Runner, Interrupted

Yesterday, I accidentally put on a show for Market street.  I'd just left our hotel and was headed out towards the Embarcadero for a quick 3 mile run.  I'd successfully dodged people by zig-zagging between them for about 400 meters or so.

And then, that sickening quick crackle and pop of my ankle turning over -- this one hurt quite a bit, and my leg immediately buckled to get the weight off the foot.  I, of course, still had forward momentum, and stumbled to get my other leg under me, but it was not enough.

I careened forward, and before I really knew what was happening, some very old instincts kicked in.  My hands hit the pavement, but I had already started to roll so they just absorbed some of the impact before I rolled diagonally over my shoulders and back to arrive seated, in a pike position, facing forward.  I was actually a bit stunned -- that part of my brain is fairly deeply buried and hasn't been accessed in a while.  Even so, thanks to 10 years of falling in gymnastics, somehow my body knew how to bail out without scraping any skin despite how much my ankle hurt.

My first non-self-related thought was that I had definitely heard gasping.  I looked around to see a bunch of people stopped and staring.  One guy looked at me inquisitively, hands in a pre-clap as if to say "Are you okay and would you be offended if I clapped?"

Next day swelling, no bruising -- not too bad, but it's definitely a real sprain.

An adorable woman knelt down next to me and started talking to me.  "Did you roll it?  Oh, man, it looks like you are in pain.  Here, let me help you up.  I'm a runner.  I do this all the time.  I mean, not all the time, but I've rolled my ankle, I know how you feel.  Here, let me help you up.  Where are you going?  I'm not in a hurry, I'll support your side while you walk there.  You know, sometimes, these seem bad when they happen but they heal very quickly.  Can you take the time to ice and elevate today?"

What an angel.  She was so kind and concerned and supportive and she escorted me away from the gawkers quickly and efficiently.  I never even got her name.  I thank you and looked her in her sweet face as she said goodbye, wishing me a quick recovery.

So, yeah.  My plans are going to have to change a bit.

I'd been headed in the right direction, increasing my mileage, and I even made it to the track group on Wednesday for the first time in almost 3 months.

But, currently, it hurts to walk, and I can't go down stairs leaving my left leg on the step - so no running until that goes away.  There's no way I can balance on the one foot, so no yoga this week.  I'd started a 4 week tabata challenge, and I don't think I need to drop out, but I am going to have to avoid the lower body options and modify the core and upper body ones to avoid jumping or anything ankle-mobility related (no burpees for sure).

Since gymnastics instincts treated me so well on the fall, I'm going to take another page from that book.  Turns out, gymnasts are *always* injuring something.  So, whenever we'd get injured, my club coach would say, okay, you broke your [INSERT BROKEN STUFF], but this means you can spend the next 3-8 weeks focusing on [UNBROKEN STUFF].  What's a skill you've been wanting to master or something you can accomplish that relies on [UNBROKEN STUFF]?

Well, I can still make soup, so the soup challenge is still on.  I can also do most core work, pushups, dips, boxing moves, handstands, and other yoga arm balancing poses.  I can stretch, which is definitely something I've been neglecting.  I can clean and organize the house.  And I can probably work in the garden in a few days.  I should be able to figure out a way to do at least an hour of this stuff every day to replace the running until I can start running again.

So that's the new plan.