This past week, Charlotte has been a buzz of Carolina Panther
mania. The city buses that were
displaying a cheerful “HAPPY HOLIDAYS!” just a few weeks ago have been flashing
“GO PANTHERS!” and my neighbors have been flying blue and black Carolina
Panthers flags from the front porches of their mill houses. In fact, I think the whole city took
down their Christmas decorations and just replaced them with ones celebrating
the new January holiday season – Panthers' Playoffs Season.
In addition to hearing predictions about the big game (in case you
haven’t heard – it didn’t go so well) and stories about all the excitement (it
was a lot), there was the on-going saga over Steve Smith’s sprained knee.
Having sprained my ankle back in late October, I was curious to see how
quickly Smith was going to recover.
However, following his progress was a bit perplexing and proved to be
more entertaining than the game.
As if he were reporting his semester grades (which – let’s be honest – probably
weren’t as good as his sprained knee), Smith repeatedly rated his progress with
a percentage. And by percentage –
I don’t mean 50% better or 90% better – Instead, Smith liked to be a bit more
exact…
“Felt
good, 71 percent. That’s where I’m at,” Smith said. “I was at 60 (percent)
after Monday so today I’m 71.”
Not 72%, Steve??
Later, Steve decides to downgrade his progress to 57%. Again, you got to hand it to the guy – he
likes precision. So, we assume he
had a set back right?
"If
we're on a curve, no," Smith said. "If we're on a curving grading
system there is no setback. If there's no curve then it's a setback."
Um…WTF? Is this a
joke? Dude – Are you better or are
you worse? Listening to this guy
talk makes me wonder how anyone could have thought we would win this game.
So, I’m certainly not going to try to assign my healing ankle a
percentage, but I will say that this past week was the turning point. The age-old wisdom is that time heals
all wounds – But believe me, when you have a running injury, you feel like you
will never be 100% again (ok – one percentage). However, it honestly almost felt like it happened over night
– One day this past week, I woke up, and I knew that I had turned the corner. I knew that I would be returning
to training much sooner than expected.
And I knew that I was going to Boston.
So, flight is almost booked! (I think I’ve become a little obsessed
with playing the airline industry as if it were the stock market, but I’m ready
to pull the trigger) And I am
starting to allow myself to get excited about the race and being a part of one
of the most significant Boston marathons of all time.
However, while I want to jump up and down and give thanks by kissing the
ground I run on, I realize that I have a ton of work to do. But I’m ready. It’s time to get strong – Boston Strong.
Boston Experiment Week
2 of 16: 26 Running, 21 Aqua, 47
Total
I honestly meant to
get in another pool workout, but I think I actually pulled my hamstring tendon
from running in the pool. My guess
is that it is a little more difficult to control my form in the pool, and I
repeatedly over-extended my leg because I never had ground to make contact
with. I’m actually at the point
where running outside seems healthier than running in the pool….Go Figure.
Next week – if all
goes well – I’m returning to actual training runs!
This Week’s Beer
Choice: Coronita Extra!
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