Boston Marathon Tragedy: Life Is Different There

Psalm 56

Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;

all day long an attacker oppresses me;

my enemies trample on me all day long,

for many attack me proudly.

When I am afraid,

I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?

All day long they injure my cause;

all their thoughts are against me for evil.

They stir up strife, they lurk;

they watch my steps,

as they have waited for my life.

For their crime will they escape?

In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

You have kept count of my tossings;

put my tears in your bottle.

Are they not in your book?

Then my enemies will turn back

in the day when I call.

This I know, that God is for me.

In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

I must perform my vows to you, O God;

I will render thank offerings to you.

For you have delivered my soul from death,

yes, my feet from falling,

that I may walk before God

in the light of life. 

Starting Over: How Life Is Different Here Now (The Summary)

To say it's been a while is an understatement.  One measly post with some mediocre pictures stood in for my usual string of winter complaints.  Maybe that's a good thing.  If I'm going to complain about winter in Minnesota I can at least not publish it for the world 10 people (5?) who read my blog to see.  I'd love to report that winter is over and spring is here and all is well with the weather world, but, alas, we got a big snow in almost-mid-April, right after nearly all the snow in our yard had melted...

The family is doing great.  The kids are all racing to outgrow me and eating us out of house and home.  Here are a couple of pictures from our Easter hike at Minnehaha Falls.  It's what Easter looked like in Minnesota this year, and it's another example of how Life Is Different Here:

I hope to begin writing again; time will tell if I follow through.  I decided to pop in today for a short post because I feel like I have arrived at a running milestone following that pesky running injury.  Here's the summary of the last nine months or so, as it relates to running anyway!

• 4 weeks of running through the pain (including my first half-marathon)
• 4 weeks of hoping to get better (but getting worse)
• 13 weeks of non-weight-bearing crutches
• 5 weeks of remembering how to walk without limping
• 15 weeks of retraining: walking, biking, & running
• Today: Ran 3 miles, all in a row, under 30 minutes.  Feeling done with the tibial stress fracture!
• Enjoying pain-free running again, feeling very thankful...

I've been thinking a lot about what should be different in my training this time around.  I really don't want another injury! I have made a few changes and I am definitely on alert for signs of trouble, taking the whole "listen to your body" thing much more seriously now. 

More on how Life Is Different Here coming soon!

'Nough Said...

Just in Time

Since the scenery has changed so much I thought the blog deserved an update.  I first need to say just how thankful I am that I have actually been off crutches and back to walking for exactly two weeks now.  It still feels like a miracle to me, since I really thought I would be getting a tibial rod for Christmas this year.  But the MRI results showed a huge improvement that couldn't be seen on an x-ray, and the actual results of me putting lots of weight on my leg have convinced me it must be much better.

Walking again after being one-legged for 13 weeks wasn't exactly fun.  It was a bit depressing to realize just how weak that leg had become and how much cardiovascular fitness I lost in that time.  But as I had long-since determined, I am not a good sedentary person, and that caused me to be so much happier moving around on my own despite the pain.  And it's already so. much. better.  Better enough for me to have spent two evenings standing around in high heels at the company Christmas parties (Yes, that is plural.  The company has grown so much it had two parties and we got to go to both!).  Yes, I felt that big time but was so happy to do it.

And yesterday I rode the exercise bike!  Today I walked a whole mile on the treadmill (in 20 minutes - gotta start somewhere!).  So the official rehab has begun.  This winter will be full of the exercise bike, walking and eventually running on the treadmill, and building up my leg strength.  No road running for a good while, and probably no skiing for me this winter.  The only reason I say "probably" is that winter is very long, and a lot can improve between now and March, so who knows?

I have to say that I really learned a lot from this whole stress fracture season of my life.  I am sure I will realize more as time goes by, but my main impression is how God always takes care of His children and works for their good.  He does not give us more than we can handle, though it may seem that way at times.  I am so proud of the way my kids stepped up to help the last three months!  And Edwin got so used to doing a million things a day for me that he is still doing some of them.  I am blessed to have them!  And so happy to be back on my two feet, just in time for Christmas.  Not a moment too soon for my sanity as well!

An Open Letter to My Tibia:

Get it together, please.  I know I mistreated you.  I should have realized you were broken before running that half-marathon; I know that now.  And I am very, very sorry.  But really, you've had enough time in the spotlight.

A 10 week vacation is more than sufficient, don't you think?  I'm willing to throw in a few more weeks just to get you strong again.  But just because you are the great weight-bearer on the right side does not mean you should have as much time off as you please.  And, wow! do my arms have a bone to pick with you.  They were not designed to carry the whole load like you were, and they are ready to "hand" the job back over to you.  So quit your whining and aching, and get to work repairing yourself.  I know you have osteoblasts and plenty of calcium, vitamin D and the whole bit.

Listen, tibia, and take me seriously.  Dr. Sports Medicine and Dr. Orthopedic Surgeon have a back-up plan if you don't get it together pretty soon, and I am sure you will not like it.  Do the whole body a favor and fix yourself while you still can. 

Thanks in advance,
Me