Hello to The Running Obstetrician running faithful. It has been two weeks since the Hartford Marathon and my last blog post. I apologize to all of you out there who have been missing my running updates, and I wanted to give you guys a little check-in and let you know that I am almost back in business.
So like many things that throw you off the running wagon, it has been a combination of events that has kept me off the trail / road for the past two weeks. The first is work, and that is boring, so I'll leave it at that. I do think that even the most engaged of runners are going to have some time when work has to come first. For those of you who can always keep running above work - a big kudos! Please send us some of your hints and strategy in the comments section below!
The more interesting of things happened around mile 11 in the Hartford Marathon. If you read my running page dedicated to the race, and still to this day, I just loved that run. I felt great, my time was awesome, and even with the rain and cold, it was one of my best races ever. However, I do remember very specifically around mile 11 my left ankle starting to get sore. I thought to myself, "What is this?" I have never had a left ankle problem in all of my years of running, and this just seemed like an odd place for pain. With only 2.1 miles left, I was able to easily run through the discomfort. It wasn't really all that bad, even afterwards. However, for the week following, it was enough that I had a good limp for a few days, and trying to run on it just wasn't going to work. I did a little bit of cycling at the gym, but this was even a little sore. I had to unfortunately sit out the Glastonbury Apple Harvest 5K due to the injury, but there was also something else on the horizon.
At the end of this week of left ankle soreness I started to come down with a "cold" while working overnight on call. My wife was sick, my kids were sick and my partner at work was sick, so I figured I was getting the cold that everyone else had. The call was intense and busy, and by the next day I was wiped out. Eventually with the help of my very smart wife (who is a much better doctor than I am!) I was able to figure out that this wasn't a cold, but Strep throat. Yes, another first for the Running Obstetrician. I cannot recall having strep throat as a child, but this was the real deal. Fevers, throat pain, and my goodness, horrible looking tonsils! When my wife prescribed me 10 days worth of antibiotics, I thought that this would be overkill. What I now know is that even with the antibiotics it DOES take 10 days to get over this infection, and I'm not surprised that some physicians prescribe this for 14 days.
So I am totally on the mend. My left ankle has had a nice 2 weeks off, and feels back to normal. I am almost right with this infection, and I can see myself giving three or four miles a try this week. I am hoping to get back to my old self soon, as we have some amazing races coming up in the next few weeks, and it is just simply gorgeous out there in this New England fall. So stay posted for more training runs and race posts, and always, always, always, no matter what the time off, get back into those running shoes, and keep on running!