A Walk In The Woods

Recovery comes slow this month. My Jemez race was two weeks ago today, and I still have a visible limp. I was walking into Starbucks the other day--limping that is, and this scraggly smoker guy sitting outside at the tables--he looked homeless--he jumps up and opens the door for me, with a very kindly smile, after watching me struggle across the parking lot. Now, I was touched by the generous act--it was unusual but completely sincere and not a solicitation or anything--he was just happy in the moment to help me in my disability. The kindness of strangers. But, it also kind of Sucked that my limp spoke so loudly.

I think that was Thursday morning. Thursday night I finally saw a doctor, which is not my thing, but everybody is telling me I need to talk to a pro, and I want to do My Best to heal. Plus, there was that latent concern that maybe I have a broken pelvis or coccyx, or a crusted kidney, or just a lard ass. Two hour wait to get down to the skivvies, and a $30 copay, but on the other hand, I got to see a doctor without an appointment, and see other sad sick people too.

Basically, the doctor thought I should take it easy, suggested maybe 50 miles is a little more than I should do at my age (you dumbass, I'm sure she thought), and gave me a prescription for ibuprofen and some sort of non-narcotic muscle relaxant. I joke, but she did give me some peace of mind too, inasmuch as she said I didn't have a hernia or anything more serious. Also, she was on her game---without me saying anything about it, she caught that all might not be well with my right foot, based on the old reflex test--where they crack you with the mallet below the knee. My foot wasn't responding as well as it should, which is consistent with the numbness I've felt there the last week.

Finally, today, I went out and moved around, hiking a loop around Blanchard in a little more than three hours, while the Blanchard 50k FA was going on. I didn't run much at all, as I would've been faking it and favoring wrong muscle groups. I just looked at ferns and trees and stuff, as I'm apt to do, and tried to remember the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven. Good to say hi and good morning to so many friends. There were probably about 20 runners, all regulars, or irregulars, as the case may be. And very good of Shawna and Alvin to keep the lamp burning on the run--thank you--after DNR blew it with Michael and Tamara's permit. Sorry to hear about the latter.

I actually felt ok this morning, and this afternoon I feel even better. Staying on my duff for a couple weeks, and then just stretching things out may be a good prescription for me. I'm feeling reasonably fit, and I ran a heavy May by my standards. If the muscles heal, I think I'll be ready for Western. If they don't, I can't do it. I couldn't do it this weekend, but as I said, I feel a little better this afternoon, and so I'm more hopeful now than I've been all week. 

And as to today, getting outside is so vital to me--I felt like a bit of a grouch at work this week, partly because of the muscle pain, partly because I hadn't been out, partly because of unwarranted  anxiety about WS.

After my walk in the woods, I dropped down to the MV raventment, and checked out the Farmer's Market. All the markets are finally getting going now. The Fairhaven one started this week too. I'd do a CSA, but I have friends who give me produce too. This year maybe I'll get a little more artful in my cooking of all the greens.

And...in the mail this week was my Pearl Jam Philly Spectrum boxset! Very nice! I caught the Halloween show--all 3 3/4 hours of it, and now I have it on cd! Why Go is suddenly a new favorite song of mine--that song aged really well.