feel the day today.

This. This shit. It finally happened.

And by "it" I mean the almost unavoidable running injury. I spend a lot of time talking about the wonders of Vibram Five Fingers, but the truth is that running is a tough sport and eventually your body will need a break.

Or in my case, your body will break.

In the last three weeks, I have run exactly three times. The first was a late night 10km run in the rain, the second was 5km mid-afternoon also in the rain, and the third was just shy of 9km running about the Abbott campus north of Chicago. Each time, my foot was uncomfortable during the run, sore immediately after, and extremely tender the following morning. It's hard to tell if my extremities swell because of my Diamox/Lasix regimen, I just don't have enough free fluid in my body for it to collect noticeably in any one area, but I could tell that something was off. I asked friends, I consulted Dr Google, I rested 10 days between runs and the intensity of my discomfort only grew.

At work this morning, I grew a pair and called a podiatrists' office recommended to me through my insurance and they squeezed me in later in the afternoon. I left work early, drove to the office, and within minutes I was having x-rays taken and was sitting in an exam chair waiting to be seen. Doc asked some questions, pushed on various parts of my upper foot, and dropped the news:

Likely stress fracture, 3rd metatarsal on the left foot.

Everything I had read on the Internet gave me the advance warning to expect this, but it's still disappointing nonetheless. But the nagging feeling that drove me to make the appointment this morning is also the voice of reason: I could take care of this now while it's still minor, or I could roll the dice and run the risk of developing serious problems down the road.

The good news is that I was expecting 6-8 weeks of avoiding weight-bearing activities and the doctor prescribed two weeks for now. In two weeks, I'll have a follow-up at which point he will reassess the situation. I have every intention of being smart for the next two weeks, I feel like that's a pretty small price to pay for a good outcome. I've been cleared for low-impact activities such as normal walking (nothing crazy), swimming, and weight lifting (sitting down, of course) which is great because it's practically summer and my apartment's pool is opening soon.

The down side is that it's practically summer, and I tan incredibly easy. Awkward summer tan lines FTW? Nope.