Actually, how I came to have a several-month-long layoff from running.
It was over the winter, and there was just a little bit of snow falling. About an inch had already accumulated, and we were expecting a little more during the day. I had just finished my morning run and was about a quarter-mile from home. As I began my cooldown jog, I stepped on the edge of the sidewalk, with the outer half of my foot unsupported by the concrete. The ankle twisted over, hard, and I went down onto the ground. I jumped back up, quickly, to test the ankle, because it already hurt quite a bit, and this was the ankle I'd injured in College Cross-Country. It wasn't up to the task of supporting any weight at all--I had to hold on to a street sign in order to remain upright. A snowplow driver, working in the school parking lot across the street spotted me and drove over, to offer me a ride back home. I thanked him as he dropped me off and I hobbled up the driveway to my door. Later on, I wished (and I still do) that I'd done something for him, or at least offered him something--even a cup of coffee, but at the time, my ankle, in which the pain had ebbed from white-hot knives to only red-hot knives, was causing me so much difficulty, that all I could think about was getting into the house and getting some ice on it. Rest, Ice, Elevation, Ibuprofen. Well, when you work at a desk 8 to 5, 5 days a week the first three are difficult to maintain. When your wife works from 7:30 to 10:30 every night (we need her orthodontic insurance) it makes it difficult to maintain the regimen of rest, ice and elevation while you are making sure the kids are dong their homework and washing the dishes. If I had, say, a servant, who could do these things for me, I might have been back up and around in a few weeks. But as it was, I have had a great deal of difficulty healing.
On another note, I didn't run today. I got up at 4:40 and started to get dressed, and then I noticed that I was feeling a little bit lightheaded. I remembered going to see a movie with my wife the night before (date night!) and realized that we'd gotten home right around midnight. I was operating on 4 hours of sleep. Now, when I was in my 20s, I used to do that regularly, but now I'm an old man, and I hate everything but Matlock.
I couldn't get out for a run this afternoon, because Declan had a soccer game, and I had to get him to it. Only nine kids on his team made it for the beginning of the game, with a tenth showing up partway through the game. The other team had a full complement, with a couple of substitutions available. Declan's team (the Lancers) lost 2-1, but they put up a good fight. I did get in a little bit of running, as I had to be the linesman. So, maybe 4 or 5 hundred yards today, varying between a sprint and a lope.
(Obviously, I've fixed my margin problems)
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