Like a very graceful ballerina, I tripped and fell on my hands and knee while running towards my car this morning!

   

Did I fall while running? Like a runner? No! I fell while running from the auto place to my car! I'm a little proud that I hit my right knee, since I always fall on my left when actually running (like a runner). The hands are new, though. That hurts, still. I fell nine hours ago. I keep looking at the concrete accusingly. And thinking, "Don't fall now. It's going to hurt so bad."

Here's a fun picture of the copper carbonate I used to mix up a low-fire glaze on Monday. 

Try not to think about my wounds.

Part of the Process

I've come to love trimming and glazing much more than I used to. My heart used to belong solely to throwing, but I've realized over the last year or so that throwing takes the shortest amount of time. In that case, my favorite part is the least involved? I needed to shift my thinking, and I did. I started to find something meditative in trimming. It's become a continuation of the honing process that throwing is. 

The act of throwing takes an unformed lump of clay, and turns it into something roughly resembling a functional object. But then, using the wheel to whittle the semi-formed object into a complete idea. In trimming the foot ring finds a parallel with the rim; walls become uniformly thin and smoothed; in my case, all kinds of details are added, creating a unique object. Take these bowls:

They're at a leather-hard stage. They've been sitting on that newspaper-covered board for a week (I dry things too slowly. I'm working on that.) and are ready to trim. After turning each over and removing all the excess clay from the foot (I need some action shots), each also gets decoration on the rim:

Now they're unique, well formed, and ready for bisquing. Throwing those bowls (all 11 of them) took less than 10 minutes. Trimming them took over twice that time.

Now glazing them.. Well, the final product will take another ten days to get. 

Speaking of glazing. Here are those bottles, out of the bisque fire:

All pink and porous. Amazing that when that gets out of the reduction firing it will look totally different: warm, brown, even a bit grainy on the bare clay.

Post glazing, pre-firing:

I'm so excited for how these turn out. Glazing has become another meditative process, and has encouraged me to really visualize how I want a piece to look. I used to just put some glazes on and hope for the best, but now I think about the form itself, and what would compliment it. A constant learning process.

New Thoughts

I've started making bottles at the studio.

I've never been really interested in creating that form before, I think because I couldn't figure out how to make it mine. However, at a market a few weeks ago, a fellow vendor mentioned that the rain made her wish she had a flask. I jokingly said I would make her one, and started getting excited about how that would work. Though my bottles aren't quite flask-like yet, the form is really interesting.

This is the first bottle that's been trimmed and altered. What you can't see is that I'm throwing them all bottomless, so I can paddle them into more flat or oblong shapes and add bottoms when they're done.

These are the newest forms. I'm excited! Something new!

Thoughts?

Compression

I think putting compression socks on after each run has completely changed my recovery process. I went for an easy three miler this morning, having given myself a day of recovery. I wore a pair of (I'm not ashamed) mens compression socks that I bought for cheap off of amazon for a while after that run (because I forgot to take them off before going grocery shopping), and the run I had today was easy and fast. Maybe the easiest post-long-run run that I remember. I'm glad this is an easy week, though. I pushed my running last week, and I'm proud of myself.

Source: Amazon.com

Yesterday was my last outdoor craft market (SoWa, for Bostonians) for the season. It was another rainy market, but I think that actually benefits me, at the end of the day. Having done a few rainy markets and a few sunny ones, here's what I've noticed:

• People are a bit friendlier when the weather is bad. Customers are appreciative and maybe even grateful that we, the vendors, have come out at all (this is heightened by there being noticeably few vendors yesterday).
• The perusers who do come out to the market are looking to buy. When the weather is bad, it's not a pleasant window-shopping Sunday stroll around the South End. It's business.
• Vendors are friendlier to each other. There's a bit of a sense that "we're all in this together" amongst vendors, and we share stories, appreciate each others wares, and help each other out. This might also be due to having more time to talk to each other with fewer customers around.

When I did the Bazaar Bizarre Boston last year I didn't talk to anyone except customers until the last forty-five minutes of the market, because I just didn't have time to even look around. For a good four hours of the seven that we were there, we were just ringing up one sale after another.

I'm glad to be done with markets until December. It's time to buckle down and make.

On the schedule for today:

• 9-1, Mudflat, doing work for them (kiln unloading, scraping shelves, loading up again, etc.
• 1-5, Mudflat, doing work for me (trimming, throwing, figuring out how this last glazing went, and what choices to make next time.
• 6:30-8:30, group supervision for art therapy. I'm 10 hours away from fulfilling my requirements to get my ATR (registered art therapist), which would allow me to have more letters after my name. Letters = respect, and potentially more money. 

Let's go.

Developing

Yesterday I ran SEVEN miles, for the first time since my stress fracture. It felt so damn good to rack up the miles. To hear that voice on my mile-tracking app tell me "Seven..Miles..Completed." and to feel like I could keep going. To run on the river again. I missed the feeling of being able to just start running and feel confident that I can keep going.

In other news, I've been logging at least twenty hours a week at my ceramics studio. I've taken a training position there, in that I'm a part of how the studio runs. For example - a typical Monday consists of:

• unloading the glaze kiln (it's a 54 square foot kiln)
• scraping down the kiln shelves (it's my favorite thing to do)
• loading the bisque kiln (careful not to break anything)
• wedging up at least 50 pounds of recycled clay
• four hours of my own work (trimming, throwing new pieces)
• miscellaneous tasks like wiping down empty carts and consolidating shelves and carts

The more time I spend at the studio, the more I want to make it my full time job. I want to document the time I spend at the studio, and working on my art, and see how it develops. Here's some in-process work!

Liner glazes in the mugs, and lots of tiny bowls.

Slow

Several things are developing at once. it's a little overwhelming, so I'll try to map it here.

First of all, back to running, finally. Fits and starts. I started with week 3 of the running 101 podcast, because it added up to 15 minutes of running, which is closer to what my PA recommended. I did my first run on a treadmill, and was bored out of my mind, but curious to watch my form in the mirror. My feet hit on the outside edges. I'm surprised I don't have runner's knee (knock on wood) from my odd form. Since that first run, I walked to work for two consecutive days in my rain boots and did something weird to the tendon on my left foot that connects to my big toe. It would hurt when I pressed on it, and would ache a bit while walking. It hurts more the day after a run, but after a week of walking and very little pain, I ran today. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I moved on to week 4 of running 101. 20 minutes of running total, with minute walking breaks every four minutes. I got so bored I started skipping walking breaks, doing two intervals of 4 minutes, one of 9, and one of 4. Two intervals of 4, and one of 14. When I noticed my foot wasn't feeling better, I took a few days off. Then, over the weekend, I headed to New York City to spend a few days with my mom (she met me there), and walked all over the Village, Soho, Chelsea, Nolita, and then up around the museums. Ate really great food, saw amazing art and a Sunday matinee showing of Death of a Salesman (with Andrew Garfield and Phillip Seymour Hoffman). A pretty stellar weekend, and after a delayed bus ride with no napping, I made it home to S around seven last night.

This morning was my final day of week 4, in which I ran one interval of four minutes, and two of nine minutes. Thursday, (my birthday) I'll start week 5, three intervals of eight minutes. I'm excited. I had hoped to be able to run three miles again by my birthday, but I'm getting there.

Next: clay.
Excitingly, I have six markets this summer and autumn at which to sell my ceramics. So I've been furiously working away at the studio, making mugs and tiny bowls (big sellers) and a few big bowls (for myself and my creative/artistic pursuits). I just got accepted to the SoWa Markets for five Sundays between June and October, which means I need to buy:
* 10'x10' white tent (EZ-UP, preferably)
* (4) 40lb tent weights (and fill them with sand)
* Folding table (because one six foot table under a ten foot tent will look so sad)
* 2 new tablecloths (White? Off-white? Need to make the goods pop)

Finally: work.
S and I are driving cross-country in July, which, there and back with a wedding in the middle, will take the month. When I come back, I will not be staying in the same position here. Whether that means I don't have a job or I do is unclear. That one's still in development. We'll see.

For now, I'm having a birthday on Thursday, and going out to T.W. Food for dinner. My favorite restaurant, and my (I think) 3rd birthday in a row dining there. I hope we get the same table.

X-rays and MRIs

This morning was my follow-up x-ray to see how my stress fracture has healed. I showed up, and my PA showed me images from the MRI. Terrifying. As he pointed out, the bones of my leg and forefoot were black in the MRI image, but the area around my heel was all white due to fluid and inflammation. In an alternate view, the bones were white except for a jagged black line that seemed to separate my heel from the rest of my foot. That, he told me, was the stress fracture. It looked so severe and huge, and reminded me how strange that I wasn't in pain at all when the MRI was done.


So, a quick x-ray was on the docket for today. I was seated on a table and two x-rays were taken, one from the side, and one from the sole of my foot.


Within minutes I was back with my PA, and he was pointing out the white smudgy line indicating that my heel was healing.


"BUT," he said, "It takes 3 months to totally heal. You're looking good, so you can start to walk to work again, but a week or two more on the elliptical is in order, and then you can start running."


So it should look like this: 2 more weeks on the elliptical. Then slowly running a mile, then taking the next day off to see how it feels. Stay at 1 mile runs for a week or two, then increase to 1.5 mile runs.
I'm thinking that I'll start the Running101 podcast from week 4 after a week more on the elliptical, and I'll do it on a treadmill. (refresher: week 4 is four intervals of four minutes running at an easy pace, with recovery walks in between. I'll do the podcast for a few weeks on the treadmill, then switch to outside.


And new shoes. Any suggestions? I pronate slightly, and need extra support for my heels. Thoughts? I'm open to anything.

One week countdown

That run was a mistake. Not that I had any physical repercussions, but that I was not not not supposed to go for it. Later in the morning I got a phone call from my PA, saying "call me back immediately, and don't run." The results were in by 9am, and they were important enough to call first thing. Stress fracture in my left heel. Though there's no pain (and there's been none since, it's only started to heal.

One week until my follow-up x-ray to determine that my heel has healed (the healing is visible in an x-ray, but the fracture is only visible in an MRI). One week until I'm told "good to go" and get back to running, or am delayed even further. It's been more than two months, and I'm pretty sure I've lost all my fitness. The day after my MRI, when I took a two mile run, I felt it in my legs for a few days. And then to be told "don't run, whatever you do." No hiking! No dancing! No jumping! Along with running, those are three of my favorite things! To compensate, I go back to the gym. Yesterday I did some squats and lunges while holding weights, and whoo, my thighs. They hurt.

I miss my running body! As a female with a history of body issues, I really developed a new relationship with my body having run. I appreciated my body more, because this is the body that lets me run. I need it, I take care of it, I love it, and it loves me back by running, and telling me what it can and cannot take. I felt much more connected to my body. Not having run in two-plus months, I'm critical again. I'm thinking about the scale. I'm thinking about food as calories that need to be counted, as opposed to fuel that helps me run and tastes good.

I miss being able to get out there, listen to music and be mindful of the moment. I'm still on the look-out for good running songs, and find my taste in music has changed a lot since starting to run. I want things that have a good beat. That are peppy. I've started to shy away from the sad man with his guitar. Unless it's runable. My standards are flexible. Fleet Foxes are okay for running. My goodness, "Helplessness Blues"? Ran to it. "The Bad in Each Other" off of the new Feist album (not a man, obviously)? Ran to it. But oh, the newest Iron & Wine? No thank you. Not yet.

I'll get back out soon. Sooner than later, I hope hope hope.

Getting back in it.

I laced up my shoes this morning, and not to get on the elliptical!
After my MRI last night (at 9pm, holy hell. More on that in a minute.) I got home and feeling really beat down by an all-over exhausting day, I decided I was going to try running in the morning. Maybe it wasn't a good idea, but I'm proud of myself, and sticking to my decision.

Yesterday was mentally and physically exhausting. Lots of changes happening at work, aside from the general difficulty of my job, and I really wanted a bit of a mental break. I've been going to the gym every morning (Monday through Friday at 5am, Sunday at 8am) for three weeks (before that it was 5 days a week, not 6), on the elliptical or stationary bike, and I had reached my breaking point. I'm tired, sluggish, bored, and needed a change. I was going to take this morning off, but after yesterday... Well.

It took two weeks from seeing a doctor to get an MRI, and at this point I am 100% pain-free. In fact, I was pain free about three days after seeing the doctor, but had been advised against running. I got to the office at 8:30 last night (in Kenmore Square, in Boston. First time driving myself on Storrow! Got all turned around and honked at!) for a 9:00pm MRI. My first MRI, and I had been warned about how loud it would be. Understatement. The technitian gave me a choice of music, and I went for Abbey Road (that's The Beatles, you youngun.) and could barely hear the lyrics when the machine was doing its thing.

It was remarkably hard to keep still. Being told "Don't do [x]" makes it neigh-impossible for me to think of anything else. Yom Kippur has always been difficult for this reason. So, "Try not to move your foot" made me hyper-aware of my foot, and how badly I wanted to twitch it. (BUT I DIDN'T. Amazing.) It was over by the very beginning of "I Want You (She's so Heavy)," which was faster than I anticipated. Results should come in today, but that didn't stop me from lacing up this morning.

First run back after five (FIVE) weeks off of running was so hard. Hard because my legs felt heavy. Hard because I felt slow. Hard because I could feel that I'm not where I was a month ago. Hard because this Sunday was going to be my first half-marathon.

I ran two miles. They felt great. I have to be okay with taking things slowly.

Slogging along

It's been almost a week, and my ankle has not improved. I daresay it's worse. Still not running, but forty minutes on the elliptical yesterday hurt quite a bit, so I suffered through forty minutes of biking today. I used a recumbent bike, and ended up feeling a strange ache down my left leg. It would ease up when I shifted to the right (also resulting in hitting my knee on the handles!), then resume when I sat straight. It felt like something pressing on the back-top of my left thigh.
Now, I can feel a swollen spot on my inner left ankle. It's been that way for a day or so, but I'm starting to worry. I don't think this picture captures the swelling.

(you can see my ace bandage and ice pack in the background!)

Luckily for me, S is on vacation this week (he's a music teacher), so today I get to drive to work.
I'm going to try to get a referral to a sports medicine doctor today. I want to see someone who will get me up and running again soon.

Onward and upward!

And down for the count

After my triumphant return to blogging, I've managed to incur some sort of injury in my left heel. Here's how it goes:

S and I went to Washington DC the weekend before Valentines Day, along with a few members of his band, so that they could play a show at American University. While there, I ran an "easy" 3.5 miler in Potomac, Maryland, and then a 9.3 miler along the C and O Canal. (Easy is in quotes, because Potomac is the most hilly neighborhood I've ever run in.) It was quite cold on the canal, but it was a delicious run. I hadn't run more than 5 since getting my wisdom teeth out, and I was so happy to be out with the wind on my face. Thinking back on it now, I felt little twinges in two places - one along the seam of my right sole, where it turned out I was getting a nasty blister (new, thin socks), and one along the inside of my left heel/ankle. I thought nothing of it. It felt like a little bruise.
We came back to Somerville, and I had a nice easy run on Tuesday. Just a quick 3 miler, with little twinges.

Thursday was the killer. I had a 6 mile speedwork run set out for me, which, for the sake of time, I shortened to a five miler. The plan was - 800 warm-up and cool-down with three 1600s at 9:16/mile, with 800 recovery jogs in between. By the time the first 800 was through, I had a twinge in my ankle, but I wanted to power through. That was a mistake that I regret now, though my speed was pretty good. It was the last 800 cool-down that was the most painful, though at other times in the quick miles I did actually make a noise. It felt a bit like I imagine being stabbed with a small pin would feel. Throughout the run I realized I was altering my gait to accomodate the pain - very small steps, and landing and lifting off on my mid-foot. Closer to the heel, even.

I ended up limping for the rest of the day.
I had an easy three miler on tap for Friday, but I ended up going to the gym and using the bike instead. It didn't hurt at all, and wasn't nearly as satisfying as running.

S and I spent the day in Amherst yesterday, and we each had a run planned for today. Mine was supposed to be 11 miles, and his an interval run. We were to meet up at Petsi's for breakfast. I wrapped my ankel all day yesterday, and it most definitely hurt when I woke up. After doing some research, I decided I may have given myself Posterior Tibial Tendonitis, and hoped I would be able to run even a short distance today.

No such luck. Pain when I woke up, and a crushed heart. I went to the gym and did an hour on the elliptical (with some pain), and twenty minutes on the bike. Unsatisfying, disheartening, and boring.

I haven't run since Wednesday, and I miss it horribly. Mainly, I'm scared that the Run for the Border half marathon at the end of March is out of the question.

Any help?

Return

Triumphant!

When I last wrote on here, I had just finished my first 5k, and was excited that I had continued to run.

Fast forward 8 months, and let me fill in the gaps.

S and I decided to try running a 10k, so we downloaded an additional training program which promised a 10k in six weeks. By the 3rd week I was a wreck. I couldn't run more than 4 miles, and I was feeling horrible about myself. So I took about a month and a half and just ran what was comfortable: two intervals of twelve minutes, 20 minutes of straight running, etc. Until September rolled around. S and I went to Essex for a weekend wedding extravaganza. In attendance were all of his college friends, and no one I really knew, so I took the opportunity to wake early and run along some trails and less-travelled roads. i ended up running 4.15 miles, and feeling awesome about it. I took that as the assurance I needed to start building my milage.
I started waking up around 5 am every other day, and once on the weekend. I slowly built my milage from 10 miles a week to what it is now: 25 miles a week! That breaks down to, on average, five miles three days a week, and a long run of 10 miles on Sundays. I've run 10 four times now, and I feel amazing about it.

Unfortunately, S needed to stop running in July due to a pretty severe plantar faceitis injry, and is just now starting up again with me. He's marvalled at how good my form has become, and how much faster I am. I've gone from averaging an 11 minute mile to just under 10. in short bursts (I've run a few short intervals with him), I'm averaging about 8:30/mile.

After my crazy long runs, S makes my my favorite meal ever.

Two eggs over-easy, with sharp cheddar on top, apple butter underneath, on toasted brioche (in this photo, the brioche was made by me! My 2011 new years resolution.)

The most satisfying, filling, warming, delicious meal.

Here's hoping I keep going.