More Injury News

It’s been two weeks since my injury and although the pain is no longer excruciating and I can get by through the day without pain medication, my left shoulder is not yet operational, which means my arm is still in a cast, which means there’s still no timetable for my return back to training. The only bright spot is that there’s a chance I might be able to escape surgery. It all depends on how my bones look on Wednesday’s xray. If the two broken ends of the clavicle behave themselves and look to be relatively aligned and healing, surgery will not be necessary. I’m seriously banking on that right now, because after researching the risks of surgery, I’m not inclined to go under the knife anytime soon.

The only caveat to my optimism is that I think I might have inadvertently aggravated the injury yesterday. Prior to yesterday, I had been careful to keep my arm in the sling as much as possible, taking my arm out only to shower or to change clothes. But yesterday night, after watching Eli Manning (my new man-love) and his teammates overcome the odds, the cold, the legendary Brett Favre and the mystique of Lambeau Field to beat the Packers 23-20 and advance to the Super Bowl, I got caught in more than a few embraces and group hugs as we jumped up and down at the after-party. Although I was in cloud nine after this improbable victory, my clavicle must have taken offense to the wild frenzy because it’s now hurting more than it did all last week.

Oh well, I guess I’ll find out on Wednesday if my bones are still intact. In the meantime, I’m already making special arrangements to be in a more controlled environment to watch the Super Bowl, just in case the Giants decide to shock the world by beating the undefeated Patriots. Go Big Blue!

My Injury Update

I apologize to all those who have wondered about my disappearance from the blogosphere, but it’s been difficult for me to think about anything running related since my latest injury…not to mention how hard it is to type with one hand! Thanks for all your warm wishes and concern, but it looks like The Running Laminator will not been running anytime soon. I went back to the doctor today and it looks like my fractured bones have slipped some during the past week, so much so that they are no longer in alignment. (Maybe that’s why I have been having such excruciating pain during this past weekend, even as my favorite football team, the NY Giants were on their way to dismantling the Dallas Cowboys!) Either way, I’m probably going to have surgery sometime later this week or next week to fix the damages. I’ve never had any procedure done on me while I am not conscious so I’m a little freaked out right now. I’ll have more of an update when I know more about the surgery.

In the meantime, please sign up for Nancy’s 9 on the 9th run and Vanilla’s Shave your 5K Challenge. They both sound like so much fun, I’m jealous of all that will get to participate. Run a good one for me, will ya?!

Ouch…A Bone Breaks = No Running For A While

Although sports and athletics have always been a part of my life, I’ve never really sustained any major injuries up to this point. Sure, there were the occasional bumps and bruises, and I have so many scrapes and scars on my knees that I’m sometimes embarrassed to wear shorts in public, but up to this day, casts, rods, pins and slings were never before required as part of my healing process.

This all changed yesterday, when I went snowboarding with my brother and cousin yesterday afternoon. Maybe it was just the weekend, or maybe it was the first nice day after a week of bitter cold and wind. Whatever the reason, the mountain that we went to was particularly crowded.

I’ve bruised my right shoulder pretty bad a couple of years ago from snowboarding, so my first assessment of my injury was that it was just a muscle sprain or strain that would just need time to heal. Since I was still able to move my arm in all directions though it was painful, I thought my shoulder couldn’t have been that badly hurt. Late yesterday night however, as I was walking along the street, I thought I felt some crepitus, or bone pieces moving around in my left shoulder. It was a weird sensation, not something I’d ever experienced before. But the doctor in me knew something was definitely wrong. So this morning, after a restless and sleepless night, I checked myself in to the local ER, and got myself an x-ray. Just as I suspected, I had a left mid-clavicular fracture, or a broken collarbone in layman’s terms. The doctor fit me with a sling, gave me a prescription for pain meds, and told me to follow up in the orthopedic clinic this week.

I’m exasperated and depressed…not so much for sustaining my first fracture ever, but for the havoc it’s going to cause to my training. Obviously, I won’t be running for a while, probably for 3-4 weeks. That means when I am healed, I’ll have to start short and slow and build back up again. What a bummer! I was so looking forward to using the speed and endurance I had build up from last year to catapult me to a strong spring marathon. Now, it looks like everything will have to wait. It sucks.

New Year’s Running Resolutions

I’m not saying I’m an advocate of Al Gore and his theory on anthropogenic global warming, but the latest weather patterns in NYC have been downright bizarre. It was unseasonably warm during the holidays but downright windy, cold, and full of white stuff ever since we hit 2008. Maybe we need to change the song from “White Christmas” to “White New Year’s” ?

I guess blaming the weather is not healthy, but I’m still waiting for some cooperation from Mother Nature so I can get my first run in for 2008. I might be hard-core, but running with temps in the teens and wind chill in the single digits is beyond even my level of craziness. Luckily, all was not lost however, as the brutal conditions outdoors allowed me an opportunity to work on my New Year’s Running Resolutions for 2008. Because I’ll be turning 33 this year, I decided to use the number 3 as my inspiration:

Running Resolutions for 2008

1. Run 3 Marathons in 2008.

2. Log at least 1333 miles for the year.

3. Establish PRs in at least 3 distances.

4. Run in 3 road races outside of New York.

5. Participate in 3 road races that I’ve never ran before.

6. Run a road race with 3 new people.

7. Coach 3 new runners to run well in their distance event.

8. And lastly…Run a marathon in under 3:05 (to knock 3 minutes off my previous PR)

There you have it. I think they are good goals to shoot for. Hopefully, they will all inspire me to be a better, faster, and more consistent runner. They will also help me connect with others in the running community. What do you all think? Too hard, too easy? I guess for the time being, they are subject to change, so as always, comments are appreciated.