The less whiny version of being injured

If I had posted yesterday, it would have been much whinier. Possibly. Today's post will be a bit whiny with a dash of optimism. As I was icing my sore foot on Friday night, my husband, who sometimes is more reasonable than I give him credit for, said something about why was I going to run tomorrow when my foot hurt. Then I said something about it only being 15 miles and quit trying to boss me around (kidding on the last part). Mileage is all relative, and 15 miles really didn't seem as far as the 20 from last weekend.

He mentioned how silly he thought it was to run on Saturday morning a few more times that night, and I was in a state between maybe he's right and it's only 15 little miles, when I passed out from worried-about-my-foot exhaustion at 8:30. In case you don't know, that never happens because I'm 100% night owl from a long line of night owls.

When I woke up for the sixth time (I never sleep well when I need to wake up early) at 5 a.m., I decided to call it off. I texted my brother and my running partner and tried to enjoy a regular, not-training-for-a-marathon person's Saturday morning of sleep. Instead, every minute that ticked by, I was imagining what the running group was doing -- guzzling lukewarm Gatorade, slogging up a hill, comparing race goals, almost spitting a loogie on another runner's foot. Sigh. I was definitely missing out on unbelievable amounts of fun.

I was most upset by the fact that it felt like months of hard work would be trickling through my fingers every second I stayed in bed feeling sorry for myself about my foot. So I decided to hit the gym and do what I could about the situation. That included a spin class, an hour of "swimming" in the pool (not really a swimmer), and 35 minutes on the rower. I'm not sure if it equaled 15 miles, but I felt much better endorphin-wise when I was finished.

The rest of the day, I spent icing my foot and running, not literally of course, around with my family. Is there such thing as too much icing? I never left my foot in the water for more than 15 minutes, but I probably iced it ten different times during the day. If icing is good, is ultra icing better? I decided ultra was better.

Also, I got to try some new snacks that I don't normally eat when I'm running because they aren't as handy as gels or gummies.

Lemon Honey Stinger Organic Waffles

I really liked the taste of these, just slightly lemony, but it would be hard to eat these on a run because of the crumble factor. It would definitely crumble if I had to carry it in my running shorts. But if I were bike riding or carrying a pack for a trail run, I would be all about it. 

So this next one I bought at Whole Foods because they had a buy one get one free coupon. They were just hanging out in my snack drawer (yes, it's in my nightstand, what) for a couple of weeks without me even knowing how awesome they were. 

Kit's Organic Fruit + Nut Bar Chocolate Almond Coconut

Basically if you like the idea of Larabars but think they taste disgusting (sorry, I tried really hard to love them), these are for you. I didn't try the other flavors, but I don't need to. This one is boss. And the ingredients: Organic Dates, Organic Almonds, Organic Unsweetened Chocolate, Organic Coconut, Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Sea Salt. 

Foot update: it feels great when I'm doing nothing, and the bruised feeling when I would touch it appears to be gone. I'm going to try a few basic miles tomorrow to gauge how it feels. I definitely don't want it to turn into something bigger, so I'm willing to sacrifice some training days now. Hopefully I won't have to sacrifice so many that I lose confidence in my race goals. 

Also, I've been trying to remember to do a better job at taking my vitamins, and I'm going to add strength training and yoga back into the schedule, which dropped out back about a month ago for some unknown reason other than I never seemed to find the right time to do it. It takes a lot of little things to keep you healthy.

And sometimes it just takes a giant cheeseburger. 

Under that gouda cheese is a glob of goat cheese. Plus my husband grilled the potatoes before he mashed them. You have to try that at home. He also added chia seeds to the hamburger patty mix. Rock star. 

Other things that kept my mind off of injured feet:

Gum-daches (his word, not mine)

Airplane throwing

And frolicking (not running because I would have been too jealous of that)

Nice form, little dude. 

And if you want a Women's Half Marathon sticker, like the one here, I still have some more, so email me your mailing info so I can send you one. 

Also, Road Runner Sports is having a pretty good shoe sale right now that I heard about through the active.com emails. It's 25% off all shoes, including clearance, when you join their VIP club. It costs $1.99 to join the club for the first year, but you get free shipping and other discounts with it. The fine print says they will automatically renew the membership, which is $24.99 after the first year. So if you are good at keeping track of stuff like that and need a shoe discount, check it out here. I looked up a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 15s, and they would have been about $85 with the discount. I'm very tempted because I really like the 14s I got on clearance at TJ Maxx. Kind of hate when I find something really cheap that I end up loving and have to fork over real money for more of it later. 

Last thing, promise. New song that I found at my gym-orama on Saturday. Definitely going on the playlist. New Day 

Did you run or rest this weekend?

What helps you get your mind off of injuries? 

How do you stay positive when your plan isn't going quite like you hoped?