Good morning Monday! The air is crisp and cool. It is starting to look and feel like fall. This is by far my favorite time of year. Nothing signals fall to me more than the return of students to all of the local colleges. I live in a college town and my alma mater UMass is 10 minutes up the road.  Yesterday afternoon Carlos and I spent the afternoon in Amherst. We had a slice of pizza from Antonio’s, cheese for him and salad pizza for me.

A Slice of Cheese Please!

We wandered around town and the campus for a couple of hours.

UMass campus

Then we enjoyed an ice cream at Bart’s. Just as I love the quiet, peaceful summers when the students are gone, I enjoy the energy that returns every fall infusing new life into the area.

Before I get into my marathon training recap I wanted to mention that I am taking part in Biz’s Holiday 2001 Challenge. My goal is to lose these last 20 pounds by the end of the year. I am so excited to take part in the online challenge so I can cheer others on and receive a little much needed support myself plus I love Biz’s blog. She is so real and down to earth. Her realistic approach to weight loss and fitness is refreshing. The reality is we have lives, jobs, kids, husbands, and years of habits to contend with and it’s not always easy.

I mentioned in an my week 8 recap that a week ago Friday I broke my toe in Bermuda. I knew that I needed to rest my foot, ice it, elevate it when possible and buddy tape the injured toe with the toe next to it. I didn’t run for almost a week. I called the doctor who confirmed that I was doing all the right things. He told me that I could come in to have him look at it but given that the nurses at work had assessed it and there was no bone sticking out anywhere or deformity of the toe I decided not to go in. Obviously if it worsens or the pain returns I will go to see the doctor.

I also went to a local homeopathic/herbal medicine shop to discuss some natural remedy options. I took Arnica for the pain and I am taking a combination remedy specifically for bone healing.*

I stayed active throughout the week. By Wednesday the pain was decreased enough to give running a try. By Friday the bruising was completely gone. By Saturday I was off on my long run. I would not have run if I were in any pain or if the swelling and bruising were still prominent.

Here is a look at the entire week:

The actual training schedule column looks wildly unbalanced. There were reasons behind it involving work and Orlando’s schedule. Needless to say the week was not the major fail that I thought it would be when I injured my toe. I am really very proud of myself for running my longer runs. I felt great. Seriously the 7 mile run was so awesome that I almost did the 10 miles that morning because my legs were feeling light and my breathing was in a perfect rhythm. The weather was gorgeous. I was excited to be back to running. Even the 10 miler the next day was pretty fabulous considering I had just run 7 miles the day before and worked all night. I made decent time too, finishing at around 1h53m. I definitely would have stopped at any point during the runs if I felt even the slightest twinge of discomfort.

I’m scheduled to run a half marathon on Saturday. I haven’t actually registered for one. I was planning to run the Wicked Half in Salem, MA on Saturday, but that won’t be possible because of our schedules. There is a half marathon about an hour away in Connecticut. I will have to wait and see what Carlos’ soccer schedule looks like when he has his first practice on Weds. More likely than not I will simply run 13.1 miles somewhere near home and on my own.

I’m off to make lunch for the little guy now. We have soccer gear to buy this afternoon. I can’t believe the little guy is going to play soccer! Where is the time going?

*I should note that if anyone reads this and is experiencing a broken toe or other injury please consult your doctor. This post is not meant to deliver advice. Although I am a nurse I am not a registered homeopathic medical specialist. I am not recommending that others follow my course of treatment. I am simply discussing what is working for me.