I should have waited longer.

I did go for a run yesterday, just to test the ribs out. I only went for 30 minutes, but it felt pretty good, and I had been desperate for any amount of exercise.
But then I went and worked 8 hours at the hospital, and I was in PAIN! Not just the occasional uncomfortable twitch in my side when I reached for something, but actual constant pain that brought tears to my eyes. I talked with a pharmacist and a doctor on my floor, and they both concurred that I ran too soon. Apparently when they say it takes 3-6 weeks of rest to heal a broken rib, they actually mean... rest. And no running.
Anyway, I'm mad at myself for pushing too soon. Is it possible that I'm not as fast a healer as I thought I was? I hope not. I'll probably try again in a couple days just to make sure.

In a completely unrelated story, I did discover Ellen's stocking stuffer to Eddie in the back of my refrigerator today - a delicious block of half-eaten brie cheese. Merry Christmas to me!!!

With A Broken Rib...

The reason I haven't been blogging is because I haven't been running. The reason I haven't been running is because I wiped out. Downhill skiing. In Lutsen.
I blame it on Joel. He fell first, in front of me, with skis and poles going every which way. So in my attempts to 1. avoid crashing into him, 2. help collect his gear, and 3. see if he was ok, I slid off-course and landed on a huge clump of ice. I knocked the wind out of me and had trouble breathing, so the Ski Patrol snow-mobiled me up the hill to their station. Some old dude wearing glasses with Harry Caray-like thickness checked me out, diagnosed me with some broken ribs, and told me to the to the hospital. Meg, Ellen, and Joel drove me to the ER in Grand Marais. I didn't get x-rays because apparently you can't do anything for broken ribs, and if I had puntured a lung I would know it (?). They gave me some vicodin, and I did ski the entire next day, but I haven't tried running yet. Maybe today. There is still some pain when I take in a really deep breath, but I think I've rested for an adequate amount of time now.
I've been a patient in Emergency Rooms twice now in 1 month, and I think that's plenty.
It's time for a new hobby.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I was able to get in a quick run today before I left for work at 1:30pm. And get this - I wore shorts!
I remember running in shorts on my birthday one time before - I think it was my sophomore year at Winona. Anyway, I only ran for a half-hour today, but it was enough for me not to feel guilty about eating cupcakes and Christmas cookies at work.
It was kind of a bummer to work on my birthday, but I got paid double, and I got lots of funny birthday messages on my voice mail when I got home!

A sad, sad run.

Today was my Aunt Jan's birthday. She would be 56. So I ran around Lake Nokomis, a lake we ran around many times together. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the sun was super bright, and it was 47 degrees out, so at least my tears didn't freeze to my cheeks!
On a lighter note, it is also my Grandma Jake's birthday. She's 88! Wowsa.

No way!

At work last night I was talking about the Reindeer Run, and another nurse, Crystal, mentioned that she wanted to run in it, but couldn't for some reason. The rest of our conversation went something like this:

Crystal: I'm training for Grandma's 1/2 marathon in Duluth in June.
Me: Shut up! So am I! I want to see if my body can withstand the 13 miles to determine if I should really shoot for the Twin Cities Marathon in October.
Crystal: Shut up! Me too! I've always wanted to try to run a marathon.
Me: No way! Me too!
Crystal: Yes way!
Me: No way.

It turns out that Crystal is a wealth of running information. She had a couple of web sites for me to look at regarding training schedules, etc. We also discussed runnning shoes. I think I need to get my feet intensely checked out before I really get into the serious training. (I'm all paranoid about losing my toenails now - thanks, Heather! :)

It's still cold out, but thank goodness there's no snow/ice yet. That may put the kibosh on my outdoor running.

Reindeer Run

This morning my friend Donna picked me up at 8am and we drove to Minneapolis for the Reindeer Run - a 5K "fun run" around Lake Harriet. The temperature was 10 degrees, with wind gusts up to 15 mph. The day started with a costume contest in which I did not participate, followed by the run. There were a lot of people and dogs and sleds and elves and Santa Clauses and reindeer. We finished in about 30 minutes, and had fun, despite the chilliness. Afterwards we got water and apples and bananas and potato chips and something brown called an energy biscuit. I also got a long sleeve t-shirt (the real reason I agreed to do this run)!