Watching Water Boil

When it is time to get new running shoes, don't mess around. 

I usually buy running shoes when my body starts having little aches and pains after a run.  When you are in tune with your body, you will get messages. This time around the message came in blisters.  So I went to my favorite little running store a week ago and they were closed. 

So what is one more week?  Right?

I ran 7 miles Saturday morning and I was punished with 3 inch size blisters on my arches of both feet.  But really, when you are a runner...do you really whine about blisters?  You suck it up.  I ran on them so long that they eventually busted while running.  Again, really, this is not a big deal.  They are kind of like battle wounds.  I poked at the flabby skin and showed them off to anyone who did not have a weak stomach.

After the run, we headed out to Cold Springs for a bike ride and a picnic.  The hills are something I want to come back to, but not the day before a 55 mile bike ride.  I only rode for 30 minutes before my legs started protesting quite loudly. I listened.

Then we went out to the lake to practice open water swimming.  This is where I think I picked up some unwelcome guests in my busted blister. Thank goodness it was not the flesh eating bacteria kind. One thing I learned from this ordeal is that flesh eating bacteria only thrive in salt water.  (Yeah...I imagined the worst.)

The Katy Flatland ride was my first bike ride last year. Last year I rode the 26 mile route and this year I picked the 55 mile route.  It went well.  I rode alone but met some pretty cool people along the way. I have come a LONG way.  Last year, I rode my red 10 year old Walmart bike.  It was exhausting.  I did not have cycling shoes.  I did not know all the bike rules of the road.   I finished and did not know a single soul.  I left with a yearning to do more..and wishing I knew more people who like to ride. 

Quite a different story this year.    This time I had rider friends to eat with at the end.  One of my favorite parts of cycling is the hypnotic feeling you get when you ride with a group and focus on staying up with them.  I would haul butt and then draft behind anyone who would let me.  Less than a mile to the finish, I saw a truck pull out and almost take out a rider.  That was scary.  Luckily, no one was hurt.  It was another pleasant ride.  Something tells me, I will be doing it again next year too.

So it wasn't until Sunday night when the pain began.  I thought I had a supernatural immune system and I would beat it.  Charlie finally dragged me to the clinic yesterday evening and sure enough, an infection had started in my left foot.  3 days after an amazing bike ride and now I cannot walk. 

Talk about appreciating your feet and walking again.  I am struggling with not being able to keep up with my workouts and it is taking a toll on me mentally. Each day has felt like an eternity.  Hopefully I will be up and running by the weekend.  (No pun intended, of course.)  I want my body to heal faster!

It is as painful as watching water boil...sigh.