A Happy New Year

Hi. It's Laura.

 

Happy New Year!

 

I hope you have all enjoyed the holidays and are ready to get back to it. I know I was.

 

I had a huge plan to start the New Year but as the best laid plans go...

 

The night before we left for our winter holiday get away, I slammed my pinky toe into one of our living room cubes. I was worried that I would not be able to get my foot into a ski boot due to the swelling but “lo & behold”, I got it in just fine.

 

Before we hit the slopes, I rocked back & forth in the living room simulating turning and the toe seemed fine. We skied, though I took it easy the first couple of days. All seemed to be going well until the car ride home when the pain seemed to increase.

 

Instead of just toughing it out, I went to the podiatrist and yep, you guessed it, the toe is broken. There is not a whole lot you can do for a broken toe. The best you can do is tape it the toe next to it. You can prevent further injury to the foot by resting it. This is what I am doing under doctor’s advice.

 

I can swim and do the exercise bike. I can even do the elliptical (which I hate). The only thing that I cannot do is run (which is what I really want to do). Good news (?) on that front. I did not get into the NYC Half Marathon (with Hurricane Sandy causing the cancellation of the NYC Marathon, I am not surprised). So I am not missing much training for that particular event. I was a little peeved that I did not receive a notification one way or the other. I had to go to their website and log in (happy to remember my username and password) to find out.

 

In my racing career to date, I have always received a notification one way or the other. This is just another check mark on the NYC RR's bad list of mine over the years. Unfortunately, they hold the most races in my back yard so I will keep going back but I don't have to like it. My official training for the triathlon (which is the more important event) does not begin until the end of March.

 

Fingers crossed here, this is my third foot injury since October. Since I do believe they come in three's, let's hope this is it. First the sprained ankle for my birthday, a week later the full aluminum water bottle falling on my toe and now the broken toe.(other foot)

 

Although I am pleased that I can do some exercises, I am disappointed in not being able to run for at least three more weeks. I am now relegated to all indoor activities at the gym. This is not my favorite place this time of year.

 

I think the only people who might actually not mind the gym this time of year are the people who go to the gym ONLY this time of year. When they show back up in March or April and see how quiet it is (I say March & April because the will only be here for the month of January), they will go away again.

 

Professionally I would love to get my hands on these people and show them the joy of exercise & fitness and that it is much easier to stay in shape than it is to get back into it every January (maybe February). Personally, I wish there were a gym that One-A-Year-People could go to so as not to bother the rest of us (kind of like the island I picture for teenagers).

 

I am not going to begrudge anyone's resolutions (wait! who said that?!). I have a few goals of my own this year. My second triathlon is one of them. That is if I can ever stop injuring myself (anyone care to analyze that?).

 

I have also been carrying around a few extra pounds that are driving me crazy. I am not one to write down my goals and share them with others (except of course this blog). I always thought I had too much discipline and was usually able to achieve what ever I set out to do. But as for these “muffin makers”, I have been carrying them long enough. So wrote down my goal number on my bathroom mirror. So far it’s working. I know it will eventually turn into one of the many post-it notes I post to my computer home page and will begin ignoring it (hopefully though not before I achieve it).

 

Time to be secretive: I have one very lofty goal for this year that I cannot yet share but let's call it: “Kick Start Alpha”

 

Sometimes goals (or resolutions or whatever you are calling them) do get set aside. This does not mean failure. “Kick Start Alpha” has been shelved since Hurricane Sandy. First the city was shut down, then it reopened, then it was the beginning of the holiday season, then it was the holidays and finally we were gone for two weeks. This does not mean it failed.

 

Sometimes we have to put goals aside temporarily to get a perspective or to deal with life. Life will get in the way. Whatever your goal, this is an excellent time of year to get started.

 

To steal from the ads of the season: “A New Year, A New You”. Or perhaps a better you.

 

Play hard!

 

Laura