Retail Therapy

This week I had my follow-up x-ray after seven (SEVEN!!) weeks of no running following my attempt to complete the 2014 Boston Marathon.  I was hopeful that I would be able to slowly return to running at this point, but I knew going in to the doctor’s office that I still didn’t feel 100%.  I also knew that nothing seems to ever go right with my injuries.

Sure enough – I was told to continue doing what I’m doing (not much) and come back again in three weeks.  The bone is healing, but it is just taking time.

Up until this point, I feel like I have been handling my injury like a champ.  Sure I’ve had times of anger (Oh, you are so smug!  Just showing off that you can run and I can’t!) but overall, I feel like I have kept things together fairly well.  Or at the very least, I've done better than Hitler with a stress fracture.

My sound mental health may be thanks to my recent weeks of retail therapy.  I may not be able to run, but I sure as hell can stock up on some gear for when I finally get the green light from the doctor!

I definitely would not describe myself as a big shopper – I feel guilty about spending a lot of money on material goods.  But I justify my purchases because these are things I need – Since I haven’t been running long (even if I did count the time while injured, I’ve still only been consistently running less than two years) I really don’t have that many running outfits, and since I work from home two days a weeks, my training gear doubles as work apparel!  And did I mention that I haven’t paid full price for anything?

So far, I’ve been averaging about one purchase per week, totaling three Lululemon shirts and three pairs of shorts from Oiselle to date. 

Like most athletic girls, I’ve been obsessed with Lululemon for a while – I’m starting to have as many reusable Lululemon bags in my closet as I do grocery bags under the sink (I will make the grocery attendant hold my cart so I can go get my Running Warehouse bags from my car where I frequently forget them.  I don’t need any more grocery bags!). 

But Oiselle has become a new favorite brand to get sweaty in!  I honestly didn’t know much about the running apparel company until they recently signed Olympian Marathoner Kara Goucher after she left Nike and the West Coast to return to Boulder and her college coaches.  I think it’s safe to say that the marketing move to add Goucher to their team worked on me, and now I am happily helping pay her new salary!

Oiselle also sponsors another kick-ass female runner – Lauren Fleshman.  I like Fleshman because there is no question that this chick has balls.  Like most women who read her blog post Keeping it Real.  I was impressed with Fleshman’s honestly and guts to post less-than-flattering pictures of her thigh cheese and of her belly hanging over her track shorts.  Maybe one day I will be as brave as Fleshman and post my own “fat pictures.”

I’m not going to sugarcoat it – Having another three weeks to go until I can run again is like being on mile 23 of the marathon – Sh*t just sucks.  But I’m getting close.  And getting a fun package in the mail on the same day I got delivered bad news from the doc makes me feel better – even if it’s only a little better.

 

A Lululemon Pick-Me-Up

3 Weeks till Running (Hopefully!)

This Week's Beer Choice:  Stone IPA

I Can't Run.  I Can't Go To Yoga. But I Can Still Drink Beer.
(In Wilmington)