Back on the road again.

How can I begin?

Well clearly April 20th, 2005 was a day that changed my life. I had started running about 3/16/05. I was impressed with the improvement I was making. I had some (right) nagging knee pain for which I saw Dr. John Hyman on April 14th, 2005. The doc said it was overdoing it and told me to take it easy for a period of time and load up on the ibuprofen.

So I took a week off after several weeks of progressively increasing mileage and felt better. I got back on track on 4/20/05. Decided to run a new 5 mile loop. I ran hard and fast and felt great. Then I twisted my ankle on the last 1/2 mile. Here is how I described the event in an email to Uzoma and Iheoma a few days after the event...



Your Dumb Brother Broke is Ankle
Date:
Apr 22, 2005 11:27 AM
Just another sign that I'm getting older.
I hadn't told you guys yet but I set a personal goal to run a marathon before I
turned 40 next year. I was (and still am) training for the the Atlanta Marathon
which will take place on Thanksgiving Day.
I was really impressed with my progress. Two months ago I could barely go a mile,
but I had worked my way up to 4 miles in the mornings 4 days a week and 7-8 miles
on Sunday. Then came my Knee injury. I saw an orthopedic surgeon last week who
said it was just overuse and to take it easy for a few days. I took a 6 day lay
off and went back to run on Wednesday.
I FELT GREAT. Did 5 miles and felt like a new man! I was in the last 100 yards
before the house with "I believe I can fly" by R. Kelly blasting in my
iPod when tragedy struck. I landed hard on the outside edge of my foot and twisted
my ankle. I heard a pop sound and hit the ground hard.... iPod went flying. I
was able to limp home and go about my business as usual with some pain on Wednesday,
but by Wednesday night, my ankle was the size of a grapefruit.
Xrays at my orthopedic surgeon this morning showed a broken fibula and a tear in
one of my ligaments. OUCH.
They have me in a ridiculous looking foot brace and I have to go to physical therapy.
NO running for 3-8 weeks.
But believe it or not I still feel inspired to do this marathon. I see this as
only a temporary set back.
Hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you soon.
Chuks.

Well, that was a month ago. Lets just say that the last month has been filled with quiet self doubt and palpable pain. However, over the last week, I have been slowly coming back. Very satisfied with my evening physical therapy exercises and Pilates.

I have decided to start this blog to accompany my training log at. http://www.fitnessjournal.org/

Away we go!!