Saturday, October 20, 2007

End of A Run

My running streak is over.

It happened on a trail run on Thursday night. It was a great night, a little muggy but bearable with temperatures in the 70s. I had just changed my music to DMB and was starting to listen to the first few chords of Warehouse when I heard three loud "Bang!"s in very rapid succession. At the same time my foot was at an angle that it should never, ever be in.

Within seconds I realized that this wasn't good. I knew right away that I'd not be able to run for a while. All sorts of fluids were rushing into my foot forcing me to loosen my shoe. Looking at my swollen foot made me quite nauseous actually. I was three miles from the trail head and dusk was starting to settle in. In 10 minutes my progress was about 100 yards, if that. Fortunately four mountain bikers came along and helped my back to my car. I was able to roll down the hills and jump up any inclines on one leg while holding on to the mountain bike.

It's been a couple days now. The doctor's initial reaction was "you tore a bunch of ligaments". The results of an MRI will come in on Monday. Tuesday I will see a specialist to determine the exact severity of the injury, how long it will take to heal, etc. I've withdrawn from both of my upcoming marathons. Still holding out hope for Santa Barbara, but that appears to be wishful thinking at this point.

I'll be back though :)

4 comments:

Peter Lubbers said...

Hi Dave,
Sorry to hear about your injury. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Take care,
Pete

Journey to a Centum said...

Dave,

That's a BUMMER! Time to volunteer with your local race officials. It will make your recovery go a lot faster if you are involved with a big race.

Cheers!
Eric aka "Trail Scat"

Scott Dunlap said...

Ouch - hopefully you can still get around! Hoping to see you at SB9T, and sending all my positive vibes. ;-)

SD

Dave - Atlanta Trails said...

Thanks for the well wishes, everybody!

It turns out that my hearing is really good. The three loud "bang"s translated into three torn ligaments in my foot leaving me with exactly one that's still intact.

Physical therapy starts next week. I'll be back to running around Thanksgiving. Been doing a lot of sit ups since Thursday. Light swimming should be possible in about three weeks. Nice!

I am also looking to volunteer at a couple of races, but just like running races, I like to get those approved by my better half before I commit to anything ;)