Week in Review

2.6 Miles

6 days off

1 Massage

2 Weight lifting sessions

1 MBA

At the beginning of this week, I truly thought that I was on the road to recovery.  For the first time in three weeks, I couldn't even feel my achilles during my normal day-to-day activities.  As I read through my daily running log, the positivity is almost contagious and I smile thinking about how I was really trying to use positive energy to nip this injury in the bud.    Things were going so well that I actually thought I could try for a run.  Well, that didn't work out quite as I had hoped.  After 1.3 miles of pure bliss and no feeling in the achilles, all went to hell.  The tightness came back and I resorted to running a tiny bit more before walking. 

At this point, all my positivity had run its course and now I was just wondering what the hell to do next.  I made several appointments with my PT in Durham and my chiro in Charlotte.  I bought a boot.  I walked 10 miles in San Francisco.  I still am not cross training.  Most people think that I'm crazy for not doing any cross training, but I had a similar injury in 2005 back at Wake Forest, and I cross trained my ass off, but my achilles stayed swollen for those 8 weeks.  Finally, the trainer shut me down completely, put me in a boot and we waited it out.  After another 4-5 weeks, I was finally ready to start my comeback to running, albeit very slowly.  I decided not to cross train in hopes that it would fast-track my healing so I would only be out for like  4-5 weeks instead of 12-13.  At this rate, I don't know when I'll  be back running.

Other noteworthy news this week include that I officially finished my MBA(!!!!!!!).  The injury, combined with the fact that I didn't even get to give my classmates a high five in person, made me feel really sad about everything.  First world problems, I know.  But it was so anti-climatic to finish the Duke Cross Continent MBA program without my classmates close by to be like, damn we did it.  After 18 months, 5 countries, 16 classes, 50,000 miles flown, 100 new friends, I should feel like I really accomplished something, but instead it just feels like I literally just put down a book I really liked.  I feel like a part of my identity is gone.  What to do with my extra time?  I can't run, so I should I start doing Pure Barre?  Where should I volunteer my time?  Should I learn Spanish?  Should I just start working overtime, because, well, why not?  Who am I?  Who do I want to be?   How do I make friends in California?  These are all the thoughts running through my head, and I hope I get some clarity in 2016.