Ten days ago, I turned 27, and in Syracuse, there is only one proper way to celebrate your birthday, and that is by going to Wolf’s Biergarten. You get a two-liter boot of beer, which is the equivalent of four sixteen-ounce beers, which is a lot of beer. Due to my lack of running, I told my friends that there is only one thing that I can PR in right now, and that is drinking the boot. The year before, I drank it in 27:51, and this year, I was able to trim that time down to 24:33. So I did get the PR that I wanted. Also, there is only one way to wash down a boot of beer, and that is with a shot ski, because let’s be honest, it is so much better to wake up the next morning with a stomach that feels like trash.
The hardest part about drinking the boot is the sheer volume of the liquid that is being placed into your body. I mean that thing is like the length of my torso, and it is like half as wide as my body, so that is a ton of liquid. It probably weighs like five pounds. Thankfully, they provide a light beer, I think it was Naraganset, so it was not the most filling, but at the end of the day, when there are other meals in your stomach, by the time you get to the bottom of the boot you feel full to the brim, especially if done in less than 30 minutes. It was a great time, and I had so much fun. It was so nice to see all my running friends again.
The other boot though is not as fun. So I went back to the podiatrist because nothing was getting better. The anti-inflammatory that had been prescribed had not helped, despite the initial boost I thought it gave me, and I had been constantly wearing my ankle brace like I was told, and I was doing the prescribed stretching as well. It was the runners equivalent of a drunk dial, I had a bad day, where my tendon felt worst so late at night, I was so distraught, that I called and left the doctor a voicemail to answer in the morning. (I was not drunk, just sad)
I wanted to get a cortisone shot. I thought it would be helpful, I had heard good things about them, so I asked for one of those, or at least an MRI to make sure that there was not more serious damage that just tendonitis that would not leave, but more than anything I was hoping for the shot. The quickest of all possible fixes, but I brought my dad’s walking boot too, because she said that was also an option, I just did not want it to be.
When I got there, the nurse who called me back had a syringe in the pocket of his scrubs, so I thought yes! This is it, but then he left, so that sank my hopes some. When the doctor came in, she had some machine that I had never seen before, and it turned out to be an ultrasound machine. So after she asked the typical questions was I stretching? Was I running at all? Did I take the medicine? (for some reason, I feel like she never believes me, when I tell her that I am doing all these things) She performed the ultrasound, which was cool. I never would have thought about performing an ultrasound on a tendon like that, but I could tell pretty clearly what was going on, once she pointed it out, and it was probably cheaper than an MRI.
So not only was my posterior tibial tendon still inflamed, but it was VERY inflamed, which I find totally mind boggling. How can it still be so inflamed; I do not even remember what running on the road or trails is like, although I do dream about it at least once and week. It feels like that is something I have never done before, yet here we are still with a tendon on fire. Then I was given the worse news, that due to the fragility and thinness of the posterior tibial tendon, it would be unwise to receive an injection, because it could cause the tendon to rupture, so the long road continues. Let down after let down.
There was one more thing that she could offer, and it was a higher form of medicine. Methylprednisolone, which is an oral steroid that is supposed to help with recovery. Funnily enough she said it was not going to make me gain weight, and I did not say it, but I thought I literally do not care what it does as long as it helps fix the problem, and it starts with meth, so it has to be strong right?
Finally, she dropped the bomb that I needed to wear the boot for four weeks, which is the worst of news. Thankfully I already had a follow appointment with her scheduled for February 22nd, which was three weeks and three days away from then, and she said that was fine, so hopefully not even a full four weeks in the boot. I asked her, so does that mean that I should not squat? and it is questions like this, that probably lead to her skepticism of me doing the stretches and not running and such. Of course, the answer was no, she said lifting anything heavy while on my feet causes stress, and this crushed my soul. I thought, okay, so I will just sit in my home and do nothing for four weeks and slowly fade into oblivion.
So I took my boot and went home, and for probably the fourth time, I had to go through all the stages of grief…again. On the way home, I felt like I was going to cry. I got home, ate, watched my movie for the day, and then I tried to do some schoolwork. When I tried to do my schoolwork, I just stared at my computer screen for like 15 minutes before I gave up and went and curled up in bed. I watched a YouTube show just waiting for the day to end more than anything, and then it was 9:00, and my body just shut down, and I fell asleep. I was crushed and mentally exhausted.
The next day, when I got the Methylprednisolone, I became worried. The packaging looked just like the steroids you get when your wisdom teeth get taken out, and both times I took that medicine I threw up and had to stop taking it. So when I took my first dose, and it tasted awful, I was positive I was going to start throwing up, but thankfully I was able to power through, and I just googled it, and they are different steroids, so that could be why. Either way, if you ever have to take it, try to avoid it landing on your tongue at all costs, because the terrible taste lingers for like an hour.
Needless to say, I still went to the gym the next day, but I was still too depressed to go in the morning like I had been doing. Now I just try to stay on the machines as much as possible, so that my foot is not on the ground pushing, and if I am not on the machine, I do the exercise sitting down, so that there is not the extra weight. It is not as fun, but it makes the workouts go by quicker.
Another downfall to getting the boot is the questions, and it is so stupid, because nothing changed really, I just have a boot, so everyone asks what happened!? And I really do not know what to say other than nothing happened, my tendonitis just will not go away. It is so lame. I think I answered this question like 100 times. Plus I am student teaching at a school that is not mine, and it is much bigger, so I really have to explain over and over, and like every single kid asks. I feel like I needed a sign, so that people could read it and move on. So I cannot run, I am not working at my job, I moved recently, and I spend my free time lifting weights and trying to eat protein. I am basically a completely different person, and I hate it.
On the bright side, I did have a student come up to me on the first day, and she said, “Mr. L, you look good in that boot. You should wear it more often!” To which I replied, “You are in luck, I will be wearing it a lot.” The same student on Friday came up and gave my boot a hug and told me she hoped it felt better soon. Another kid came up to me on the second day of wearing it and was in shock, he said, “Are you still wearing that thing!?” So I told him I had to wear it for three weeks, but I fully expect someone else to come up to me on Monday, and go, Why are you still wearing that!?
I have gone through all the stages of grief again, and I am okay again, but I do miss the total release of endorphins. Working in second grade is hard, and every day when I leave, I feel exhausted and stressed, and lifting weights depending on the day does not lead to that total release of stress, so each day, it builds up a little bit more, so it just makes life harder on the day to day. I really feel it in my jaw at night. I had never woken up with a stiff or clenched jaw before, but now it happens multiple times a week, which is a sign of stress, and that just is not normal for me. February will be a terrible month, but hopefully after that everything can return to normal! Hope springs eternal, or something like that… Maybe next year I can go sub 20 in the boot if I train hard enough.
Comments