ramblings......

Today we had a new kind of swim practice - 1 hr of pilates follwed by a 1 mile swim outside. This was really, really nice, mostly because it was a beautiful sunday afternoon. I love swimming after pilates. You're relaxed and very self aware. Swimming is just so easy feeling after pilates. The sun was wonderful too - even if my face did get a bit pink.

We're a little over a week away from our Rome trip. We're trying to keep our schedule pretty open. We arrive on March 5th in the morning and leave March 9th in the morning. We want to hit the archaeolgical highlights (Collessium, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Palentine Hill). We wanted to see Pompeii, but its a 3 hr trip each way on a train and pretty crowded. So, instead we're going to Ostia Antica for a half day or so. Its only a 30 min train ride and you pretty much get the same experience as with Pompeii, only with fewer people. Plus, we can hop on the train for one more stop and hit the beach on the Mediterranean Sea. And I'd love to rent bikes and spend some time biking down the Via Appia Antica (Appian Way). This is the section with the catacombs, which we may or may not see.

We're also considering the
Borghese Gallery, which apparently if you only hit one museum, this is the one to see.

I think we're going to pass on the Vatican, mostly because we only have 4 days in Rome and I really don't want to spend a whole day waiting in lines and then inside just looking at stuff. Sure, its cool stuff, but I'd rather be outside in a Piazza eating gelato and people watching.

Also on the list: taking a bazillion pictures, eating my weight in gelato, pizza, and wine, and just hanging out.

Let the "I'm unprepared for Italy" dreams begin

I had my first dream about our upcoming trip last night. Clearly, I need to start packing NOW if this dream is any indication.

We're flying Delta (crossing fingers) from Houston to Atlanta to Rome. Houston has 2 airports, both of which fly to Atlanta.

In my dream, we roll into IAH, get onto our plane, only our plane doesn't take off. It leaves IAH, folds its wings up and DRIVES to the other airport. This is to pick up the other people going to Atlanta before we leave town. And during this drive, I'm a total wreck.

So then we get to the other airport and leave. I'm very thankful that the flight schedule we chose had 2.5 hrs of layover (our other IRL option had 50 minutes - and that equals lost luggage at ATL). So we get to ATL, only I realize I didn't bring any shoes, sunglasses, or sunscreen with us. How did I not pack those basics? But fortunately for us - there's a Target set up right in the terminal (or at least shelves with Target logos in the middle of the terminal walkways). So I'm shopping, but now panicking because I cannot find sunscreen. And who know if Italy has sunscreen...... and then I wake up.

Yep, definitely a sign that I should start a list and setting things aside now.

Hurrah! I can wear matching shoes again!

Buh-bye big ugly velcro bootie. I had a follow-up appt today and my foot is healed!!! The doctor showed me the before and after x-rays, and remember how I tried to convince myself that the bone wasn't *that* broken? Yeah, well.... it was actually really truly broken. Good thing I didn't run, huh? :smacks self on forehead:

So now I have 6 weeks in a super-hawt navy ankle brace. But at least most of my shoes will fit over that.

And the best part? No more making fun of me. I swear, if I heard another peg-leg or penguin comment...... and no more having to have this conversation over and over again:

Random Stranger: what did you do to your foot
me: I broke it
RS: no way - how?
me: I don't know
RS: what do you mean you don't know?
me: what I mean is, I have no idea how I broke it

and so on. trust me, it got REALLY old. Especially after the very drunk lady at happy hour who kept bugging me and told me that should I ever give birth, I won't need an epidural b/c my pain tolerance is high. umkay, thanks. Really, the less I can do to attract freaks, the better off everybody is.

motivation to behave

I found new motivation to rest and let my foot heal. Well, rest is relative, meaning no half-marathons. I'm still swimming, though. But I am trying very hard to not do a lot of walking.

Anyways, the motivation....

Will and I are going to ROME (as in Italy) the first week of March. I'm beyond excited. The only bummer is that when I get excited, I tend to jump up and down. Only with my velcro bootie, the effect of jumping up and down excitedly is really just sad and pathetic and causes Will to break out into fits of laughter and call me a penguin.

Anyways, we have our airfare and bed and breakfast booked. We have 4.5 weeks to learn Italian and read a bunch of guidebooks.

A very strange sequence of events

I'm a big believer of "everything happens for a reason". The past week (or so) is definitely proof of that.

I broke my foot, preventing me from running the Disney half marathon.

My friend (C, that I was running with) - her husband's grandfather's health had declined rapidly. C recently moved to FL to be closer to her family, while her husband stayed behind in SC until he could transfer to FL. When I called on Dec 31 to tell C that I broke my foot, she was in the process of moving out of her SC home, to get her husband moved into Granddaddy's house to better watch after him.

A week later, it was decided that C would be moving back up to SC and acting as Grandaddy's home health care provider. She'd be moving the same day I flew back home. I cancelled my trip so she could have more quality time with her own family.

Last Wednesday, C found out that Grandaddy was hospitalized due to complications from dimensia. She decided to move the very next day (which would have been the day I arrived in Orlando).

Last Thurs (the day I was supposed to be in Orlando), I got a call from my best friend from HS. Her husband's grandfather had passed away, and they were in Alabama for his funeral. They were flying back home with a layover in Houston, but were delayed and would most likely miss their connection in Houston. Sure enough, they were 3 hrs late and missed their plane - and couldn't get on another plane for 24 hrs. Since this was weather related, they were on their own for lodging, etc.

So for 24 hrs, I got to hang out with my friend that I don't get to see very often, because of a very bizarre chain of events. It was really so incredible that something good and fun came out of so many bad things. This almost never happens. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.

cancelled

After a lot of thought, I've cancelled my flight to Florida. My friend has a lot going on right now and her training hasn't been going well either. We both decided it would be best if I cancelled my flight and tried to visit her during a less chaotic time.

Bummer.

And I have to work now.

However, husband is wanting to take a trip "just the two of us". Which, he never, ever requests. I know he had something more domestic in mind (he mentioned Vegas). I'm thinking 4 days somewhere in Europe would be fun.

I swear, all I do is work, eat, sleep, train, and plan vacations.....

to run or not to run..... logic or doctor's orders need not apply

so, this whole "broken foot" thing and my brain really don't get along too well. Almost immediately after my doctor visit, I began to doubt that my foot was broken "that badly." I started searching the internet for medical discussions about my break "avulsion fracture of the 5th metatarsal". The pictures of this sort of break that were on-line were much worse than mine. These breaks were like lighting bolts through the bone, where as mine was a fuzzy patch on the back end of my bone. So,really, my break can't be all that bad, right?

Then my doctor took x-rays of both feet, but only looked at the right foot. I still want to call him, asking him to email me the xrays, so I can compare both feet to determine if my right *really* does look different than my left. So, is my foot even really broken? Does my doctor have something against me and running and just made this up?

And with 4 days of my foot being immobilized, it doesn't hurt anymore. So, I'm now thinking.... I walked/jogged on it for 9 miles with NO immobilization. Surely after 2 weeks of immobilization, adding on an additional 5 miles (for 13 total) will be ok (or not do that much more damage).

And on Thurs night, I was talking to one of our Subaru friends, who is running the Houston marathon the same weekend as Disney. He's german and a PhD physicist. His thoughts are that based on what I did before diagnosis, if I just wrap my foot really tighly, I should be fine for Disney. Then we started talking, and came up with the brilliant idea that I can start the race and if it hurts, then I can stop at a first aid tent and get a ride back to the meet-up area. Seems reasonable, right?

I think Will is going to have to lock up my right tennis shoe before I leave on Thursday...... Otherwise, odds are, I will be participating in the half-marathon... with a broken foot. And somehow, this seems all perfectly ok and justifiable in my wacky little head.

broken

So, my body really doesn't like the idea of me being athletic.

I broke my foot sometime before Christmas..... It started hurting on Dec 19th. It didn't get diagnosed as broken until Dec 31st. During the time between it hurting and being diagnosed, I went skiing (I swear it didn't hurt then), snowmobiling, and walked/jogged 9 miles.

It was the 9 miles that did it. My foot felt ok during the first hour. I stopped to turn around after 1 hr because I was freezing (we were in Idaho) and *wham* acute pain. When I got home, I had a random bruise on my foot, which is what finally freaked me out enough to make a doctors appointment.

So yeah. I have an avulsion fracture to my 5th metatarsal on my right foot. Basically, the tendon that wraps around the outside of my ankle and attaches to that bump on the outside of my foot pulled away and splintered the bone. Good times. Now I get to wear a uber-hawt velcro boot that goes up to my knee for 4-8 week. At least I can still swim.

But no half marathon for me. Which sucks beyond words.