more adventures

As if I haven't had enough excitement lately...

Yesterday, I decided to bike for an hour before my doctor appointment and work. I biked uphill for 5 miles in about 30 minutes, and then turned around to come back. After a mile, I heard a WHOOOOOOOSHHHHH sound and my back tire deflated. Stupid me, I hadn't brought a cell phone with me or anything, and here I was 4 miles from home with a bum foot. I ended up biking home very slowly on the rim; my bike is a crappy bike and the back wheel is already bent from an earlier incident with the kids' bike trailer, so I didn't care too much. However, it took me a long time to get home, so I really had to rush to make it to the doctor on time. I was 8 minutes late, but they took me anyway. Whew.

I love the Orthopedic Center at the Univ of Utah - they are great. So efficient! I was again amazed at how good they are, as they got me x-rayed quickly, and I didn't have to wait to see the doc at all. The x-rays were again negative, but my history - specifically the amount of swelling I had - suggested a stress fracture to my doc. The other possibility is tendinitis. Since I really want to race the Portland Marathon, it is important to distinguish between the two. Tendinitis can be raced on, albeit with pain; the stress fracture cannot (at least not without risking much more severe damage). So, Dr. Powell recommended an MRI to find out what is going on. They have an MRI in the building, in the basement. I was able to get an appt for 5 pm that afternoon, after work.

The MRI went fine; I was even able to participate in a research study to see if wrapping the foot in a special material improves the imaging. All it involved was sitting there for a couple extra scans, so it was no big deal. I even got a CD with my MRI on it to take home :). I looked at it, of course, but I really don't know how to read it. Still, it's really neat to see the photos of my foot. If I can figure out how to get the pics in a usable form from the software, I'll post some later.

This morning I had to work for an hour or so, but since it's not my usual work day I didn't have child care. Thus, I had to go in at 5:30 so I could make it to weight training at 6:30. I was a bit late, but was still able to fit in 20 min hard on the stationary bike and 10 min of abs and then stretching. Something is better than nothing. I'm examining my options for fitness in case I have to lay off RW for longer. Probably will get a monthly membership at a public recreation center so I can swim, stationary bike, and/or elliptical if my foot will tolerate it.