So picture this. Batter up! The batter comes to the plate. Runner on third. No outs. The pitcher throws the ball and POP! The ball goes to the short stop. The guy on third comes barreling into home plate. The short stop throws the ball to the catcher. He catches it for just a second and then WHAM! The runner dives head first into the catcher. The world is spinning and the catcher flips over the runner and lands with a thud on the ground. After the dust settles. The catcher knew something wasn't right, but he tried to get up. He couldn't. His teammates pick him up and and he tries to put some weight on his leg. Pain screams through his leg and he now knows what is wrong. It's broken.
Pretty cool little story huh!. Problem is. That catcher was me. The break was a bad one. A Tibal Plateau Fracture. ( here is a link if you are interested).
http://www.sportsmd.com/SportsMD_Articles/id/322.aspx
After the guys on my church softball team got me loaded into the car. My wife Angie looks at me and says. "I think you have officially retired from softball." Who was I to argue that point! That happened in 1998. Sadly, I have not played softball since.
You maybe asking OK, what does that have to do with anything at all. Well, I am glad you asked! About two weeks ago, I went for another run. Was doing great! Was once again up to the 2 mile mark. Got home, went to bed. Everything seemed fine. Got up the next day and took one step down the stairs and ouch. My left leg, the one from the story, started hurting again. Next step, same thing. It has been hurting for the last couple of weeks. Especially going up and down steps and up inclines.I did the smart thing and decided I probably should not run. So I got an appointment with an Orthopedic doctor to take a look. Well thankfully nothing is broken but because of the kind of break I had, the fact it broke at a joint and the fact I have not been active enough. I have mild arthritis in my knee. I am only 38. To hear Arther(as my mom calls it) mentioned makes me nervous. I also might have a Meniscus tear in my knee but we aren't going down that road just yet. So does that mean no tough Mudder for Trav? Nope! I am still determined to do this. If some former military guys with no hands can get through this. How can I complain about some knee pain! Needless to say it could be worse but I am not going to be able to run for a while. I can however, ride a bike, which is what I will be doing. The doctor thinks I should be OK in a month or so with some rehab. I started that today. I have been a little down about the whole thing and have not held really well to my diet and exercise but I will climb back on that horse tomorrow! For now though, I need to strengthen up my left leg so that the muscles around it can hopefully help prevent some of the pain. That also explains why my right leg was always so stiff after the runs. I was over compensating with my right because my left leg was not as strong.
The moral to this story... If the doctor tells you to stay active on your leg or any other part of your body. DO IT! Don't ignore him like I did. Get up and do something!
Well, enough complaining and back to training! Have an awesome week!
