A Blessing in Disguise?

An x-ray, an ulstrasound, and a bone scan later, I finally have an answer to this nagging, ok, excruciating pain in my left foot. The bone scan, although not a pleasant reason to be there, was a pretty cool experience. As the image of my foot came into view my left foot lit up like a Christmas tree and I could finally rest assured that this pain in my foot was not all in my head. The doctor's report confirmed I have an acute stress fracture on my third toe (which is very unusual, btw) and that I am not to run or bike for 6-8 weeks. Wait a minute...I can't bike either?

That news I was not expecting, but since most people can put pressure on their foot after two weeks, even leading them to think the fracture is healed and I could not, it was a sure indication that the delay in healing has likely been influenced by the overly intense bike rides I have been doing in my basement.  I was trying to make up for the "running appetite" I seem to have even when I'm not running. *Sigh*

For all who know me personally, they will affirm that if I have 15 minutes without something to do I get bored. And boredom for me translates into cranky or shopping. So I needed a solution. A solution was quickly arrived at since there really was only one option: swimming. That very day I bought a bathing suit, goggles, a punch card to the nearest pool to my house, and watched two YouTube videos on how to swim. Three days later I've put two punches into that card and swam over 60 laps. I'm quite proud of this! Not because I've swam 60 laps, that's no great feat in itself, but because water is, and has been for many many years,  my biggest fear. I will bungee jump, I would jump out of a plane given the opportunity, but I will avoid water like the plague. I was quite convinced, and even accepting of the fact, that I would die with this fear. But then I got to thinking...maybe this six week hiatus from running and cycling will in fact be my ticket to overcoming the greatest fear of my life.

My husband is also out of commission for six weeks so the timing of my injury is almost humorous. He came to watch my first "swim" and I laugh thinking about it because I was like a child after every lap looking for him behind the glass with a thumbs up or a big grin as if to say, "Did you just see that?!!!"

I went back alone the next day on my way home from work. I swam a kilometre, the slowest kilometre I have ever covered. And as I was swimming I saw an older lady in the "slow" lane beside me making gains on me and it got me excited. I know this seems like a very strange thing to be excited about. But little old ladies and me getting passed by them has a history.

Come back at least 7 years ago with me when I ran my second half marathon ever. I was untrained and crossed the line barely in 1:51:XX. And when I say barely that's because I nearly died trying to beat 1:50. But a 70-79 category woman did. She beat me! A 70-79 year old woman beat me?!! I see her up on the podium getting her first place age-group award and thought to myself, "Wow! I have a long way to go!" I don't think she knows how much she inspired me to run faster but I also don't think she'd be able to catch me now. I hope this transpires into swimming.

It's a humbling experience, doing something out of your comfort zone and not being very good at it. But think about how many times we have all accomplished something by putting ourselves into a state of discomfort? No one PBs without being in a state of discomfort. In fact, my motto always is: It never feels good to PB! But, it sure feels good after. This is what endurance athlethes do best! We perservere through pain and push our limits even if it means only a slightly better PB. We are used to discomfort and being really bad at something is just another form of discomfort. It can only get better from here!

So, can I call my stress fracture a blessing in disguise? I think I can. As that older lady proved, I have 40+ years of running ahead of me, so what's 6 weeks in the grand scheme of things? Let's call it a blip! And while this blip is occuring, I am GOING to learn how to swim! And heck, I've always wanted to do a triathlon....