The Thursday Stoke!

I'm stoked for steroids!

Yeah.... that's right, STEROIDS!

After not being able to walk Monday (the day after running and finishing the Daytona Beach Half Marathon) I decided it was time to finally face reality and go see my doctor. First, let me say how awesome my doctor is as he is a runner and a surfer. He is probably the nicest doctor I've ever talked to as a patient. His waiting room gets backed up not only because he is busy, but because he is so personable and will talk your ear off. He actually cares about what's going on and even remembers things about you other than your medical condition. No wonder he is so popular.

So I make and appointment and can't get in until Tuesday as the very last patient of the day. This means I don't see him until about 6 p.m. I explain my story. Hurt the old Achilles tendon five weeks ago, thought it was healed up and decided to run a little 13.1 mile race. Now I can't freaking walk! I remove the ACE bandage and the first words out of his mouth are "HOLY CRAP!" I kid not.... he really said that! I call him by his first name and tell him that's really not what I want to hear from my doctor. He sees the fear on my face and down plays it a bit by telling me most Achilles tendon injures he sees are closer to the heel and mine is higher up more near my lower calf muscle.

Long story short; I'm sidelined for at least two weeks. I don't need an X-ray or MRI or Surgery or anything crazy thank God! I have multiple torn spots in the "sheathing" that is the outside layer of the tendon, which has caused some really gnarly inflammation and discoloration. In other words, it looks a lot worse than it really is...

The solution; I'm on steroids baby!

Seriously, it's some kind of week-long pack of steroids called methyprednisolone. All I know is I couldn't hardly walk yesterday morning. I took the first few pills with breakfast and by lunch time I was almost walking normally. Amazing. No wonder athletes abuse this stuff. I hope my balls don't shrink up! The most important thing is I have to stay off it for at least two weeks, which will be my nemesis as I have a hard enough time sitting still normally. I'm determined though and the doctor, who ironically is a Disney Marathon Finisher, told me that "I'll be fine and I've got this," when it comes to still running the Disney in January. Only thing is he says I probably shouldn't train until December, which will give me about four weeks. It's crazy when I think about it, but hey, I did just finish a Half Marathon without running an entire month before so this way at least I'll get a few long runs in... probably won't get the best time, but at least I'll be able to run and finish!

So yeah... I'm stoked for steroids!