More Mud

Yesterday I finally bought myself a pair of real trail running shoes.  I’m not certain why I, erm, dragged my feet (cough) on this particular purchase.  After all, when I started this blog, I had just taken a tumble in the woods and broken my hand.  I did get new shoes (with a lot of help from my friends), but they weren’t actually trail shoes.  I’ve been running on dirt trails as often as possible since I started running, so it makes no sense that I haven’t invested in the proper equipment.  

Warning:  this is the running nerd paragraph--if you aren't a running nerd, you may want to skip to the next section.  I bought a pair of Saucony Peregrines, which are described on the Saucony website as being a neutral shoe.  The helpful guy at the closest running store said that since trail shoes offer more stability in general, I didn’t really need anything more (since I’m a mild overpronator).  I was tempted by a pair of Brooks Cascadias, but when I was running they felt nearly identical to the Peregrines.  Since I loved my other pairs of Saucony shoes so much and they’ve held up so well, I ultimately decided to stick with my brand.  (Also, the helpful guy said he personally preferred the Saucony trail shoes.)

Very serious, no excuses shoes.  I wore them out of the store and went to the closest place with dirt trails and ran a little over 4 miles in them.  It had been raining for nearly 24 hours, so everything was nice and soggy at the park.  You should see how these things handle mud—I cruised through the squishy parts like they were hard ground!  They are lighter and stiffer than the shoes I’m used to, but it didn’t take too long to get used to the feel of them.  I did have a hot spot on my heel by the end of the run, but my socks and shoes were soaked for the second half of the run (the trail I took crosses a couple of creeks in addition to all the rain and mud), plus they were brand new.  Hopefully after another run or two, that won’t be a problem.  After all, these are supposed to be my half-marathon shoes!  

And speaking of the half-marathon………you are all invited to come out and holler for me on Cinco de Mayo!  The race starts at 9:00 and it will probably take me at least two hours to finish, so you have plenty of time to get there.   Bring your best cheerleading yells and help me celebrate!

My Muse Has Left The Building

So you're stuck with a post about my cat.  I'll try to make it as painless as possible.

Bella (my cat, who is 11 years old and is named after Bela Lugosi.....cuz she always wears a tuxedo and she has fangs) was diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago.  After a short course of insulin, her blood sugar seemed to stabilize.  I haven't been able to check her blood sugar myself because of the broken hand, so she had to go to the vet yesterday.  Her BG is practically the same as a normal cat's--hooray!

That's it.  I'm done talking about my cat now.  I promise.

Oh crap.  Muse/mews.  I swear I didn't do that on purpose.  I'll go now.

Hand Up(date)

I went to see the doctor this morning and my hand must be healing pretty well.  After my x-rays were done, she asked me how accident-prone I was.

Ahem.

I reminded her that I had fallen down hard enough to break my finger and warned her that I had started running again.  And mentioned that I had whacked it a couple of times while it was in the splint/bandage wrapping.  She said “okay, you’re unlikely to hit it hard enough to re-injure it, so I’m just going to buddy-wrap it.”  Turns out buddy-wrapping means she tied my pinkie finger to my ring finger with a few loops of elastic bandage.  It just doesn’t seem like enough, considering my recent history, but I’m not the one with the giant student loans and years of experience, now am I?

I’m also supposed to start trying to bend my poor, frozen little finger joints.  It hurts and I don’t really want to.  Then again, I picture myself going back for my next appointment and my hand is back to normal and the doctor asks “Why are you still wearing those bandages?”  Besides, if running has taught me anything, it has taught me that I can do this, even if it does hurt.

Faceplant

I had so much fun on the Fourth of July weekend, I fell over and broke my hand :o)  In honor of my brother's birthday, I broke my left hand this time! (Yep, he's a southpaw.  I broke my right hand in an exciting car accident a couple of years ago.)

I was jogging in the woods, hit a patch of loose sandy dirt, and lost my footing.  I tried to recover, but just slipped more and did a spectacular faceplant--dirt, scrapes, bruises and apparently bent my pinkie back until the bone snapped--a clean break, all the way across the bone, directly above the knuckle.  Luckily, I had a water bottle with a handle that worked well as a brace, so I hiked back to the car (2 miles) and was able to wrap it (hooray Zombie Squad first aid kit) and ice it (glad I had my little cooler).  Lucky for me the bones were lined up fine, so the ER nurse slapped a giant splint on me (from elbow past my fingertips), and sent me on my merry way.

The orthopedic doc gave me a tiny splint and wrapped everything up in various elastic bandages (the pinkie finger is connected to the ring finger, both fingers are connected to the splint, the fingers and splint are connected to the whole hand), said I could take the whole mess off whenever I showered, and ran off to the next patient.  The whole thing feels kind of unprotected and wobbly, and it makes me really nervous to take it off.  Fortunately, I prefer baths, so I don’t have to expose my poor broken hand daily.

Of course, one of the side effects of a broken hand is being reduced to one-handed, hunt-and-peck typing, which is why I’ve suddenly decided to start blogging.  Because I’m a special kind of crazy...