at home too. If you like a percolator try this one!

Mystery Solved?

Chaos Theory proposes that an action taking place anywhere in the world can influence phenomena elsewhere. Who could have imagined that something taking place years ago would result in my mysterious injury?


For a long time, I did this...



and this...
and for sure, this...

that resulted in this...

In my case, the bone was dead by the time I sought treatment (16 years ago). The bones could not be removed because a nerve ran through the mess. I stopped dancing and gradually the pain faded from memory.

What I didn't know was that over time the problem would become more complicated and lead to a kind of arthitic condition know as Hallux Rigidus. No, this is not my toe, but mine looks similar. Mine is not really a bunion, but definitely a deformity.

When I picked up running, I do recall the ball of my foot and the above area hurting. With better shoes and time, it quit hurting. Unfortunately, it probably stopped hurting because I started doing this in a major way...
Again, I am an anomaly because even though the above picture is supination, my supination wasn't necessarily seen from the ankle. And it wasn't caused by weak hips, or other areas of the body. My supination was/is directly from the foot; caused by a general avoidance of the entire ball of foot pain. Basically, I run on the outside edge of my entire foot. Of course, this led to all kinds of biomechanical issues including hip pain, back pain, knee pain, toe pain, ankle rolls, and eventually an avulsion tear and peroneal subluxation.

So, who gets credit for finally figuring this out? No one really. It was purely an accident. When I started running just over a month ago, I had to work on my gait, including my foot plant and toe off. Naturally, the ball of foot pain came screeching back, halting all efforts to even walk normally.

Back I went to the doctor, who in turn, felt bad for never checking my big toe joint. How can I fault him for that considering I never even mentioned a previous fracture there?

The mystery is solved. You will laugh when you see my treatment plan. Yes, it works. No pain after one day of using it in my Wave Riders. One day later, I was able to run in my non-problematic Cascadias without pain. Off to the running store to invest in new running shoes; ones that don't bend right at that joint, and ones that offer lateral stability and no medial posting.
Not sure there is a moral of this story except that medical history is always important. Even the kind that happened 16 years ago.

Camping Weekend

Camping is much more fun when you can play! My ankle has been holding up well which meant I could mountain bike and run in one of our favorite camping places. Where that is will remain a secret. Very few people and lots of forest service roads running along beautiful creeks. After the usual walking and pylometric warm-up, we were able to do a 30 minute run. We were trying to stick to the 2 minute run/1 minute walk ratio, but it was a little messed up due to Buddy's sporadic sniff stops. Here's Bud patiently indulging me with a photo moment when he really wanted to run and take a dip in the creek.

Wildflowers, including Indian Paintbrush, were abundant.

Mountain biking has been a dream for awhile. It's still a bit risky getting on and off the bike because my ankle still isn't strong enough to take a lot of sudden weight. I've avoided trails because of that, so this forest service road was perfect. There was a lot of climbing even though it doesn't look like it in this photo.

A few nice obstacles thrown in for adventure. I guess this area really flooded in the spring and early summer. Sections of road were covered in jagged rock. Especially nice for me were the motor vehicle restrictions due to huge wash-outs. I had the road completely to myself.

Happy self portrait! The entire ride wasn't much in mileage, but my weak legs were still shaking by the time I was done. Each workout ended with a nice ice bath in the creek near our campsite. A very perfect weekend.

Starting some controversy, but I've kind of had it

Grrrr... that's from me. What's up with all of the off leash dogs in town? I'm not talking only trails, although we see them there too. Right now, we've got neighbors who think that letting your dogs out the front door to run freely is ok. They MIGHT check on them an hour later. In the meantime, they've chased down every other dog (and owner) walking by. And stomped around in my flower garden a good part of the time.

People may not think it's a big deal, but read this article. Not too funny, right?

My dog is not perfect. He occasionally runs after a deer, barks at the pizza delivery guy, or snarls at a stranger who get too close to me. Buddy was adopted from the Humane Society after spending years with someone who did not treat him well. Which also means he's got baggage. Combine that with his breed and you have a recipe for unpredictability.

That's why he's on a leash most of the time. At first, I felt bad about this. Border Collies need free space, a job, to run, etc. However, I've learned that he doesn't seem to mind his leash. He's just happy to be out with me. Which is a lot of the time. His leash reduces the possibility of conflict which makes every outing a happy one.

Why am I on this kick? Because I'm tired of other people allowing their dogs to charge full speed ahead at Buddy, get in his face, climb all over him, sniff his privates a little too well all the while calling out "don't worry, he, she, it is friendly." Especially when I've already asked my dog to sit off trail to wait for others to pass by. Even more so when I spot another dog acting aggressively and call out that my dog isn't always friendly. If I'm courteous to give a warning, can you be courteous and control your dog?

End of rant.

Not a duck

Anymore. Oh yeah, I'm running too. It's been a long time coming. Fear maintained a good grip until a week ago. During an active release session, I pointed out what was tight or hurting and made a comment about the pain indicating more tearing. The doc looked at me strangely and walked me through a mini anatomy lesson. Turns out my brain has exaggerated the peroneal tendon to take up my entire foot, ankle and leg.

The doc knocked a finger at my head, told me I needed to work on the mental aspect of recovery, and explained overcompensation of other muscles, tendons and ligaments because my brain refuses to use the injured area. My prescription for the next two weeks was to begin the return to previous activity. Exciting right? Tell that to my freaked out, obsessive brain.

BUT, I followed the doc's (aka psychologist) orders and finally returned to a semi-hopeful outlook. The plan:

1) Gradually, build up my running. Right now, I'm at 40 minutes of a 2:2 ratio of walking/running.

2) Continue to build strength in my butt and hips so that I can run with my
feet straight. No more duck walk for this former dancer.

3) Run on non-consecutive days. Cross train instead. On my brand new road bike! Haven't named him? her? yet, but working on ideas.

For the formerly injured, were you freaked out by the return to running??? How'd you get over it?

Oh, and for the peroneal tendon tear people. Turns out, I had an avulsion tear. Right from the bone. Explains a lot. Recovery estimates with or without surgery is a year to 18 months. So, I'm pretty stoked to be doing as much as I am. For the person who asked about surgery...I'm happy I did NOT have the surgery only because of my RSD risk. However, if I did not have the family history of RSD (or had been clueless about its existence) I'd probably have gone under the knife. Why? Recovery could have been much faster.

Active Release

More on this injury. If I have any readers left at all, I am so sorry for endlessly boring you with this crap. Someday, I hope to have more adventures to write about. For now, this is my own personal diary of what will hopefully become triumph over one tiny rebellious little tendon and its protector.

After three weeks of Active Release through this amazing place I have regained a huge range of movement in my ankle, my tendon is gliding through the groove again, I have absolutely no pain and very little swelling. I guess the pain I'd been experiencing for so long was scar tissue preventing the tendon from moving properly. All of the PT was creating extreme tightness and burning pain. Admittedly, I was terrified to have it worked on; paranoid that it would tear more or something.
Honestly, I have put myself entirely in the hands of Dr. Mark. No questions. I look forward to every visit because there is noticeable improvement each time. It's worth the drive. Old nagging hip and lower back pain is also relieved. For those of you who poo poo the chiropractor, I encourage you to give Active Release a try. Why?

So you can do the happy dance!

Which is exactly what I did post ART session while still in the office. And then I ran in place with a goofy grin. WooHoo!

Now I have to overcome my new fear of actually running...although I may start swimming since I'm starting to grow gills in all of this rain.

Perspective

I've been wallowing in self-pity on and off again for the past 5 1/2 months. Not being able to consistently exercise in any way has been very hard. I've been walking, but it does not have the same stress management effect as a cardio burst. Which is why I was thankful for the perfectly timed Happy Trails pep talk! "It's ok to do only what I can do."

With that, I got on the dreaded stationary bike and did what I could do. Turns out, I got in a pretty good 30 minute intense (at least the current definition of it) workout. Adding my core work and an hour walk helped out a lot.

Another good step - Steve talked me into driving 90 miles to see an A.R.T. doc that he highly respects. The visit was sooo worth it. This guy explained more about my injury and lull in recovery than I had learned from an ortho surgeon, sports med doc, podiatrist and physical therapist all together. What these providers did not and may never get, is that it helps to give a patient information. Information like what exactly broke, why it's not feeling right, and what specifically they are doing to try and fix it.

I learned where the retinaculum is, where it tore based on the large amounts of scar tissue I've got, how the scar tissue works, why I need to work on the scar tissue before continuing physical therapy exercises, why my leg feels so tight I'm scared to move, and some possible biomechanical issues that might have caused it in the first place. Most of all, I was given a little bit of hope which goes an awful long way when you are sitting at 6 months post injury!

5 months

I THINK my tendon is finally healing. But, then, I've thought that before. Two weeks ago I saw my sports medicine doc for the final time. When I said that this was the weirdest injury I've ever had, he looked at me with some concern and said, "It's not just weird, it's the worst kind you can have." WHAT? Then he said, "I hope I never led you to believe that the recovery was going to be quick and easy." Well, no, but I wasn't ready to hear "It's also very likely to happen again." I guess once you dislocate a tendon, it likes to visit its new place periodically. Oh well, I'm going to choose to hope for the best.

One thing is for sure, I was secretly thrilled that I got the OK to stop physical therapy. It's not that I hated going, I just felt like the last few appointments had not really been worthwhile. If anything, the appointments left me frustrated. Especially when I had to leave work to go. Once you've got a series of exercises, you can do them at home.

The second reason has to do with personal bubbles. We talk with students about bubbles a lot at school. I'm a person who does not like my bubble invaded by anyone, especially without warning. My therapist was a bit of a bubble breaker.

I do have some exciting news though. More to come...

Peroneal Tendon Update

An update for those struggling with peroneal tendon issues... It's been 108 days since my last run. Next Wednesday, it will be 14 weeks. Things are looking up. I've been out of my ASO brace for almost two weeks. The "advanced" eccentric exercises seem to be helping the most. No pain, although I've still got a lot of swelling. The nice folks at Tread Lightly loaned me a pair of hot pink compression socks to try out. They are a little pricey - we'll see if they help with the swelling.

My workouts right now include 30-60 minutes of walking, 25 minutes of stationary bike, and 30 minutes of strength training every day. I can balance on my injured leg for 30 second intervals and made it to a minute last week. I've got three eccentric exercises that I do every other day because they really fatigue the tendon. On my non eccentric days, I get to "trot" (running reference but not toilet related) in place. My PT said she's "cautiously optimistic" about running and I may get to start pool running next week. Always hopeful!

Gear opinions

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Blah, blah, blah. However, looking at a partial or full summer of no running is not without positives. Steve was once a backpacker, and has shown some interest in spending the summer camping and hiking. This has opened up a whole new world of gear - isn't that half the fun of sporting endeavors anyway? I've got backpacking and trail running gear already, but what I'm looking for is lightweight gear for long day hikes with possible big weather changes and the need to treat water.

Let me know your thoughts on the following:

Water purification - I've used the Aquamira but it's kind of a pain. Looking at the SteriPen with Iodine tablets as a backup... Shell - I want something reasonably inexpensive that is highly water and wind resistant. I get cold quickly when the temperatures drop. I've learned to carry layers, but would like this to help with warmth if needed. Anyone use the REI ultralight jacket?

Pack - I'd use my Nathan race vest all the time if I could, but I want a pack that has side bottle pockets. Not too many to choose from and I'm leaning toward this one by GoLite. Hoping REI has one in the store that I can put on. Some of the packs are just too big on me.

Any thoughts on trekking poles or other fun gear I haven't researched yet? Not that I necessarily need any of it, but it's fun right?

Looking for Motivation?

Touches of spring have arrived from 50 degree sunny walks to glimpses of green in my flower garden. Buddy has taken up full time residence in the backyard. Our walks are getting longer and my physical therapy is progressing along. A slight set-back last week had me panicked but once "The Stick" became one of my closest friends things perked back up. While I'm grateful for all I AM doing - I won't lie - I really miss running and hiking. What's a girl to do? See below - videos taken from various sources. A bit of hope for the injured.

Forever Lost from Dave Chenault on Vimeo.

UltraRunning from Matt Hart on Vimeo.

Isn't this a running blog?

Next week will be three months since my ankle went in a brace. It's the longest I've gone without a run since 2002. I've managed to avoid surgery so far, which is a very rare outcome with this uncommon injury.

Physical therapy still freaks me out a bit. I keep hearing "12 weeks for the retinaculum to repair itself, another 12 weeks for it to regain strength." I'm at 11 weeks and I don't like people - especially those holding an ultrasound probe - messing with my ankle bone. I'd rather listen to my body and follow its lead on what I'm ready to do.

And, it's proven ready to...

Walk 90 minutes at a time!

Walk some of that time on uneven ground.

Complete 30-40 minutes of strength and core work each day.

I've had no "pain" in the last 4 weeks. Some aching, mostly after icing. I do get some strange spasms of the tendon, which I hope will go away eventually.

The best part of an injury is learning what caused it. In this case, there's been lots of speculation. Primarily my stupidity in running snowy trails with a very weak body. We've also learned that my left glute/hip were basically not working, just going along for the ride. When I looked back on race pictures, sure enough, my left knee was falling in on every one. No running until that's fixed.

For now, I'm at least outside in our March sunshine with one very happy dog. Steve was also nice enough to buy me this for my new workouts.

Intense?

Disclaimer: This post is going to be absolutely boring and unappealing to anyone other than those rehabilitating an injury or those who want to prevent one.

My first physical therapy appointment happened today, exactly 8 weeks from date of dislocation. I know the exact date because it's the most freakishly weird injury I've ever had. Google peroneal subluxation and you'll see why. I had specific instructions from the surgeon to pass on to the therapist. My hyper vigilant need to immediately share the exact information along with my extreme mental fear of the tendon viciously cracking against the bone must have made me look like a wild eyed crazy person. After our first hour, she kind of laughed and said "you are pretty intense!" I'm still trying to figure out if that is a good or bad thing.

2nd Disclaimer: It could also be that lack of sleep and intense fatigue from three very sad work related days have left me confused about date, time and the English language.

While I'm excited to be starting PT, I've got to say it was really hard. I have no strength left at all, but I learned a lot.

The first 20 minutes we just worked on standing correctly. Standing! I guess I stand on my heels which puts all stress on the peroneal tendons. My shoes also push my feet out adding to the problem. Combined with my genetically altered perching tendons -I was a predisposed waiting to happen mess. So, now I'm learning to stand straight with weight moved forward over the balls of my feet so my calves and the rest of me do some of the work.

Second, I got to do some ballet moves (tendu) with the weight centered over my injured foot. I worked on squaring my hips, pulling up from the center, and utilizing my entire foot and body to support my weight. ALL OF THIS I KNOW, but obviously have forgotten since becoming a lazy non-dancer. "Sigh" I used to be so disciplined. What happened?

Third, I'm doing isometrics to strengthen ankle support muscles. Pretty easy stuff, but it's so hard mentally. Some of the moves will replicate the exact moment of dislocation. Psychologically, I'm just not over it.

Absolutely no other exercise yet. In fact, I will start on an extreme core whole body strengthening program on Monday. Until I'm much stronger, I can't do anything else. We're rehabbing it just as if I'd had the surgery. She's confident I'll run again, but it could be another four months. Baby steps. At least I've got a plan. Remember? I'm good with plans.

Awesomeness

This weekend, my friend Danni and others have been out in the Alaska wilderness running the Susitna 100. I'm fascinated by this race since I love running during winter conditions - and runners have to pull a sled with all their emergency supplies. Danni constantly impresses me with her bravery to try new things and her mental toughness. Can't wait to read her race report!

Bragging about my sister

Check out my sister's new book! Educators, social workers, and anyone looking for ways to engage our youth will definitely find it interesting and worthwhile.

No surgery yet. This is the start of week 8. I'm walking better, have less pain, and start physical therapy on Wednesday. There's been no major crack/snap of the tendon, just the "normal to me" clicking. Not that clicking should be normal, but both my feet, ankles, knees, hips, etc. do it.
After watching Natalie Portman's feet in Black Swan, I totally understand why I'm falling apart.

I believe this almost two month period of time is the longest in my lifetime that I've gone without ANY sort of exercise. What amazes me the most about it is how much my body aches. Not the injury site, I expect pain there, but the rest of me. Some of that is from compensation, but some is just doing nothing. It's rather sad.

The results are in

First of all, I've had a great experience with my orthopedic surgeon. Knowing I had to travel to see him, he agreed to call with the results of the MRI and discuss treatment options. My cell phone was at the ready for the past two days, with staff knowing to take over if needed. I was afraid if it went to voice mail, I'd never connect with the doc.

When the call came, the first thing he asked is if I was teaching, and if I needed to find someone to cover while he waited. How nice was that? He also took quite a bit of time to explain everything and answer my questions.

The recap - MRI shows "high signaling" in the area of the retinaculum (tissue that holds peroneals in place) and bone edema. Which means that I had a tear which has started healing on its own, explaining the lack of current dislocation. For now, we're going to continue treating it conservatively in hopes that it will repair itself completely. Dr. T would have still done surgery to suture it in place, but with a family history of nerve disease he wants to do surgery on me only as a last result. After two more weeks in a brace, I'll start PT. If during PT, no dislocation, we'll start to build back up to normal activity. If it dislocates again, we'll do surgery at that time. Even surgery won't be the end of the world after he explained the proces and rehab.

What impressed me most was the concern regarding my sister's surgery experiences and lifetime with RSD. That fact that he was aware of current research, and the risks it presented to me, was very reassuring. Even if I have to eventually go that route, I feel like I'm in good hands. Either way, it will be awhile before I get to run.

But, I'm ok. Knowledge is amazing when it comes to easing anxiety.

Surgeon Visit and MRI

Yesterday, I braved nasty roads to meet with a foot and ankle specialist in Great Falls. Of course, the day of appointment, my tendon behaved nicely. It didn't matter what we threw at it, the sucker wouldn't budge. That's good news if I had a small tear and it's healing on its own. Not sure what it means if my MRI comes back with bad news. I'm starting to look at this whole ordeal as a lesson in science. A few interesting things...

My feet are abnormal. I've said this before. Now, it's been confirmed by two doctors and an orthotic specialist. According to the surgeon, my peroneal tendon sits "perched" on the outside of my ankle bone, rather than behind. Genetics determined this, not anything I've done along the way. This might have predisposed me to injury.

Surgeons are cutters. They like to cut. End of topic.

Insurance companies are difficult. I was told I could not have the MRI for a week and not until the surgeon's notes were reviewed. The next day I was told I didn't need a prior authorization, so had to drive all the way back up today for the MRI.

The MRI machine sounds almost like jazz. I tried to pick out the patterns and come up with musical arrangements as I waited.

Orthotics are expensive. I just put down a whole lot of money to be told that I probably don't need them. Then, I talk to the orthotic guy who tells me I'm going to be difficult to fit because my feet are strange. I badly overpronate with a small part of my foot but the rest of it supinates. Go figure.

Hopefully, I'll have the results tomorrow.

Also, to any local readers/friends, thank you for the support. The emails, calls, invites for coffee, flowers, food, volunteering to walk the dog, etc. are all very appreciated. Sometimes the not so good things remind me of how good I've really got it.

Peroneal Subluxation from running?

We can now call this an official injury blog. I am currently cursing all the years of ballet and what I can now see as forced turn-out. I've made a mess out of my body and am now paying for it. Obviously, running like a duck has created even more of a problem. Just over a month ago, I felt a snap over the ankle bone. A few hours later, it did it again, and again, and again. Immediately, I got into my sports medicine doc who did some kind of ultrasound imaging. We all got to see the darn tendons slipping over each other. He couldn't get the tendon to go right over the bone, so recommended conservative treatment of RICE and a brace. It seemed so unstable that I put myself on crutches for two weeks. When I went back, they wanted me walking. Guess what? One week later, and the tendon is moving all over the place again. I'm all for conservative treatment, but all the research I've read on this beast points to surgical intervention.

Monday morning, I'm going to meet with a surgeon and hopefully have more of a plan. This plain and simply sucks. Not because I can't run, but because I can't walk my dog, clean the house, carry on my normal work routine. It sucks because I'll have to take time off from work, find a new dog walker (the one I'm using now just got a new job - happy for her, not for Bud), and find another way to deal with the increasing anxiety.

Oh, and I'm buying a road bike. As much as I love to run, I'm not sure it's worth the endless misery of injury. How's that for good cheer?