Broken Toe.....Arizona Still A GO!
I really need to stop running into things. In Florida it was the sign! Saturday it was a tree root along a very hard and technical trail run.
This week has really been a mess. Not a typical week and definitely not what I had in mind as I went into Monday. The weather was horrible. Cold, windy, freezing on some days. It just wouldn't turn in my favor.
If you've viewed my training log, you can see I spent almost every day in the pool prior to the weekend. Reason...yep! Every morning was the same thing....Freezing cold. I told myself..just get to the pool and maybe afterwards it'll be warm up enough to ride outside. Not really the case. I spent the majority of my workouts on a trainer, or on a treadmill.
When it did finally warm up outside...the wind picked back up, gusting to 35mph+ on Saturday. I decided this would be the day to do a long run and an easy middle distance ride. Save the long one for tomorrow was the thought rolling through my head. Forecast was calling for some beautiful weather on Sunday and I wanted every part of that.
There's a 9 mile trail out at Grapevine Lake. Super technical and almost crazy scary in some parts. I've never done a trail run and had been told it was an awesome workout. I figured what the heck.....9 mile out and 9 miles back. 18 would make a good days worth of work...especially since I was only planning a 3 hour ride afterwards.
I had no idea what to expect. I laced up my DS Trainers and off I went. Yeah, barely a trainer...more like a racing flat.
To be honest, other than landing on rocks and uneven terrain...that more or less bruised the bottom of my left foot....the run was going awesome. I was flying....having the time of my life. I felt like I was in a dream or some sort of wild adventure. Remember...this was my first trail run.
At mile 8 or so....I hit a tree stump or so I think it was. When I hit it, I was turning a small corner and going full speed. I T-Boned that stump like nobody else. I flew forward and barely caught myself before hitting the ground. I knew something was a miss. My foot felt weird but I could still walk and run on it without utter pain. I figured it was just a toe jam and I would be fine.
At mile 9 I had to stop. I turned around and made my way back to a camp ground I saw around mile 8. I didn't have a phone and really didn't want to walk 9 miles back to the other side of the lake. Some lady saw me limping and asked if I was OK. I told her what happened and her nice husband gave me a ride back to my side of town. I can't tell you how much I appreciate what they did. They didn't have to be so nice and thoughtful. It's always nice to meet people like that.
Anyway, after that little debacle....I was pissed. The whole ride home I was thinking about IMAZ. What was I going to do now. I came home and immediately jumped on the trainer to see if it would bother me to ride. Much to my surprise...everything felt fine.
I woke up this morning and the toe was now twice as big and purple. I guess the swelling and bruising set in over night. I figured it would be best to have it x-rayed and get some idea what I was dealing with. The X-Ray show a piece of bone chipped off. I guess that OK. It's not like the bone is cracked and has to heal. It's already broken off.
When I got home I immediately jumped on the bike to see if all was good. I went out for an easy 2 hour ride and felt wonderful. When I got home I just had to know how bad it was. I laced up my shoes and went out for an easy 2.5 mile run. Everything was fine other than a little tenderness after 20 minutes. I decided to stop and let it rest. After the run I jumped in the pool and turned a few laps.
Looks like everything is going to be fine. Swollen, Bruised and a little sore. Other than that...everything seems to be ok while swimming, cycling or running. I might back off a bit from the running over the next week and see how things go...but as far as cycling...the weather's opened up and it will be 70's all week long. I'll be right in that saddle and it couldn't be better timing with Ironman 8 weeks away! I'm so thankful things weren't any worse...given the circumstances...
Talk to you next week....
Mg
This week has really been a mess. Not a typical week and definitely not what I had in mind as I went into Monday. The weather was horrible. Cold, windy, freezing on some days. It just wouldn't turn in my favor.
If you've viewed my training log, you can see I spent almost every day in the pool prior to the weekend. Reason...yep! Every morning was the same thing....Freezing cold. I told myself..just get to the pool and maybe afterwards it'll be warm up enough to ride outside. Not really the case. I spent the majority of my workouts on a trainer, or on a treadmill.
When it did finally warm up outside...the wind picked back up, gusting to 35mph+ on Saturday. I decided this would be the day to do a long run and an easy middle distance ride. Save the long one for tomorrow was the thought rolling through my head. Forecast was calling for some beautiful weather on Sunday and I wanted every part of that.
There's a 9 mile trail out at Grapevine Lake. Super technical and almost crazy scary in some parts. I've never done a trail run and had been told it was an awesome workout. I figured what the heck.....9 mile out and 9 miles back. 18 would make a good days worth of work...especially since I was only planning a 3 hour ride afterwards.
I had no idea what to expect. I laced up my DS Trainers and off I went. Yeah, barely a trainer...more like a racing flat.
To be honest, other than landing on rocks and uneven terrain...that more or less bruised the bottom of my left foot....the run was going awesome. I was flying....having the time of my life. I felt like I was in a dream or some sort of wild adventure. Remember...this was my first trail run.
At mile 8 or so....I hit a tree stump or so I think it was. When I hit it, I was turning a small corner and going full speed. I T-Boned that stump like nobody else. I flew forward and barely caught myself before hitting the ground. I knew something was a miss. My foot felt weird but I could still walk and run on it without utter pain. I figured it was just a toe jam and I would be fine.
At mile 9 I had to stop. I turned around and made my way back to a camp ground I saw around mile 8. I didn't have a phone and really didn't want to walk 9 miles back to the other side of the lake. Some lady saw me limping and asked if I was OK. I told her what happened and her nice husband gave me a ride back to my side of town. I can't tell you how much I appreciate what they did. They didn't have to be so nice and thoughtful. It's always nice to meet people like that.
Anyway, after that little debacle....I was pissed. The whole ride home I was thinking about IMAZ. What was I going to do now. I came home and immediately jumped on the trainer to see if it would bother me to ride. Much to my surprise...everything felt fine.
I woke up this morning and the toe was now twice as big and purple. I guess the swelling and bruising set in over night. I figured it would be best to have it x-rayed and get some idea what I was dealing with. The X-Ray show a piece of bone chipped off. I guess that OK. It's not like the bone is cracked and has to heal. It's already broken off.
When I got home I immediately jumped on the bike to see if all was good. I went out for an easy 2 hour ride and felt wonderful. When I got home I just had to know how bad it was. I laced up my shoes and went out for an easy 2.5 mile run. Everything was fine other than a little tenderness after 20 minutes. I decided to stop and let it rest. After the run I jumped in the pool and turned a few laps.
Looks like everything is going to be fine. Swollen, Bruised and a little sore. Other than that...everything seems to be ok while swimming, cycling or running. I might back off a bit from the running over the next week and see how things go...but as far as cycling...the weather's opened up and it will be 70's all week long. I'll be right in that saddle and it couldn't be better timing with Ironman 8 weeks away! I'm so thankful things weren't any worse...given the circumstances...
Talk to you next week....
Mg
posted by Mark Gingrich at 9:01 PM
<< Home