regularity
i drive through rochester and i think, man, am i ever going to become familiarized with this town? it’s got to be easier to navigate than st. cloud, which is a mess due to the river. and i could probably get you to any place in st cloud (besides the east side…that place is scary).
so i’m in the middle of a week off of running. i got back to austin early enough on sunday so that i could take a run. i had plotted out my route and wanted to try a new road, since the run along 570th is one boring run. i took the first right i could and encountered a rather bucolic gravel road with a cute little stream and a scary looking river animal and a few farms with very possessive dogs. it was nice! i was on my way to a 4-mile+ run, the first in a while. i got to my halfway point and turned around.
but first, let me tell you about my weekend shopping trip. i stopped at the endurance shop in st cloud, which is a running store. i asked the dude how often i should be changing out my shoes. every 6 months or 400-500 miles. i needed new shoes. he asked me what element i normally ran on: asphalt, track or gravel. he showed me a couple shoes, one of which was a high-traction shoe.
all that to say, i didn’t get new shoes that day. i ordered some, but i don’t think they’re high-traction.
which i could’ve used! ack! i was heading back when suddenly, boom! my ankle rolled over, i heard a huge crack in my foot and i landed on my opposite knee. first thought: OMG health insurance, do i have it? second: OMG would nate come see me?? third: OMG i want my mom!!!
oh man, it hurt. but i knew if i could get up and put weight on it, chances were it wasn’t broken. so i got up and put weight on it. it hurt, but i was able to walk. but i wasn’t able to run, which meant i wasn’t able to get back before dark. i called finnegans – no one there. ok, called ann and erin. erin picked up, and came and got me. saved!
ice, elevation, ace bandage, all that jazz. but the next morning i got up and it hurt even worse. i could barely walk on it. so i called the clinic i had insurance through (hadn’t found a dr yet, wasn’t in the system). they were booked, so i went to urgent care where they took X-rays and gave me a foot brace and crutches (didn’t use the crutches…oh well). but not broken, thank goodness.
so i’m on a break from running. and by the time i get back to it, i might have my new shoes. which, i think, have better traction than the ones i have. but, never again gravel. never again.