R.I.C.E.

I hear my high school softball coach chanting the creed in my head as I drop in the dirt. REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, ELEVATION. My second thought is “There goes the Hana Relay”. I’m not even 100 yards into my Tuesday trail run. I lift my eyes from the trail for one second. My foot comes down on a particularly vicious root. I feel a hard wrench, almost hearing it as it reverberates in my body. I don’t fall but I have to sit down. I hold my ankle, I stare at it, waiting for it to swell….but miraculously it doesn’t. I wait some more and the pain subsides. I rise, take a few tentative steps…not so bad. A little tender but I don’t think it’s serious. I decide to walk as far as the beginning of the loop trail to see how it feels. By the time I get to the sign it’s feeling good, I think I can make it another 5 miles. I decide to jog a bit. Not bad. I’m feeling optimistic. But by the time I get to where the trail splits again the ankle is starting to ache and I tell myself to not be stupid. Skip this run, get home and ice it. By morning you’ll be able to do your 8 mile road run. Right. Driving down the hill I have trouble pressing in the clutch and by the time I’m home I’m limping heavily, the ankle is swollen and starting to bruise. The chant begins again in my head, REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, ELEVATION. R.I.C.E.
So, I’m benched. It’s been 5 days and I’m going stir crazy ape shit. I want to RUN but I’m being smart. I’m still limping a bit so I’ve been on my ass with my foot up the entire weekend. The Hana Relay is in 13 days. I think I’ll be good by then. I hope. But then the following week I’m signed up for the Maui half marathon. I don’t want to wear myself out on the relay and not be able to do the marathon. For one thing it was a hefty entry fee that is non-transferable. For another, I know I’ll do better on a 13 mile flat course than on 3 – 3 mile sections of hills and narrow winding road. In a quandary. I’ve never been injured before and considering how hard I play I guess I’ve been pretty lucky. Last year my atlas bone slipped out of joint but I didn’t limp and it didn’t swell. I just did light workouts for a week and I was good to go. This has been an interesting experience. I thank god it wasn’t more serious. I thank god it wasn’t right before one of my big treks. At any rate I’ve gotten a lot of reading done.
The moral of the story is never take your eyes off the trail. But if you do, remember R.I.C.E.