My Achilles ... a cautionary tale

That photo over there?
Yep, that was me earlier this fall.

I still have the boot.
Because it's so stylish and functional of course.

Let me tell you a short story about walking, antibiotics, Achilles tendons, and pain. Lots of pain.

Last fall I decided (again) that I need to get off my butt and starting "exercising." It should be noted that I hate to exercise. I find it boring and it really cuts into my "sitting on the couch playing Words with Friends" time.

Anywho.

I bought running shoes. $125 running shoes. I was going to train for a 5K race. And yeah, I thought I was going to RUN THE RACE. Then, as I'm prone to do in the fall, I got bronchitis. Knock me on my needs-to-exercise butt bronchitis. My doctor prescribed the antibiotic Cipro (also know an Ciproflaxin). This is where things went really wrong.

See, what I didn't know then (but oh do I know now) is that the leading side effect of taking Cipro is that you can either (a) develop tendinitis or (b) suffer a tendon rupture. And yes, I'm sure that information was listed somewhere in the possible side effects but I don't read that stuff (really, who does?)

(It should be noted that my foot doctor said a full Achilles rupture is usually what happens when one is taking Cipro and that I was "lucky." I'm not sure I like his definition of luck.)

So, last fall as I'm out walking one day I suffered a partial rupture of my Achilles tendon. I didn't realize it when it happened. I do remember feeling pain one day while walking but it wasn't enough to knock me down. I just kept walking and figured it was just muscle strain. By mid-November last year I was in serious pain. I stopped my "exercising." And then it got cold and I had no desire to freeze while walking.

Then I walked the 5K in February and was in pain. I was in pain pretty much every single day for months and months and months. I kept putting off a visit to the foot doctor, hoping it would just go away.

Look people...a good rule of thumb is this: if you're in pain, go to the damn doctor. I will admit that what I did was stupid. And now I'm paying for it.

I did finally go to the doctor - hence that very sexy walking boot up there - but it was a total waste of my time. One set of X-rays, one walking boot, three weeks of physical therapy and one MRI later I'm still in just as much pain as I was in August. I still have a lump on my Achilles (which according to my foot doctor is scar tissue and will never go away). And I still can't walk for any extended period of time without pain and swelling. I also can't stand for any extended amount of time without serious swelling.

And so here I am.

In pain. Unable to train for that 1/2 marathon I so wanted to do for my 40th birthday. And headed to a orthopaedic surgeon in two weeks. My regular foot doctor basically sent me off with "I can't do anything else for you, but here's a prescription for Celebrex." So, I'm not sure what the surgeon's solution will be. Maybe surgery is my only option - which would put me in a plaster cast for about 6 weeks and gosh that would be so much fun.

And so I leave with you a few nuggets of wisdom: If you think you might have hurt yourself, don't wait to go to the doctor. Just go. And, if your primary care physician wants to put you on Cipro the next time you need an antibiotic, just say no. Your tendons will thank you for it.

What I know is this: I need to find some sort of solution. I'm tired of living with this pain all the time. And there's a 1/2 marathon out there just waiting for me. But I think it's going to have to be for my 41st birthday.

Team Mom's Everyday Victories - My first 5K ... but not my last

So, what's an "everyday victory"?

Last fall I bought my first pair of "running shoes" ... purchased with every intention of getting down to business and completing the "Couch to 5K" program and running my very first 5K race earlier this year.

I had really good intentions.
I was going to be a RUNNER!
And then, real life got in the way.

I was slowly working up to the actual "jogging" part of the C25K program and then BAM! I got sick with bronchitis. And then I lost my motivation due to some nagging "real life" issues that weren't going away. However, at the same time I was attempting to plan a weekend trip to Walt Disney World with some friends ... and we were going to participate in the Royal Family 5K during the Princess Half Marathon Weekend in late February.

And yet, I still wasn't finding the motivation to get moving.
I was in a funk.
I was content to sit on the couch and watch reality TV.
This mom wasn't in a training kind of mood.

My running shoes found a comfy spot in the closet, where they stayed for most of December and January. I told myself it was "too cold" to walk. Or I was too busy. Or it got dark too early. If there was an excuse to avoid walking, I found it. 

By the end of January my trip to Disney was booked, airline tickets had been purchased, and OHMYGOSH I was really going to participate in my very first 5K race. What was I thinking?

My friends and I went into this with a "we're all in this together" mindset - we promised that no one would get left behind and no matter how long it took, we would all finish the race and get that medal.

I had no idea how motivating and inspiring those 3.1 miles would be.

Before the race even started, my pulse was racing with anticipation (and nerves) but in the back of my head was a little voice say "it's just a walk...what's the big deal?" That voice would be the cynical part of my brain. I tried to silence it repeatedly that morning.

As we walked the first mile our group was separated due to the pace we were keeping but we kept walking. And that first mile - even though it took me 28 minutes to walk - was a good mile. As we started mile two I started to feel a twinge in my ankle (which had been giving me issues for months) and it was around mile 2.5 when we started asking "are we there yet?" ... but we kept on moving.

And then it happened. I saw the sign marked with Mile 3 and the strangest thing happened. I was suddenly overcome with a moment of clarity that to this day I still cannot fully explain. It was as if all the bad stuff from the last 12 months was washed away. Like a curtain had been peeled back and I could see clearly for the first time in a VERY long time. I heard my friends cheering from the sidelines and I got all teary-eyed. I knew at that very moment that ANYTHING WAS POSSIBLE.

And I knew that what I was doing was a lot more than "just a 3 mile walk" - it was renewing me as person and as a mom. The "old me" was back and she was stronger, smarter and I was fierce.

With that knowledge I look at my friend Rebekah and said "let's RUN!" ... and so we did. We ran across that finish line and got our medals.

And that was MY victory for this year.
Next year....the half marathon!

Do you have an everyday victory you want to celebrate?


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Walking. And water.

No.
Not walking ON water.

I'm talking about walking.
And water.
Two things I'm increasing in my daily life.

See, in exactly 48 days I'm walking in my first ever Disney 5K race. Yes, I actually get a medal at the finish line thank you very much. It's a race.

The Disney Royal Family 5K ... during Disney's Princess Half Marathon weekend.

I was "training" for the race in the fall - I bought running shoes and downloaded the C25K (Couch to 5K) app on my iPhone. And then ... well, then I just stopped. I had been walking and getting my pace up there and was close (but not too close) to adding the jogging in to the mix. And then I lost my mojo. Or something like that. I stopped walking. And got all down in the dumps and blah about things.

Well, new year new me.

I'm walking again (with my sister!) and I'm drinking obnoxious amounts of water every day and darn it all I WILL own those 3.1 miles on February 25.

Oh and my goal from all of this?

I'm telling myself that I will run a half marathon before my 40th birthday in 2013. That gives me about 13 months to get in shape, lose weight and run/walk 13.1 miles. There's a 10 mile race I'd like to aim for in September ... but the half marathon is in November. At Disney, of course. (I mean really. What is the point of running a race if you're not at Disney? At least that's how I see it.)

So for now....I'm going to finish the 5K.

And thanks to Mother Nature and this gloriously mild winter, I'm still able to "train" outside ... without freezing to death.

Here's to walking. And water. Two things that will get me to that finish line.