Thursday Night Loves & Laughs

Happy Friday!

I for one am very excited to sleep in tomorrow.  I feel like I’m trying to swim through molasses.  I have only worked three days this week, but I.AM.EXHAUSTED.  I thought it would be easy to get to work, sit at my desk, and do my job.  Wrong!  It takes an exceptional amount of energy and I turn into a pumpkin at 7:30pm.  No joke.

The upside is I am less depressed.  More frustrated, but less depressed.  Sounds like an oxymoron.  But it feels good to be an active participant in society; going to work each day and doing my job.  It is pretty frustrating though, especially when I realized how many doors there are.  Doors are impossible!  How am I supposed to push open a big glass door while crutching through it?  Also, it rained today, so I got wet.  There is no way to carry an umbrella and crutch. 

I am such a Debbie Downer these days.  I start saying something positive and end up complaining!  Let’s turn this blog around.  I am lucky to be surrounded by so many loving people who are making my situation much easier.  You know who you are.  And I keep telling myself: this isn’t permanent.  There are many people dealing with permanent and more severe injuries.  I need to shut out that negative voice and channel the positive one.

Thursday Night Loves & Laughs

Last night, my dear friend JC took me on a date!  We went to this adorable South African wine bar two steps from the apartment.  It was cozy and romantic; perfect spot to catch up.  My spirits were lifted; thank you for a great night, JC!

Pretty Girl.

When I got home, I had this picture waiting for me.  It’s a sneak peak of my nephew’s photo shoot.  You all know I’m obsessed with him, but how could I not be?  Look at K’s little face!

Tad blurry since it’s a pic of a pic…but too cute!

Then I got this text…

From MQ –  my sister and K’s beautiful Mummy.

Somebody learned to crawl and is headed straight to the good stuff!

 
 I laughed so hard.  He looks so pleased with himself!  What a cutie.  How can I complain about a broken ankle when I have pictures like these coming my way?!

Tonight I will eat, drink and be merry with LC.  Then it’s relaxation central for me alllll weekend. 

What are you all up to? 

Choosing Positivity

Today was even more beautiful than yesterday!  Isn’t that the best? I love when we get some really great spring days; such a great reward after a cold and snowy winter.  The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining…oh, how it lifts my spirits.

I had a doctor’s appointment this morning and my ortho said my ankle is healing nicely.  It continues to be undisplaced and the swelling is going down.  I can’t wait until I don’t have fat little piggy toes!  The great news is he said I can take the boot off when I’m resting and, I quote, “there is NOTHING near or around it”. Ha.  That makes me incredibly happy because I cannot tell you how big, bulky, sweaty, and uncomfortable that boot is.  My nemesis.

The official progress report: three weeks in, three and half more of non-weight bearing (crutches and boot).  I can return to work tomorrow.  In three and half weeks I will see the doctor again for x-rays and update; at that point I will begin partial weight bearing.  Three weeks after that (this puts us in June) will be getting me out of the boot.  Permanently.  There will be champagne for all.

I still feel overwhelmed by the amount of time left on crutches/in the boot, and I’m starting to feel depressed over my lack of control in my life.  But I figure I can make it one of two ways through this ordeal:  a) depressed and upset which will leave me weak and unmotivated or b) optimistic and energized, maintaining the strength I do have which will ultimately improve my healing.  Sometimes it feels easier to just lay in bed watching tv and not dealing with anything or anyone.  But I have never chosen the easy way out, so why start now?

Instead of going home and feeling sorry for myself after the appointment, I went with FW and MKS for lunch (Cuban today!) and a drive up to Bear Mountain.  The Palisades Parkway is my most favorite highway on the East Coast.  It is incredibly beautiful and so peaceful.  We drove through Bear Mountain and I hobbled about around the park.  I got a great arm and ab workout!  Everything about the outing was glorious.

Such a good picture of these two!

How cute is MKS?

Poor old Gimpy can’t sit like a cool kid on the bench.

Also, we saw deer.  They were not scared of us, which actually makes me sad; deer are incredibly skittish animals!  There are clearly too many humans stomping through their home. Anyway, they were beautiful:

It was a lovely day and now I’m incredibly exhausted.  I can tell I’ve had a busy day when my toes get extra swollen.  And they are literally sticking together.  Time to put up the leg (bootless!!) and zone out.

I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy this beautiful weather!

Beautiful Day For A…Drive?

Today is an incredibly beautiful day!  I just can’t get over it.  I will admit, I was feel a bit down last night and this morning.  But FW woke me up and got me outside and my spirits went right up!  Amazing how powerful sunlight is!

Despite dreaming about running races slash wanting to lace up my running shoes and run the length of Manhattan, I had a very nice time going for a drive.  (We went for pizza in Brooklyn, yum.)   Thanks to opening the sunroof and putting down the windows, I felt the sun on my face and the wind in my hair.  Second best to a run on a beautiful day.  

Here are a few highlights:

FDR view of the Brooklyn Bridge and Downtown.

Windblown-Annie

I want to live here.

Last but not least…the most beautiful park:

Ah, green grass!

Well, not much else is going on in my world of healing.  My doctor will check my progress and determine tomorrow whether I can go back to work on Wednesday.  I’m sure it will all be good news; it’s feeling a lot better and the pain is way down.

Last thought: I’m reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and you all should too (if you haven’t already).

Please please go on runs in the beautiful weather for me!  I will live vicariously through you all 🙂

My Ultimate Challenge

I really want to pour onto this page how bored I am of “resting” (being forced to “rest” is not relaxing).  But instead, I will tell you how I turned that negative energy into positive energy and…drum roll please….

… COMPLETED MY FIRST ONE-LEGGED WORKOUT!

Yes, friends, it can be done.  Since I will be forced to more or less do the same workouts, I have decided to sample different workout videos.  The one I used today can be found here.  It is the “Strong Abs Routine/The Yoga Solution with Tara Stiles” through LiveStrong for Women.  It includes planks, which I did one legged, on both your forearms and then hands, as well as roll up crunches, side crunches, and that great one where you slowly raise and lower your legs while lying your back.  The video says to hold the planks for 10 long breaths in; I opted for 30-45 seconds, but do whatever you are capable of.  It is a great quick 10 minute ab workout if you’re pressed for time.  Since time is endless for me right now, I did 3 sets of each exercise.

I also completed 3×10 “girl pushups”; I hate that name.  I would like to state for the record that I did them on my knees NOT because I’m a girl but because I’m working out with a broken ankle.  Who’s girlie now?!

Lastly, as my friend NS (the crossfit BAMF despite what he says) pointed out to me: if you’re working your abs, you need to work your back so that it is strong enough to hold up your six pack.  So I added 3x superman pose for about 15-20 seconds each.  I am shooting for longer holds next time.

Endorphins are great, aren’t they?  Even after completing just those few exercises, I already feel better.  While holding those planks, I had time to [quickly] ponder my situation.  Is this ideal? Far from it.  Does it suck?  You bet.  Will I get through it?  Yes.  Is it up to me how much complaining I do?  Absolutely.

I realize that this is a new sort of challenge.  For all of us runners/exercisers, I think we can agree that rest days are tougher than the workout days.  What I’m facing now may just be my ultimate challenge.  I know that I can train for races and finish them.  I’ve proven that to myself.  Can I get through a bad injury with grace and patience?  Time will tell…just kidding.

I’m up for the challenge.

QUESTION: How do you deal with injuries?

Insignificant Miseries

I miss my schedule.  I never considered myself a “schedule person” until I was in residential treatment and I realized that sticking to a schedule significantly decreases my daily anxiety.  So now I’m fairly strict with a schedule.  I find peace in scheduling meals, workouts, social activities…and now it’s GONE.  

Nights were/are my ankle’s painful hours, so I haven’t been sleeping that well.  This causes me to take an afternoon nap that mimics a short night’s sleep, and then I stay up waaaaay too late watching tv/reading/being silly with FW.  Last night, we were up until 4:00am.  Then I sleep in too late.  It’s a terrible cycle.  I know I shouldn’t nap, but here’s the thing: having a broken ankle is EXHAUSTING.  I seriously hop everywhere.   Crutches are a huge pain, so unless I’m going long distance, I prefer to hop.  Have you ever done your chores hopping and balancing on one foot? No? Well it’s like strength training and yoga all in one.  I’m trying to view it as a silver lining.

This happened at an o’clock I won’t admit to.  Plus, I had to cut my face out of this picture because I have a huge stye in my eye (blocked tear gland) and I don’t want to put you off your food.

You can’t see the whole thing here, but this is a “Teddy Mercury” shirt – it’s awesome.  FW got it for me,  of course.

I’m complaining too much.  The point is: I miss my schedule, and the calmness I get by following one.  I know things will improve when I go back to work, and I shouldn’t complain about two weeks.  But I would rather be working and running.  Call me crazy.

One project I do have (besides blogging about my insignificant miseries) is developing my workouts for the next 11 weeks.  My good friend and fellow exerciser NS (he is a CrossFit BAMF) sent me a whole list of exercises I can try to keep my core, arms, and leg strong.  I’m not allowed to start them yet (I have to finish my two weeks of elevated leg first), but I’m putting together a pretty good workout for myself.  It will help fend off the crazies.

I hope everyone is having a great week!  Please go on walks and runs and hikes and bike rides and enjoy the beautiful spring weather for me!

TV Update:

Thank you all for your suggestions!  I am happy to report I tore through ‘Luther’ and am catching up on ‘Breaking Bad’.  Next on my list are ‘In Treatment’, ‘Pretty Little Liars’, and ‘Bones’.