I stubbed and broke my toe. When I went to the Urgent Care doctor, she told me to stay off it for six weeks. “No activity. No swimming. No cycling. And, no running!” she told me. It could always be worse.
Depression set in immediately following the visit. What about all the races I have lined up? Within the next six weeks, I had:
- Mardi Gras Race – 7.1 miles in Bayshore
- Disney Princess! – 13.1 miles in Disney (I even bought an outfit! Waaa!)
- NYC Half – 13.1 miles in Brooklyn and Manhattan (I haven’t done this race in years and was hoping for a PR! Waaaa…)
Then I’m supposed to go skiing in Utah for a week. (How am I going to do that if I’m not in shape?)
Six weeks is a long time to not do any activity. I’ll lose it. I won’t be able to do St. Anthony’s because I’m not training. What am I going to do?
Then, I stop and think about two people I know who broke their legs and thought “it could have been worse.” I spoke with both of them recently. One fell while running and the other was in a serious car accident which almost took her life. Both were in good spirits. Hopeful they get better quickly.
I guess the point I’m making here is, shit happens. Yes, it does. And there’s nothing that we can do about it. All we can do is adapt to the situation and move forward.
Since writing this blog after I broke my toe, I realized within the first couple of weeks that I could cycle and swim. If I don’t push on my toes and push through with my heals, I could actually ride and ride efficiently. And, for the swimming, the key was not to push against the wall with my bad foot. Thankfully, it all clicked and at least I was able to work on those two disciplines for the first few weeks.
As I pushed through the pain of the injury, and to some, this may seem like a minor thing, but for me, it was painful. I just kept thinking, “it could have been worse.” So, if you’re injured, remember, it’s just a minor setback and you will come home even stronger than before! Heal quickly!
