Ace bandages and ice packs

Yesterday, on one of the most beautiful fall days I have ever seen, I was supposed to run a 5K. But instead, I was stuck inside, tortured by the view outside my window. The cause of this frustration? An utterly embarrassing move on my part during a flag football game, where I jumped up in the hope of intercepting a wayward pass, only to land on the side of my right foot, rolling my ankle. The embarrassing part was that there was no one within 10 feet of me. Yup, it was all me.

The race was a goal I had set for myself early this summer when I signed up and paid the $20 fee. While I wouldn't say that I'm out of shape, I definitely miss the days of high school track and the ease with which I ran every day. So this summer, I gave myself a goal of running a 5K with months and months of preparation time. Right on cue, I arrived at school in September and started running every day before class. Getting up early wasn't easy, but I loved it. I felt accomplished and energized.

Fast forward a few weeks and I was in the middle of midterm exams, a nasty cold and a number of different projects. I avoided the gym like the plague, not that I really had a choice. The race was always in sight though, looming ominously in my future. I did start running a bit more, but nothing close to what I would have liked. My goal shifted from running the race well to running it without embarrassing myself, just crossing the finish line without any major problems.

Well, this past Thursday night happened. A failed attempt at an interception and a swollen foot. It was the championship game for Victorious Secret, the co-ed flag football team I played on for the past two years, but took a break from this year because I knew I'd be too busy to fully commit. Well, after a few injuries and people not being able to show up, my friends asked if I would come and play. Of course I would get hurt in a game that I wasn't even supposed to play in.

In fact, in all my years of playing soccer and running track, I have never rolled my ankle like this. Today, five days later, my foot is still bruised, swollen and the cause of some major pain. I'm icing, resting, elevating, drugging myself with Motrin, but it's simply not healing fast enough for me. This limp is starting to annoy me and my ace-bandaged foot cannot fit into most of my shoes.

So here I sit, a hostage of my stupid foot. Today, oh joy, it even started to feel like something was popping in there. I should probably go to Student Health to get it examined, but I'm not willing to risk catching the dreaded swine flu by sitting in the waiting room, so I'm keeping my distance.

But on the up side of all this? A pretty impressive bruise, lots of crossword puzzle time and the fact that I'm now more determined than ever to get back in shape and race.