FINAL AT 30

Four weeks later. Assured by doctor this was normal, the
new bone is so light it barely shows up. Healing correctly!

Well tonight I ran for the final time as a thirty year old. Thirty was definitely was worst year running since I started, but it was mostly due to things out of my control. Namely, my psoriatic arthritis diagnosis that took far too long to get. Once I was being treated, it was another couple of months before the treatment really kicked in.

Looking toward 31, I think it will be a much better year. Since giving the methotrexate injections a couple of months to build my arthritis is feeling much better. Almost to the point of being gone. It hasn't been an issue once in the last two months. I can go on four mile runs now and my knees don't feel a thing. Before, during, or after. Earlier on the blog I was giving my knee pain a score out of 10, at worst now it is 1/10. And frankly it almost feels 0/10. So that's super encouraging! That is what I was hoping for! The next step will be to see if it is sustainable. And can I ramp up to a modest amount of activity while keeping those same results?

So that will be the question moving forward. I actually have a half marathon in two and a half weeks. Yikes! It is the Boring Half Marathon. I agreed to do it with a friend a few months back and didn't imagine taking a month off to deal with my broken toes. So I am not quite where I want to be fitness wise. The goal will to be something like Miami earlier this year... run most of the first five or six miles and then try to jog/walk it in. Somewhere around 2:45 time wise. Assuming all goes well with that, my next major race would be Miami in January 2018. Assuming I'm feeling good, maybe I could try to run that entire one slowly. We'll see.

But yes, tonight I did run. It was my fourth run back from my broken toes. Fourth run in eight days. And my body is feeling pretty good! I'm surprised my cardio held up as well as it did... the first run back was definitely a challenge, but I feel much better a few runs in. Was able to run an 11:00 pace for four miles tonight without stopping and it wasn't even much of a challenge. Not a walk in the park but not super easy either. I'm just slowly trying to build up mileage. My runs back have been 3, 3, 4, and 4 miles. Hoping to one six mile run under my belt at least before the half. However, I'm going to be cautious and ramp up slowly.

My toes feel great! Nary a compliant during or after the run. Seems to not really affect them. One toe is still swollen but I think it's slowly going down. So really they are a non-issue, which is great. The IT band thing that was challenging me early in the year is still there. It hasn't really struck yet, but I can feel it lurking. I think it may have to do with my pace. It is so much slower than usual and I remember trying to run this pace when I was in shape would really hurt my knees. So I almost wonder if it is related. If it fades as I get faster, that would be awesome. Best case! If not, maybe I invest in one of those IT band straps. Who knows.

That ended up being quite the ramble. My birthday is tomorrow and I turn 31. I remember an unspoken (I believe) goal of doing a 50k (31 miles) when I was 31. That ain't happening, lol. Maybe I'll do a 5k and just enjoy it 10x as much?

WARNING: GROSS FOOT PICTURES

Clockwise from top left: Two days after, one week after,
two weeks after, and three weeks after.

Thought I'd give a little update on how my foot recovery is going. Pretty well! Day by day it gets better but it is slower than one would like. Now that I am able to wear normal shoes and walk without a limp you'd think I'd be almost back to normal. Not the case though... any prolonged walking, jumping, weird toe bends, etc. and my foot is not happy. My toes are still decently swollen, especially the one next to the pinky toe. It is still a Vienna sausage pretty much.

Hey, remember those earthquake kits we made in elementary school? Mine always had Vienna sausages. It was fun at the end of the year when you got it back and could eat the stuff. I don't remember those in middle school at all. Was it just a ploy to teach us about earthquakes or a legitimate strategy to survive if a big one hit when we were at school? Do they do it now? So many questions.

Anyways, I think in about a week I'll be able to walk for fitness again. A few miles at a normal pace. Nothing crazy. And then hopefully slowly start jogging again toward Labor Day. I think in about two or three weeks my toes will be almost back to normal... too much bending or stubbing them will be bad, but otherwise fairly functional. So the 4-6 week timeframe is looking about right assuming the progress I've been seeing continues.

TOUGH BREAK

This is my left foot (mirrored for some reason).

Well, thought I should finally update you guys. I think most who know me are aware, but in case you haven't heard or you an internet stalker, I've encountered bad luck again. Well, I created this bad luck, but still, it has stopped me cold on the running front. I broke two toes on my left foot pretty bad in what we'll all a "small motorcycle" accident.

It happened two weeks ago today actually. Just as I seemed to be breaking free of my IT issue and maybe finding a groove this happens. Recovery time is 4-6 weeks so I'm probably looking at early September before I can run again. Don't want to push things... it's not worth it. It has gotten a lot better in the last two weeks though, I've gone from limping badly in a walking boot to almost being able to walk normal and in regular shoes.

Two of my toes were going almost 90 degrees the wrong direction. It was pretty gruesome. At the time it didn't hurt at all, my body was full of adrenaline so the whole time to the ER I was pretty low key. The thing that hurt the most was the four shots into my broken toe. A big needle and a lot of painkiller going in there. Holy hell, probably the most painful thing in my life so far. They then cracked the toes back into place. If they painfully numb you up for that I'd hate to feel that crack sober.

At this point it is just a waiting game for my foot to heal. So that sucks, but the last week or so it's been really hot, so going outside wouldn't be pleasant anyways. Once I can walk comfortably maybe I'll go to PRC and walk on Mondays. Need to try and stay somewhat active despite the foot. It's going to suck starting over again running, but by this point I'm used to it. Hopefully I'll have much better luck this fall. My knees feel hunky dory at this point with very little being asked of them.