The Positives

It's rare for my to look at the bright side of things. I'm a pessimist and have been for as long as I remember. Heck, when I worked at the Symphony, my nickname was Maiden of Grief.

But I'm going to set aside my MoG power ring for a little bit and take an entry to look at what I have gained as a result of my injury.

1. The loss of the marathon and cessation of my training gave me a lot of time at a period when I was feeling insanely overwhelmed. I wasn't letting on in my blog, but just looking at my calendar for September and October was really making me feel sick and overwhelmed. Honestly I could not have chosen a worse time to attempt my first marathon, as nearly every single weekend in these months was packed with various activities and travel that we had committed to before I decided to be a nutball and throw marathon training on top of it. I was having serious anxiety about how I was going to fit in my long runs on top of this mess, especially with all the travel.

Next fall, I will not be planning a bunch of travel on top of my training. Then I can also partake in the Sports Backers training team (which I opted not to do this year because I was going to miss too many weekends) and have that support and structure to rely on. And as an added bonus, Marathon Winer is moving back to Richmond, so we will be able to train for Richmond together!

2. Being forced to engage in cross training activities that I previously avoided like the plague has made me realize how important it is and actually made me enthusiastic to continue with swimming. Even though it was rough to start, once I got a few trips to the pool under my belt, I started to enjoy it a lot. Of course this may have been because swimming is infinitely better than my other exercise option, stationary biking (lesser of two evils and all).

Whatever the case, I am committed to keeping at least one day of swimming in my training schedule from now on. I'm even considering attempting a sprint triathlon in the spring/summer... something I never would have done if I hadn't broken my foot. I still can't believe I just say the "t" word.

An added bonus is that I usually can convince Husband to go swimming with me and it always makes me happy exercise with him.

3. Guns. One of the phrases I hated to hear the most when I was on crutches was "at least you're building awesome upper body strength!" I didn't CARE about upper body strength, people. But damn. They were right.

4. Bonding time with my buddy Teka, a former co-worker from the Symphony affectionately nicknamed Viceroy of Anguish. We shared a cubicle and were the doom and gloom team.

MoG + VoA

When I was cleared to stationary bike, I convinced her to put a standing YMCA date on her calendar every Friday. Having my b*tching buddy next to me for the 40-45 minutes on that torture device made time go by a lot faster. Aside from b*tching, we are just having a good time hanging out with each again.

5. A good excuse to delay children for another 12 months. My latest mantra for avoiding procreation has been that I have to do two things first: go to Italy and run a marathon. Italy is on the calendar in May 2013 and if I had run the marathon in November 2012, I would have been out of excuses.

Thanks to my broken foot, marathon is pushed to November 2013 What a shame! SUPER SCORE on this front.

6. A more full appreciation of being able-bodied. I don't think I need to elaborate on this one very much. These days, I'm even thankful that I can do laundry without assistance. That says a lot.

7. A more thorough knowledge of the health insurance and medical billing process. I always knew our health care system is royally effed up, but having to navigate through the weird bills that I've been getting has made me realize just how completely ridiculous it is.

I had to start a spreadsheet (creatively called 'Broken Foot Bills') to ensure that I am not paying multiple times for the same service or visit because I am receiving bills from so many random places and doctors that I have never heard of. It has taken me hours to do and I shudder to think of what people with real health problems have to go through.

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Look at that! The break wasn't the end of the world like I was so sure it was going to be. Imagine that. I'm not grateful that it happened, but I am glad that I have been able to get something out of the experience other than mad crutch skills and the ability to pick up marbles with my toes (thanks to physical therapy).