Better to Laugh

Tuesday morning was glorious! In fact, this has been the best week for running by far, perfect temperatures and no humidity. Unfortunately, I cannot run. As I ran Tuesday morning, enjoying the beautiful weather, my foot suddenly felt like it had exploded at 2.25 miles. No warning. No twinge. I couldn’t run another step. All winter neither snow nor ice could keep me from running. Now, on a beautiful morning, I could not run. Ironic…I hate irony. I laboriously limped the 1.5 miles home. I felt frustrated, angry. My dreamy running day had turned into an injury nightmare.

When my husband called, I told him I possibly had broken my foot. My voice cracked as I uttered, “I might not be able to run the rest of the summer.” Saying it out loud made it seem too real. I almost cried, but I stopped myself; crying won’t fix my foot. So, I hobbled to the orthopedic immediate care and got it x-rayed. They didn’t think there were any fractures. They advised taking a 10 pound boot and calling them in two weeks. I made it out the door wearing the boot and promptly took it off as I waited for my husband to bring the truck around. My husband had that ‘oh brother’ look on his face, that ‘we just spent how much for that stupid boot you are not going to wear’ look. Hopefully I invested in a boot I will never need, kind of like buying car insurance. This is irony in my favor.  

After icing the heck out of it and taking ibuprofen, each day there is a little improvement. I don’t know when I will run again, but I pray it isn’t too long. Running is a part of my soul. It cleanses my lungs, clears my brain, and lifts my spirits. Funny, I could never understand the attraction running held for others until I started running, now I look forward to it and even crave it.

But, I refuse to let my injury dampen my spirits. Others have come back from injury, and I will, too. I will focus on something else as I heal, like enjoying the nuances of this beautiful weather. I can still let feel the breeze on my face, inhale the freshness, and let the sun warm my skin; I will just have to do it at a much slower pace, at least for a while.

I love protein! And unlike broccoli, onions, etc., it loves me back. Okay, with the exception of beans and peanuts, which are good sources protein; they do not love me back. My family doesn’t appreciate that they do not love me, either. 

I love many forms of protein: Greek yogurt, cheese, milk, almonds, browned hamburger with cottage cheese, fish, chicken (white meat), pork (the other white meat), Kashi’s Go Lean Crunch in my Greek yogurt, etc. Did you know chocolate milk is recommended as a recovery drink after a hard workout? It has a good balance of carbs and protein. Awesome, right?!

So, while carbohydrates get a lot press, and are important in a balanced diet, I just have to give protein the spotlight. It does a body good!

Have you heard about vanity sizing? It is when manufacturers put smaller sizes on clothing to make consumers feel better about themselves. My first experience with this was while watching The Biggest Loser. A contestant that weighed almost 10 pounds more than I do put on a pair of pants a size smaller than I wear. I thought, “How can this be?” Then, a few months later, I saw a report on t.v. about vanity sizing. They had different clothing brands and showed how a size 10 from one brand fit the same as a size 8 (or even 6!) in other brands. This doesn’t make me feel better about myself; it makes me feel confused. It also makes me have to try on clothing, instead of just picking up my size and heading to the checkout (not that every style fits my body type, but I had a much better shot at a good fit). Now I understand my dismay trying on jeans when I thought I was in a size 8 and I fit in a true size 10. Had I gained weight? Was I getting weird middle age bulges? To be honest, I don’t care what the size says, I just want to wear a consistent size.

Exercise and diet are about health. You can change the number on a tag, but that will not change how you feel physically, the number on the scale, or change your actual shape. I mean, my husband is not going to look at me one day and say, “Hey, weren’t you a size 6 earlier this week?”