One Week Until Shamrock!

When I was in high school, I would play as many sports as I could and play as hard as possible. I would get injured, nurse it for a week or two, and then get right back at it. No harm done, no missed work, life goes on. Now, injuries have much more of an impact on everything else I do so when I get a chance to play sports, I try to be more careful cut back on intensity.

While focusing mostly on running in the past few years, I have managed to stay injury free. Running certainly brings about its share of injuries but these are usually acquired over time, due to over training, bad shoes, etc. They are not the Snap, Crackle, Pop injuries from high school that are common in sports like, say...football! 

Christina and I joined a flag football league this winter. We play every Sunday, on the National Mall, amidst all the famous DC monuments. It's great! Last week, in our second game of a double header, I broke a rib. Not so great! I am running the Shamrock Half Marathon next weekend. Shit! 

It's been a while since I've had to R.I.C.E.!

I took 2 days off any activity and then attempted an easy test run on the treadmill. The first 2 miles felt like someone was standing beside me, randomly stabbing me in the chest when I wasn't paying attention. He also kept saying "I told you so" in the voice of Christina Guzzo, Chris Sloane, and many others! Since then, I have opted for the Elliptical, which has been much more forgiving. Today, I was able to do 1 hour on it with no pain and I followed it up with 1 mile on the treadmill at a normal pace with very little pain. I am still planning on running Shamrock but am not planning on playing football again.

I would take a blister, chafing, or tight hamstrings over a broken rib right now.

This is why I run.

p.s. I sneezed for the first time today! Thank God I don't have seasonal allergies right now.