I still miss running...

…but there are other things in life…right? :)

As the title suggests, I am still on a “running vacation” as I’ve taken to calling this time.  The good news is, though, that I am 90% sure that I DO NOT have a stress fracture.  My leg is feeling WAY better since I saw the doctor on Monday, and I know from experience that stress fractures do NOT heal in just a week.  I still have a tiny bit of pain from time to time, especially if I am walking around a lot (shopping…), but it is definitely healing.  I’m not sure what the problem was, but I’m going to give it at least another week before I push things and try running again.  My IT bands have unfortunately not decided to take this time to heal up—they’re still tight and annoying, but I’m continuing to stretch and foam roll them as I would if I were running…

After talking with my PT last week, he told me that if he were me, he wouldn’t take my doctor’s advice and just “quit running” (Note: my doctor did not tell me that I HAVE to quit running as his medical advice.  He merely suggested that perhaps running is not the best sport for me to pursue given my recent injury track record.).  He did suggest that I back off running for awhile, focusing for the time being on cross training and strengthening exercises (hence my “running vacation”).  In a few weeks when my legs are feeling up to it, he suggested I start running again in chunks of about 3 miles (or however long I can make it without pain).  Stick there for a few weeks before adding on about a half a mile.  Continue progressively building up mileage ridiculously gradually, while still staying conservative.  He suggested I take fall and winter to just “build a base” and heal/strengthen, and pursue another distance goal next spring. 

I think this is a smart plan, and it is certainly one that I can live with.  As I described in my “epiphanies” post, right now I care more about just being able to run than I do about distance or my upcoming half-marathon (which I will not be running).  After my recent pain and the past 2 weeks not running at all, a conservative run 

around the block sounds pretty good to me!

While I am still missing running, my life is not completely empty!  One of my close friends from both high school and college was visiting from out of state this week, and it was WONDERFUL to catch up!  Tuesday night I mentioned how much I adored the most recent Harry Potter movie, and while High School Friend read the books years ago, he remarked that he had only seen the first 3 movies!  You can imagine my response.  Obviously I couldn’t stand by knowing he was missing out on the goodness that is the Harry Potter movie series, so we watched movie #4 the following evening. 

Little did I know that I was creating a HP movie addict!  The next day, High School Friend rented movies 5, 6, and 7 part 1 only to watch them back to back before texting me at 9:30pm to share that he pretty much NEEDED to see 7 part 2 immediately. Of course I couldn’t miss out on another opportunity to see Harry Potter, and let me tell you it was just as wonderful the second time!  Also, I must note that seeing this movie meant that High School Friend watched over 10 hours of Harry Potter in one day.  AMAZING! 

Today instead of getting up early to RUN, I got up early to host two dear college friends for breakfast!  Miss R, Ms. M, and I went through the education program together and while Miss R and I see each other regularly to get our doses of teacher talk, Ms. M moved out of state after graduation.  It was wonderful to see her!!!  The spread:

The girls:

In true teacher fashion, this brunch involved a read aloud…

Haha I swear I don’t force guests to sit and listen to me read picture books!!!  Instead, the girls saw this book on my shelf and when I was showing it to them, they insisted I read it aloud. :)  I feel so blessed to catch up with old friends this week.  Is there anything better than seeing people after a long absence and realizing that nothing has changed?

It continues to be crazy hot around here, so what better way to end a Saturday than with some pool time?  Coach Lauren and I met this evening to lay by the pool...

And we even squeezed in a couple of laps afterwards...

All in all, a beautiful Saturday. :)

Are you still in touch with friends from high school and college?

How do you stay in touch with friends who live far away?

What made your Saturday beautiful?