Somehow it’s august already. No clue how this happened, but what it means two things:

1. I can run today! Run meaning walk half a mile walk half a mile and pray that my foot doesn’t give me any trouble, but running! Life is good.
2. In 36 days I’ll be starting law school.

So with these big impending changes, I’m making some august goals.


Goal 1: Develop impeccable habits.

This was one of my new years resolutions, and while I’m doing much better than a year ago, I’m still not where I’d like to be. So here it goes – in tangibles.

Face regimen (clarisonic+moisturizer) 90% of the time (56/62 opportunities)
Retainer 80% of nights (25/31 nights)
Face mask once a week (4/4 weeks)

Goal 2: Run smart

This is a vow to not push myself too hard too fast and re-break my foot.
I have half marathon #2 on the calendar, but there is no guarantee that I will actually run it. And that’s how Im going to approach it.
No running faster than a 9:30-10:00 minute mile for the first 2 weeks.
Keep it around nine for the last two weeks.
There will be a more in depth training plan to come, but this is the big important stuff now.

Goal 3: Read 5 books

Including two on the law school’s recommended reading list.

Goal 4: cook more

turkey tacos from saturday night! so good!

7 new meals and 3 new baked goods are on the agenda.

Goal 5: Create a budget
This is the first time I'm taking out a whole slew of student loans, and I've kind of been living the high life lately with no rent and a paycheck every two weeks with little expenses. (see marc jacobs watch and designer jeans shopping). Make a budget for the school year and stick to it!



Do you have any goals for august?

Fracture Update

Wednesday morning bright and early I headed to the orthopedist for the month later follow up appointment to the first foot visit.

The first hint of trouble was when I walked in and the receptionist gave me a funny look when I gave her my name. Turns out my appointment was for Thursday at 7AM, not Wednesday. Luckily, they snuck me in (the beauty of 7AM appointments?), and X-ray's #3 occurred.

As soon as the x-rays were up I started feeling anxiety. The fracture was still pretty prominently displayed on the x-ray, despite the reassuring cloud of bone growth. I was preparing myself for the worst, and then my wonderful orthopedist assured me I was right on track. The fracture wasn't going to just disappear, but it was healing accordingly, and then I got the best news I have heard in a long time.

2.5 weeks to my grand return to running. Which is now just 2 weeks. Now grand return just means running half a mile, walking half a mile until I'm 100% pain free. And only working up to running 2 or 3 miles by the end of August. Which doesn't bode well for that non-transferable half marathon I signed up for last MARCH. But we will see how it goes. For now, the countdown to running has begun. 14 days.

Lately I've been doing a bit of thinking about what lead this fracture to occur in the first place. Surely running 13.1 miles. I looked at my daily mile training  record the other day and saw this, and it really all made sense:

See that nice SEVEN miles a week 6 weeks before the half? Or how about that 14 miles 2 weeks before? No wonder I gave myself a stress fracture. Plus toss in some HARD runs, as well as differing surfaces (trails, sidewalk, gravel) and I'm not all that surprised.

To ensure a safe return to running and no re-breaking, I'm going to run in my frees to start out with. I will get back to VFF running, but just not right now. I'm also going to keep up swimming like a champ.

Oh running, watch out. I'm coming back to you.

The Foot Situation

So things have been a little rough over here lately.

Running has always been a release for me - its what has kept me sane over some difficult months. And a foot fracture immediately after an accomplishment like a half marathon, plus some recent things that have been a little difficult to deal with has left me feeling a little helpless.

I went to the orthopedic doctor last week on Wednesday (first appointment of the morning, 7AM. super fun). Things were initially looking pretty bad. Right before my doctor left the room to allow me to go get new x-rays, he mentioned "and maybe marathons are just not for you," and I swear my heart broke in half.

X-rays #2 were taken (after assurance that I was indeed not pregnant), and then I came back to the exam room and talked to the doctor further.

This is my X-ray:

very broken foot.

Lovely right? Not even a stress fracture.
It probably began as a stress fracture, but then I ran 13.1 miles and broke broke broke it. COOL.

Doctor man and I talked a little more - he asked how invested I was in running, and I pretty much said that I feel in love with it, and he reevaluated my situation. He assured me it was not likely my shoes - he had read Born to Run and was aware of all the shoe-hype, which was nice to hear. and I think it's pretty badass that he had read Born to Run.

So luckily, they don't cast or put you on crutches for fractures like this, and only recommend using hard soled shoes that don't bend. Which are suprisingly toms?

He told me that I could swim or bike - probably not elliptical because you push off with your forefoot. Unfortunately, at this point I can't really do yoga either. Just downward dog hurts my foot.

I go back for another x-ray in a month and we'll see how its healing and how I can proceed back into running.

It sucks. A LOT. I see all these runners, get my runner's world emails and magazines, read all your lovely blogs, and I am so jealous.

But I'm trying to keep my head up.

I'll keep you all updated about how it goes.