Let it Snow.

Oh the weather outside is frightful.

But the fire is so delightful.

And since we've no place to go.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

And on the song goes. This is just one of those dorky Christmas/winter songs I don't care for in the least, but it did pop into my head over the last few days, what with the weather change and all. Winter is here in full force. And the weather certainly prompted me to stay inside on the treadmill for my first attempt at running a full mile since the accident.

Its been 3 months today. Somehow, I never could have imagined this whole recovery thing dragging on this long. It isn't unusual, and the norm is more like 3-6 months. I have really tried keeping all this in perspective. But, of course, I am reminded of it daily, so its a little hard to put out of my mind completely. And it seems like little things keep showing up, presenting yet again another challenge to deal with: my excruciatingly sore and itchy left calf/ankle (??); my strained left wrist no one ever mentioned until I started going to PT; my sore and achy left middle finger; etc. They say some things don't show up for months after an accident like this.

There are two sides of thought on this, depending on who you are. One is, you are so lucky. You should be thankful you are even alive.

Yes, I know I'm lucky, and I am thankful to be alive. I have heard too many stories lately about others with similar accidents who don't survive.

The other is if you hadn't been doing what you were doing, this wouldn't have happened. Why would you ride your bike there?

That also is true. But why should I feel responsible somehow for someone not paying attention while driving their car over the speed limit and hitting someone minding their own business? And yet that gets thrown in my face over and over, of course making me feel a little guilty sometimes. As for where I was riding my bike, that too makes me angry when people wonder why I was where I was. I wasn't anywhere I shouldn't be, except maybe at that given moment. It is a popular bike route, on a busy road, but riding when there is no traffic should have made my motives clear--that I didn't want to become a statistic since I was riding sensibly when there was little to no traffic.

But I digress. I don't want to get started on that rant. I can't keep it bottled up all the time either, so do need to let it out occasionally. I am hoping, somehow, that the why of this whole thing will be clear to me in time, and I will actually benefit from it in some way.

So on to the treadmill workout. I still am not quite mentally tough enough to go outside in 19 degree weather with a thick layer of ice on most sidewalks and even the road in places. I decided on a 3 minute warmup walk and then run 1 mile, walk 2-3 min., run 1 mile, etc. The first mile I started out a little fast to complete the whole mile--the treadmill indication was 5.5 mph or a 10:45 mile. I made it more than halfway before I had to lower the speed to 5.4, or an 11:06 mile. That put me at 14:06, so I walked to 17 min. and started again, this time slower. I made it all the way until about 3/4 a mile through the last mile before I had to lower the speed again to about an 11:30 mile. I was really getting winded and mentally tired, if not physically. I decided to just walk it out to 45 min. after the 3rd mile. I ended up with 3.7 miles total, the farthest so far actually running.

I have been babying my right heel and left calf since last week. Both were so sore on Friday that I decided I didn't want to make it worse on Saturday by running, so opted for the bike instead. That worked well enough, as I made it all the way through the treadmill workout without any problem. The heel problem came on again full force when I went shopping later. It is quite ironic and annoying that when I first started running 18 years ago, no matter the distance or intensity of my running, I didn't have the luxury of sitting around after. With 4 young children, including one under a year, I was lucky if I got a shower afterwards, let alone sit and relax. And that was all without any problems. Now, regardless of the distance or lack of intensity, I still feel like I need to sit with my feet up for the rest of the day, and then I am lucky if I have no after effects. I realize at least half of this is from aging, but the other half is definitely from the accident effects. So I get caught short now when I don't take the time to rest and relax after any workout. But the shopping needs to get done, and I don't mind going sometimes, but my foot was not happy. I pretty much gimped around most of the rest of the day and night until I had time to sit down for some serious icing--at 10 pm.

This morning it was another 1 mile swim. I am consistently swimming 1 mile in the 42 min. range. I was probably 5 min. faster before the accident, so I really am not too worried about getting better. Nothing hurts now, and the first half mile seems faster and easier, so its just a matter of time. I actually think the swimming is helping my shoulder more than any of the rehab weight routine, so I think I need to modify that. I do think my pull is a little weak yet, leading to the slower swim time, but again, I am not worried about that. I'm more worried about the all-over aching body after a measley 3 mile run.

I got an e-mail from a friend this morning indicating she was in for Steelhead. I really want to sign up for that race and know I have to do it fairly soon to avoid getting shut out on it. I hope I am able to make a decision before the end of this month.

And then there is the Secret Santa program at work that is supposed to start today. So convenient it is--NOT! and I should know better, because as in years past, there is confusion as to how it works. For me, it is even worse, since my person backed out last Friday, leaving me with supposedly her person, and she doesn't seem to even know anything about who it is or what might be on her wish list. So that leaves me with not knowing for sure who my person is or what they might want. That should make it a simple task, right? My wish list was never picked up for distribution either, so I can only imagine what I will get! I'm not opposed to doing this, but the last time I did it, I ended up spending way too much time and money for someone I didn't even know. If I get the person's name I was told I probably should have by process of elimination, I don't even like this person! Oh well, live and learn--again!