Going nowhere fast

So by now, you know about my stress fracture and the strict "no running" orders that I've been given by multiple doctors.  That's why this blog post's theme is "going nowhere fast."  In the three-and-a-half weeks since the official diagnosis, I've been doing a whole lot of that.  Some of it's been fun, and some of it is God-awful boring.

I think I made it a whole week-and-a-half, well, maybe it wasn't even that long, before doing something semi-active: kayaking!  Even though it was not the fast-paced type of activity of which I'm fond, it was very fun and super relaxing!  Thanks, Joan, for sharing your passion with me and getting me to try something new that I've wanted to do do for a long time!  I've been on Craig's List trying to find a kayak to buy.  Who knew those things could be so much money?!

Another activity in which I've been partaking is walking.  As I said to Dave, this isn't "walking" as in taking a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood.  It's a definite power walk, but even that's not enough to really give a decent cardio workout...at least for me.  I guess I should look at it as a precursor to running.  It gets me out & about, it's fun to get some sun and see the neighborhood, and it's certainly better than doing nothing.  I've been tracking my walks on RunKeeper, so I know how far I go, what my pace is, etc.  Although, it is hard to hear those RunKeeper updates every minute and know where I would have been (distance-wise) had I been running.

While at the ACE Conference in Orlando, I did hit the gym at the Hilton Lake Buena Vista.  It was my first time on an elliptical in what feels like forever!  Man, oh man, did it feel good to be back to that!  Don't worry - I didn't "over do it."  (Although, to be totally honest, I did have to not tell my one doctor about this since he advised me to do nothing.  Yes, literally nothing.)  The Hilton ellipticals were really nice.  They were smooth and would constantly scroll between your RPMs and your speed in MPH.  It tracked the time and distance too, but you already knew that!  As much as I would've loved to spend a long time on there, conferences aren't very conducive to long workouts, so I'd only have about 30 minutes each day.  (Ok, ok, it was a bit longer because you can't just stop!  You've got to cool down!) 

My last morning at the conference, I hit the gym for one final elliptical session.  Bernadette said that when she walked by, she saw me, but thought I was on the treadmill running.  Of course, she knows that I'm not supposed to be doing that, so (in her words) she was about to do that panicked "mom knock" on the door to get me to stop running.  Luckily, before the first knock, she realized that I was on the elliptical and all was well with the world!  Thanks, Bernadette, for being a good friend and being ready to save me from myself!  LOL

Wednesday's my 4-week follow-up visit with my ortho in Jupiter.  Keep your fingers crossed that I can convince the doctor that physical therapy and the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill are good ideas!  It would be awesome to get back to running, even if it is only at a small percentage of my body weight.

So while I'm currently going nowhere fast, I'm hoping that my running friends (Stephanie, Susan, and Melanie) will enjoy their big races on the 12th & 13th!  Stephanie's running the Chicago Marathon, and both Susan and Melanie are doing the Key West Half Marathon!  Right now, I'm vicariously living my "running life" through them!  You go, girls!!!!