Broken Bones & Olympic Opportunity (Ep. 3)

The ankle rolled, something crunched, and a strong ten-miler turned into months of limping, boots, and hard lessons. We walk you through the moment the fifth metatarsal gave way, the swelling avalanche after the shoes came off, and the confusing reality of x-rays that look worse even as the pain fades. If you’ve ever told yourself “it doesn’t hurt that much,” this story is a mirror and a map.

We get honest about noncompliance and its cost: daily miles on a fragile foot, flip-flops on vacation, and the seductive lie that function equals healing. Along the way, there’s real progress—from a podiatrist’s blunt advice to a smarter boot choice—and real-world context on bone biology: resorption, soft callus, and the slow path to hard stability. The thread ties back to a history of near-miss marathons, early-morning heat runs, and an MRI that once revealed a femur stress fracture and possible labrum issues. The fix that worked? Glute strength. Simple, targeted lifts that stabilize the hips and calm the chain.

Fueling turns from afterthought to advantage. A late-race bonk meets a perfect gel, and performance flips. We share why steady carbs and electrolytes shrink the post-run crash, and how sleep underwrites every adaptation. Cross-training steps in—yes to bikes, maybe to treadmills depending on your brain—and walking proves its quiet value in preserving aerobic base. Through it all, the tone stays candid and a little chaotic: Olympic daydreams, Strava art, and the stubborn optimism runners know too well.

If you want fewer injuries and better comebacks, you’ll find practical takeaways here: respect pain that changes your stride, let imaging guide load, build the glutes year-round, fuel before you’re hungry, and sleep like healing is your job. Enjoy the ride, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and hit follow so you never miss a new drop. Got your own comeback rule? Tell us—your best lesson might save someone’s season.

Chapters

• 0:00 Back On Mic, Injury Update
• 1:05 The July 5 Run Goes Sideways
• 4:50 The Long Walk Home And First Night
• 8:40 Urgent Care, Diagnosis, And The Boot
• 12:35 Hawaii, Noncompliance, And Slow Healing
• 16:40 Bone Stimulators, Insurance, And Patience
• 19:20 Past Marathon Goals Derail With Hip Pain
• 24:30 Discovering Gels And Fueling Right
• 29:00 Morocco, MRI, And Femur Stress Fracture
• 33:00 Rehab Wins: Strong Glutes Fix Weak Links
• 36:30 Tinder Olympian And Fresh Motivation
• 39:30 Training Plans, Lifting, And Another Setback
• 43:00 Walking Fitness, Sleep, And Bone Health
• 47:00 Mileage Madness And Recovery Realities
• 51:00 Short Track Love, Booty Lock, And Grit
• 54:00 Cross-Training, Treadmills, And Terrain Takes
• 57:30 Strava Art, Future Plans, And Sign-Off

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

And we're back, ladies. Shout out to the sexy shoddies and dapper dudes out there. Hope y'all are doing swiggity swell. It's your boy back for another week recap and some yep. Um doing decent. Uh went to the doctor this week. Foot still cracked. My bone is still in pieces. Got the fifth metatarsal in like the tip of it. Just the tip is cooked. It's in like three pieces. Broke a few months ago. Um haven't been treating it the nicest. It probably should be healed by now. But after the most recent x-ray, uh, things ain't quite together. Doesn't really bother me, which is partially why it's not been, you know, babied like it should be, like the doc recommends. But well, we'll see, we'll see. It is making progress at least. That's the good thing. But I should maybe be a little more careful. Like, I'm not been doing the the Crip Old Walk too hard recently. Uh, but I might have to bust out a big old boot again. We'll see, we'll see. Um to recap a lot on that. Uh I busted my my fifth metatars on the tip. It was rolling. I rolled my ankle pretty hard. It was over the summer, the fourth, it was it wasn't the day after the fourth thing. I think it was July 5th. Just, you know, out for an evening run. It was a pretty good run. I was getting a good clip. And, you know, finishing up, it was like maybe it was a decent run. It was like 10 miles. And I was really cooking at the end of it. And I was about good hundred yards from where I was about to stop. And I don't know what I did. I was just kind of dodged, dug, dip, diving, and dodging around people. Because I was kind of cooking at that point, and there's like a lot of walkers. And right with the the end in sight, took a step and all hell broke loose. So I rolled my ankle really hard. And I've done this plenty of times. Like it's kind of like it feels really bad. Like I step and you know, just step on the something funky on the outside, and you roll it really hard, and it was like uh, you know, swerves bends that corner. Um, and this time it was really a whoa, because I'm like, oh, that shit felt a little bit crunchy. Like normally it happens, and I'm like, that that didn't feel good. Keep running a few steps, keep going, and then it hurts for a minute, and then it goes away. And I'm like, okay, sick, we we're good. I feel like I could have broke my ankle that way. Uh this this happened, uh, and I was like, that felt a little bit different. Felt a little bit crunchy. This I'm gonna sit down for a second. I mean, miraculously, I didn't eat shit. I kept running, like I rolled my ankle hard, but like was able to, you know, keep my composure. I didn't eat shit, didn't fall over, just kept running. Only made it a few more steps. It was like right before like crossing the street. So I crossed the street and then I sat in the grass and just sat there for a minute and it kind of set in. I'm like, ooh, it kind of hurts. I was probably there for 10 minutes, and I'm like, doesn't it feel that great? It's still kind of hurting. And after maybe like 10-15 minutes, I decided to stand up. That didn't go well. I went right back down and stood up, and I was like, I started to get lightheaded. I thought I was gonna pass out, I thought I was gonna yak. Um and like, you know, maybe maybe this is not my foot. You know, I was running hard and I sat down. I've just been like laying on the grass. Maybe I was just like moving too fast and giving myself enough time to get up. You know, when you kind of been laying and you stand up too fast, too quick, the blood doesn't quite get to the head, you know, you know. I thought that maybe happened. I was like, you know, no worries, we're gonna we're gonna sit for a second, we'll try it again. It wasn't even better the second time. I mean, it it was the pain, it's different, it's different. Like you just you would like to think you can, you know, man up through it, but it's like body just goes control, delete, power down, shut that shit off. Um uh I did stay up the second time, I'm like, okay, file through that. Then there's like the the nausea wave of like, well, I'm gonna yak. This is this is not good. Um, and mind you, I was like two miles from my my crib at this point. A lot of times there's like a big ass hill that sometimes I'm lazy, and like I'll run to it, and then I'll kind of like do a cooldown walk up this hill, then maybe jog back because it's like where I like to run, I have to go up a big hill from my apartment and then back down this hill to this this place where I run some loops, and so I was planning to walk up that, but it was like a good two miles, and it's what I could best describe as you know, uh a spiritual experience, uh a religious journey that I went on. Because good lord, I had to had to leave my body at that point. Uh it was, I don't know. I mean, I don't even know if like I feel like saying I hobbled back home is like kind of offensive to people that hobble around. I don't know what I was doing. I don't I don't know how I made that journey back. Is is just putting one foot in front of the motherfucking other and like I don't know. It was it w it was rough. It I don't know. I just I eventually got there. I just kept doing it. This was like one of the few runs where I didn't have my phone, otherwise your boy would have probably Ubered there, or probably should have just Ubered straight to the ER or urchin care, whatever you call it, at that point. But it was like I think by the time I got home, it was maybe six or seven at the point. And this was a whatever, whatever the day the fifth of July was, you can you can look it up maybe I think it was it was a weekend, so I think it was Saturday. I don't think it was Sunday, because I think I went. Yeah. Anyway, so I made it back. Made the mistake. Um, my girl, my dog, I should have taken her out immediately, she should have hobbled around the block, but I made the mistake of stopping. I took off my running shoes. Um it was it was tough getting them off because my well, it was okay relatively to what was to come, not not bad at all. But it was still like tougher to leave these things off. They're not like should it, they're pretty easy to get off. And I mean actually starting this run, I was wearing some the uh the Nike Alpha Fly shoes, those big chunky monkeys, as my dog likes to call them. Um, and I think that's part of the reason I just totally fucked my foot is because those like they got this big cushion, so they got like a I think this is the stack height, it's pretty tall, whatever. So when I rolled my ankle, I really rolled it hard. But I was running in those. I mean, normally it's kind of like corny to not be doing a race in them or like a workout, but I was running in them particularly because it was like some tension on the top of my foot were sore, and I was like, you know, I'll try to be nice to them and run in these cushier shoes for today's run. I maybe shouldn't have been running because it kind of bothered me like in the week or two prior. So I was kind of trying to baby it, but trying to baby it just totally fucked it. So I don't know. I don't know what the moral of the story is there, but yeah, I don't know. Foot just got fucked. That's it. But they're just like a like a fly knit-ish, I think it's called. I don't know if it's a fly knit. It's like a little bit more, not as stretchy, but kind of a similar texture. It's like a little bit more plasticky, these ones. But it's like it's kind of like socky when you like pull it on and off. It's not hard. But it was it was gripping that thing when I was taking off my my foot. And once I got out, oh, it really started to hurt and started to puff up. My foot got so fat pretty quick. It was pretty, I was still like in the dial, not so bad. You know, maybe I just rolled my ankle, it's just gonna be a little irritated. But it was it it it did not feel good, did not feel better sitting, and once the swellings had in, and I was like, I really needed to get her out to go potty, and that that walk, that was honestly, even though it was a shorter walk, that one was way worse than the two-mile walk home on the freshly cracked foot. Um, I mean, I didn't know it was cracked at this point. I was still like trying to be like, uh, just you know, whatever. So maybe it's brain days, just it'll need a little bit. I'll walk it off. I said something, put it up for the night, hopefully it's good. But after like sitting for it was probably longer than it I intended. I was because she'd only been inside for quite a while before she was like kind of lazy before the run. I probably should have taken her out before, but she was you know, couch payable belly up, totally saw on logs, it was pretty cute. I'm like, okay, whatever. You are clearly in no rush to get out to go to the bathroom, so I'm gonna go run and I'll do it when I get back. Uh that was a mistake, but it was I I don't even know that because like the pain was like up by like 10 when I was trying to walk in at this point, so it's like just inching along. Like I would like take half a step and she'd give the leash length. We normally walk pretty decent, at least if it's cold out. Uh, she gets toasty quick if it's any sun or if it's like above like 50 degrees. She'll get like exponentially lazier and want to like stop and hide in the shade. But she was like, What the hell? Why'd you turn into like a super grandpa? Like it was I felt bad. She she kind of like take steps like in elegant, like look back and be like, what the fuck's wrong with him? Um but we made it around the block. Um and then I I I think I had to do it twice that night because it like by the time I went to bed, I was like, you probably should go one more time because I don't know when I'm gonna get up out of bed in the morning. Uh and I was like, I was optimistic going to bed that you know it would all be better in the morning. Uh and yeah, that didn't happen. I woke up and she it was it didn't actually okay. I mean it looked like swollen as hell, but it didn't look like too black and blue yet. But I was like, I can hardly put any weight on it. I really shouldn't have been. Uh and I ended up taking myself to the urgent care. I I had to like try every shoe though, because it was like my foot was so goddamn tender to the touch, like even like tickling it with a feather was like just sh excruciating. Um I had to, you know, really just get a spatula like those hormones where they're digging out a bullet to put on eventually just a pair of Uggs, like those fluffy Uggs. What are they? I don't know what they're called. Tasman maybe Tasmanian devil. I don't know. I don't I'm not up on my Ug. Ug model names. And that was the one that was like the loosest on me and that required less like stretching around the my swollen ass foot to get to get it on. Um I tried everything, like even some some slides, the Gucci slides, that that that wasn't working. It was too tender to the touch to even put those on. But I managed to get these on. I think it was maybe because these are like a balance of like snug but loose, because I think what hurts worse about the slides is like there was like a little bit of space when I take a step, it would like then retap that like super tender area. And that like that was that was worse. I think even though it was maybe like more painful wearing the tighter shoes, at least that or they're not even tight, but they're the the ones that I could actually get on. Um there's kind of like always a little bit of pressure on that sort of spot, so like I feel like your brain just kind of like forgets about the pain a little bit, but with the slides like you forget, and then you like move and you attach it, and you're like, oh fuck. And then so that that didn't work. So uh took the Uber to the urgent care, chilled there, did a bunch of x-rays. They I wasn't I really had no idea what was up at this point. I mean, I knew shit was bad. I was like, I didn't know what was the the worst part. I was kind of worried about like I think you got some like ankle ligaments and stuff and the ankle was what they did. I mean, they just did some x-rays, I guess. That was all they do. I don't know if they do anything too involved in urgent care, especially on like a Sunday afternoon. But they extra my ankle and my foot. Um, and they're like, yeah, that shit broke, or just the foot is at least. The ankle's all good, so I don't I don't know what's better, but I guess it's a common thing, like rolling your ankle really hard. It's like you got like the the fifth metatarsal, which I guess is like analogously on your hand to be like this part of your foot. Um when you roll it, and it's like I guess one of the tendons or ligaments. Which one? Which one connects bones? I think tendons, muscle? I think ligaments connect bones. So I think one of those. It could have been tendon, too. I don't know. Something when you roll really hard, it just you know really, really jerks your bone and took the top off the Maybach for real, for real. Um, and then they gave me this little boot, which is like, okay, sick. I walked out on that. That shit just still hurt like a bitch to walk in. That boot was horse shit. Uh and I was I was only surprised they didn't put me in crutches the way I was walking in there. Uh, and then I eventually, you know, got home, took the ride, got a ride back, and then like I saw the thing on like the chart thing online thing about my thing. Or remember like the doctor's not from that. It's like mildly mild limp or whatever, mild change in his walking, and I'm like, bro, did you not see like how bad I was hobbling? I guess I was really selling it, so kudos to me for I don't know what playing myself. I guess I was like not like excited about doing crutches, but I felt like I was like kind of starting to accept that this is this might be the new reality, at least for a short while. Uh and uh yeah, I hobbled out, but I I it was better than what anything else I had for shoes to walk in. It still hurt pretty fucking bad, but I was like, okay, we can do this. Um once I got back, took the dog for another little walk around the block. And each step hurt, but not as bad. And I was like, you know, I think as long as I keep moving and like keep call like this pain stays kind of steady, you kind of like can tone it out a little bit. So I just keep walking. It's like harder if you stop and start again. I don't I don't know if you can relate, but uh when you kind of like yeah, just stop and kind of forget about it and like start moving, and like, oh so long as I kept going, it's like okay, we can we can get through this. I can manage to walk my dog. I mean, I I'm shit out of luck, I don't got anyone to help, so I'm gonna have to, you know, suck it up and get this bitch out, make sure she's taken care of, get her potty breaks, because you know, single dad life, got that grind set. Um but also the night before when I was like kind of just in damage control, I tried to well I tried, I was hoping to get her that morning. I uh Amazon Prime, like a big old like walking boot. It seemed like a little bit overkill to me because it's like one of those big, like all around your ankle, like halfway up your shin. I was like, well, this seems overkill if it's just my foot. But I think it's got like a rounded bottom. So it's like it got delivered, and I was like, shit, I'll at least just try it on. And it was like a million times better walking. It still hurt, mind you though. It's like it didn't this didn't feel good, but it was a large improvement from anything else. So I guess it's like all all this pain is relative. Like compared to walking, it's still I mean, give me hot colds probably over that. But I was like, oh wow, this is sick. Okay, we're good, we're good. Um then I think I got like a referral to see the podiatrist. So I saw him maybe it was a I don't know, it was a week later, I don't know. It wasn't too long. I got into it quicker than I thought I might. Um, and then he just I don't even that was like a 30-second appointment. He's like, Yep, you fucked. Um just wear this boot and we'll check in a month. So I well, I I think it was like maybe like five or six weeks that my appointment was, but after like four weeks, I was like, okay, I'm gonna show this boot. Because at that point, did it really hurt to walk? I mean, although I don't know. I guess kind of going back to the relative stiff pain thing, and maybe there was some pain, but it was so much better than what it had been. Um the pain though, it was not I don't know. After a few days, it kind of like leveled out, but then I think after like a week, probably because I think the recommendations don't walk more than like five minutes at a time, but I was definitely probably going for like hour-long walks in the boot with the dog. I was like, you know, it's summertime. I don't want to just sit inside all day. So I think partially that, and I think too, when you're walking around, especially when it's like really broken and tender, I think I was like cranking, like like trying to like hold your like foot up like this. Like, oh no, I can't get it in the frame, but just like holding my foot like at like a 90-degree angle like this as walking, so it wasn't like moving at all like this. But that really like I think it made my top of my foot tend to my whole shin, they just like burned. So I like had like a six-pack on my shin after like a week, and it kind of hurt. My foot really looked real funky. It was pretty bizarre. Like I had like a ring of just like purple around it, but then it was just like just like an outline of my foot that was like purple and funky looking, but it it lasted for a few weeks. Um, then it kind of went away, and then I was like, okay, hopefully this is all good. And I was like walking around it for a month and got an x-ray, and it was still broken, still pretty broke broke. Um honestly, I was concerned. I'm like, oh dang, was I really fucking it by like walking on it when I first saw the the x-ray? Because the honestly, in the initial x-ray, right after I broke it, it was like, I mean, you could see small cracks. Like, I wouldn't have been that concerned about it if I were like looking at my own x-ray, um, my untrained medical ads, but I was like, you could you could see like these like small cracks in the bone, but on this like one after like five or six weeks, these were like big gaps in the bone, and they're like, okay, it's healing. And I'm like, what? This looks so much worse. There's like huge gaps, but I guess what happens. I was like, it was explained to me that like when you break it, I think like your body reabsorbs all like the jagged messed up bone in that area. Um, so you you kind of like lose that part on the x-ray, or like at least the calcium you you slurp back up into your blood. Um, and then eventually you like start building other stuff that's more temporary in between, and that's gotta kind of like you know, stiffen up, you know, get bricked and turn to bone eventually. So there's stuff in between it, and that's why it doesn't hurt to walk. But um, even though you can't see anything, it's still there's still something there that's holding it together, like it'd probably hurt if it was just totally flopping around, but it's not bone yet, so it's not like real stable stable solid. So I did go back to wearing the boot for a few more weeks, um, and then I ended up traveling home to see family, and then was on vacation in Hawaii, and I was like, nah, fuck it, I'm not wearing this big old boot. I brought the little one, the shitty one that they gave me at the urgent care, and not my not my Amazon big old boot. That was honestly so much better. I was like, I don't want to bring this to Hawaii. And I was like, you know, fuck it, even if it's like delays my healing, I'd rather, you know, be able to walk barefoot in the sand. Um, okay, that was probably not the wisest thing, but I was like, you know, if it sets me back a few weeks, I'd rather enjoy this time and then just, you know, be laid up for a little bit longer when I get back or not get back to running. Uh so I did that, came back in the fall, got another x-ray. Um, well, I I just got the x-ray because I guess I was supposed to get it when I get back, but then the homie was on vacation or something for two weeks, so I was like, whatever. Uh I don't care. Give it more time to, you know, heal. However, another x-ray I saw it. I'm like, oh, this looks no better. Uh it is slightly better, so it's it's still healing. But I think I need to be more careful. I don't have the boo yet. I was I did kind of uh I did put on the the Lil Boot in the week or two prior to kind of walking a little bit more. That shit hurts though. Like it's got these like ankle straps, not very well padded, so I was like, my foot and heel are gonna get are starting to get blistered as shit. And I was like, yeah, I don't want to wear this. And then he was kind of like at that appointment, he's like, uh, do you why are you walking in? Like a post up boot, I think that's what it's called. I'm like, this is the shit they gave me at the urgent care brody. The other one was like stuff I bought with my yo, my hard-earned moolah. I mean, the other one cost me like a dollar, I guess, after insurance. The other one was not cut covered because I just ordered off Amazon. I mean, maybe you can get reimbursed. I don't know how that works. Uh, but he was like, Yeah, uh, don't wear that. Well, he didn't say don't wear that one, but he like implied that I should be wearing the other one. Well, he said I should wear that one. He didn't flam the limit too hard, but I could definitely tell from his tone, like, why the hell are you wearing that? That ain't doing shit. Um however, I was hardly wearing that. I've hardly been wearing anything. Even in like Hawaii, I was doing way too much. Like, I mean, I definitely went on like there's definitely one day where I went on like a 10-mile walk in flip-flops. And maybe it was a little bit sort of for that. Sometimes sort of walking on the beach, but I'm like, it doesn't hurt hurt. At least I don't know. And maybe my tolerance, my threshold hurt hurt is too high. Uh so I'm should be getting back in the boot. I did have I left the big boot with my family because I was hoping I was like graduate from that, but they sent it. So it's on the way, so I might be returning to that for a little bit. I don't know. Like, I don't know how much it helps healing. So if there's you know any doctors out there, hit me up, tell me, give me, tell me to quit being a dumbass. Because I'll like the way I see it, it's like more of insurance at this point. Because like, it doesn't hurt walking around, but I guess maybe it just moving around so much when I'm walking lots. And I maybe it's just the fact that I'm like walking so much with my dog around. I definitely walk a few miles a day on my broken foot, just raw dogging it with nothing. I did also take a climbing class this week, which is also probably a pretty bold call, like jamming the shit and the things on the wall. That was fun. Maybe talk more about that later. But it's you know, I've been I've been living life, I just really haven't been running. That's the one thing. Okay, well, I I I gotta admit, I've gone like on some little like jogs up for a block when my my pup gets hyper. It's when she gets like a little pepner stip and crazy eyes. She does a cute thing where like her ears like get really cocked up and she wants to run, so we do a tiny bit here and there. And I must confess that I partake in the shenanigans, which I should not be doing, but I can't help it. But we'll see, we'll see. Um yeah, I just need to do better. Uh he talked about getting these things called like a bone stimulator. Honestly, if I came across this anywhere else, I think it's a little bit of some snake oil stuff. Like, I think it's just something that basically it's like a foot, a vibrator for your foot. Low-key. I mean, not like, you know, not like vibrator, vibrator, but it's like something you wrap around your foot and it like does some ultrasounds, ultras, yeah, ultrasound waves. And I think he told me it was like an hour, but I got called by these people that like do the delivery of it, and I think it's like you gotta wear it like three hours a day. So it's kind of a chore. Although they just Chaudi on the phone just told me people normally just wear it to bed. I'm like, okay, sick. Though um then they called me again today, and I don't even know what they were saying, but I think long story short, insurance like denied that. Um, so yeah. That you know, usual story. Uh this is I guess why Luigi went wild, but uh luckily this is my case is not that bad. I mean, I don't even know. I mean, I think it I feel skeptical of it a little bit of like how useful it is, but I was like, I mean, I'll try it. If you know you give it to me, sure, I'll sleep with the thing on my foot, foot let it buzz, see if it helps. I mean, I don't it's not gonna hurt, I don't think. But so I'm not I'm not too heartbroken that I'm not gonna get it. At least not for on the insurance time yet. I guess I think they said maybe at the next x-ray, if his things are still cooked, if it's still delayed healing or something, maybe they do it. I don't really know. I don't know how the process works. It's nothing about a diagnosis, and I'm like, what do you mean? The foot's broke. Could you I see? But you know, it is what it is. We'll see, we'll see. Um, I just need to be better and behave a little bit more. It's just hard. I'm like, kind of think of it. But the the the prospects of me uh running, you know, 2028 Olympics in uh LA are looking a little bit bleaker. Not that it ever looked anything but bleak, but you know, every once in a while I get crazy. I'm like, yo, what if I uh went in grind mode for like a year? And like because I used to run track in college and I kind of stopped, I kind of did some marathon stuff. And doing that, I kept breaking to well, okay. I guess it's been a a series of injuries. Well, I guess two main ones. This one's a little bit more prior. I I guess it was this summer before last a year ago. I was running. I I guess my goal was just uh to run the Boston marathon with some homies, so I needed to run the qualifying time to get into that marathon. And I was kind of doing some training. I was in good shape. Like I basically ran one like a marathon and just like a training run, like a workout. That I mean, it wasn't exactly as fast enough, but uh I did have to take a few emergency shifts on the run where like I stopped the time. So give or take, I mean, I was pretty confident, especially on this course that was gonna run, is like mostly downhill one. So I was like, okay, this should be easy to get the time. However, like two weeks out, okay. I mean, more just me being dumb. Like I went, I think actually it was one of the hard runs I did. My my hip was a little bit sore at the end of it. And then I was like, it felt a little bit off, like a little bit more painful. And I guess when I say a little bit more painful, that probably means it's pretty painful in reflection for me. However, that did not stop me from the next morning getting up at like also the thing is it was hot around here, and I was like waking up at like 3 45. I don't know if it's that early. I mean, I think I was starting some of the runs before five, so I mean 4 45 at the latest, but something had to early to get on these runs before it got really hot. And I was in pain, but that didn't stop me for just limping for like three hours on a run, like to go 20 more miles. And and I'm like, this feels pretty bad. And I'm like, well, I'm just gonna take a week off, and then you know, because the marathon two weeks is like I should be like the fitness should be there, so just making sure I'm healed up for that. And I was honestly, it would hurt pretty bad, even to walking around at that point, just like everything. And like a few days before the marathon, and like two weeks had gone by, I was like, I'm I can't run, like this hurts. I was like trying to like you know, gaslight myself and like this isn't hurt that bad. And I did, I think it was like two days before the marathon, I'm gonna come and try like a little baby run just to see. Because like I'll go try to run down the hill around my apartment. Um, because this this marathon's mostly downhill, and I was like, you know, it maybe just hurts going uphill or something. The muscles a little bit off, and it did not go well. Maybe like the first few steps, I'm like, okay, this isn't a bad then it hits you, and I'm like, oh gosh. And I was like stubborn. I had to look like a like a wounded gazelle around my apartment, just kind of like running up or like hobbling up this hill and like sadly like running down, like all like wonky because it hurt. And I was like, you know, maybe it's gotta warm up, and I kept trying it, and it kept getting worse and more ugly to see. And I'm like, then I eventually threw in the towel. And I just stopped running there. I think I was there was another one like a month a few weeks later, yeah. And then I was maybe like, okay, maybe I can do this one. But I was like, luckily I held off on signing up for this one because it did not get better by then. Um I was, I mean, I would have signed up, but marathons are kind of expensive as shit. Like it's like 150 bucks for a lot of them, especially if you're not signing up early. I was like, I don't want to throw that much bread on something that I'm not confident I can run. I don't know why it's so expensive, some of them. Like I guess there's the convenience of having like water at aid stations and setup course things, but sometimes it seems kind of tax. Although aid stations and gels are nice, I will say. I like underestimated how much easier like some nutrition makes running. I was, I mean, I not I was, I am still a head-ass, but I just did more head-ass things in the past where I just was like didn't not at all interested in trying gels. I think I tried a homies like running gel at one point. He like had a bunch, and I was like, I'll try one. I'm like, oh it tastes like ass. Um, however, I did a marathon for the first time probably the fall before that, and just kind of raw dogged on, and like not had anything. I did bring some uh those like take five candies. I'm like, well, I hate gels, but I'll have some candy. But it was like 40 degrees. That was like the high for the marathon, I mean, uh, that I ran. And so I mean, it was maybe in the 30s for most of it. I don't really remember. It was at an awful temperature where it was like really foggy and like around freezing, so there's some really sketch hills where it's like starting to get frosty, and I was like, I don't even know. Like, you could I don't I don't know what the phrase is, but something with I was clenching my asshole running down this hill because I was like, this is steep, and if I if I slip, I'm just gonna eat shit and have hella road rash, and that's not gonna go good. But apart from the ice, that being sketchy on the slippery things, and just even on the flats is scary when you have slick surfaces and you don't know what's what you might eat shit on. I tried, I was like getting hungry, which is not a good sign. Normally I don't get hungry at all. I think it's also part of why I like wasn't interested in jellous. Like, I got feel like I kind of have sensitive gut, so my tummy can get a little bit unhappy and a little bit hurdy uh eating stuff when I'm running. But I'm like, okay, shit, I'm hungry. I've been running hard though, like faster than a normal run because it was like the marathon, it's race day, it was game time, it was showtime, baby. Um, okay, shoot, I'll try to eat. But these take fives were rock hard. Although I looked real degenerate also because I had some like Shooter alcohol bottles that I filled up with like electrolytes and caffeine pills and made my own, like whatever uh homemade crackhead, you know, me half pots. Shout out Fortnite. But I popped those and slammed them. I probably looked people around me in the race were like, what is this guy doing? Uh, because it still had like the the the pink Whitney wrapper on these little shooter bottles, but you know, reduce reducer cycle, um you know, take care of the mama earth and whatnot. Although um I don't know. It was it's better than nothing, you know, uh, and repurposing it kind of those little bottles fit in my shorts nice. But I think it was like mile 22 or something, it was like the last uh the last stretch of this marathon. And it was like these last few miles are like uphill too when my legs are fried. I haven't like eaten anything. And then I think just like all of that adding up and the run, like on this just running straight uphill for the last few miles, my legs just started to like stop working and cramping up. And at one of them I stopped these eight stations, and I finally came like, okay, yeah, where are these gels at? Um, and I got this bop blueberry pomegranate or something like that, Huma gel. And that that was divine. I swear I busted at least a half now when that shit hit my tongue. Like, I don't know. Like, I think there was some bias of like how whatever depleted I was of everything at that point, but it was it was so good. Um, and then I ended up copying more of those and trying them around since I've tried to well like a few other just so those Huma ones, top tier gas, um in terms of flavor. There's like Huel, I think that's how I used to say it. Huel. It's like these like hydrogel ones. Those they don't taste as good, but those are top tier if you're like focused on like performance because they're kind of like a weird jelly texture. It's not quite one that like colds your mouth and stuff. It's harder to get down. It's kind of like like a jello in a tube. So it's kind of easy to do when you're running. That's sometimes the hard thing about I don't I have not gotten the form down, even those little cups. Like I try I have to like stop and snip it a little bit because normally if I try to keep running, I either like I A, it either just like dumps all over me, or B, I just choke on it and I'm just like coughing while I'm running. It's just like I shouldn't have had this little bit of water. How much what what is this bit of water gonna do for me in these little Dixie cups? Um but the the human ones work pretty good for that, they're just kind of expensive if you're trying to do it for training. So I did incorporate those in the training the following that, and it was a game changer, honestly, how much better I felt and like was able to run. Like normally, I mean, I think I thought it just felt normal like that after you run 20 miles um without eating anything, it was like I thought it was just part of running, or just I I assumed that you know once you run 20 miles, you start to get dizzy, and you kind of it's you kind of it's kind of a trip, like especially when I lived in Cali around LA. Like I go on some like summer runs when it's stupid hot. And then like, yo, the last after 20 miles is kind of a vibe. Like you could any any distance after that is kind of all the same because like you're so out of it. It's like you gotta you probably want to make sure you're in like familiar turf because it's like I feel like kind of like a blur. It's kind of like you know when you drive somewhere and you zone out and you're like, How did I get here? I don't remember that. That's how the running is after like mile 20 when you don't have anything, although it's not optimal for performance. Uh and then when I finish these runs, like I'll eat a shit ton, and then like I go, I go through it, man. I like I'll take a shower and then just like lay down for a few hours, and I feel like I get chills, and like uh my body goes through all sorts of stuff where I think it just got so drained dry, then it's like when I eat a bunch, then it's like it just has fuck everything else. We're going all in on digestion, the rest of the body can fuck off. We we gotta get that bread, um, we gotta get that money, and it doesn't feel that great. Like, there's some like high very, I don't know, big swings of like I feel like trash or like oh feel so good to be done, you know. The the endorphins maybe. I don't know when those hit the runners high. I'm not quite sure what that is. I mean, I guess I've had that probably at some point, but when I like incorporate gels, like if I had a few while running 20 miles, even though it's not that many calories, I'm like, wow, I like am not totally out of commission for a few hours after running. So like this is like this is like too easy. This is cheating. Um, although that does not factor in if you just fuck up your the rest of your body and muscles, anyways. Um, so I think where I left off before that tangent was I had been trying hoping to run these marathons, and then eventually just turned it to I was like, yeah, I'm not gonna because I think the like the cutoff was sometime in September for the marathons. And I was doing some travel, I was doing this like studying abroad thing to go to Morocco. Um, and I was like, Yeah, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna be in any condition to run a marathon. Or and if even if I am, I'm not sure I'm gonna be in the shape to run it fast enough. But so it was a little bit bummer. I mean, I wasn't too bum, but like actually, whatever. Well, we'll get him next time, boys. Uh anywho, I'm like hiking in Morocco to some like waterfall. Uh I don't even think we got the waterfall because it's like with uh my professor in Shahdi's got some like knee pain, so we weren't going far. But I was like walking, I'm like, my hip still kinda hurts. Even just like walking through all the cities, all the Medinas and the Souks, um, or like whenever I walked through this, like walked to like this like little building where we had some like language classes in the mornings. I was like, my hip still hurts pretty bad just walking, and it's been like two months at this point. So I figured it was I should probably get checked out. So I did talk to my parents, talked about getting like uh a doctor's point when I get back to the states, um, just to get checked out at least, see what's going on. And oh also, I don't know why this happened. We're like visiting one of the cities in Morocco, I forget, and my one of my Arabic teachers, shout out Khadijah. She I don't know, she was like, why this was she's like race me, Kellen, and I'm like, okay. Um I'm like, whatever. I was like, she wants to smoke. Um, she did have wheels though, I will say, shout out her. She she was faster than I expected. Like, she was she was really going for it. I thought we were just gonna do like a little like run. And I started out, it was fine. I'm like, oh, this isn't so bad. Um, I mean, I got the dub barely though. Like, she made me work for a little more than I expected. But after that, it really fucking hurt. I'm like, okay, this is not good. I'm not doing any more running. Or playing, oh, we did play volleyball on the beach with some of my boys, but I'm like, on some of these times to run for the ball, I'm like, oh, that really hurt. This is not good. It's been two months, so why does it still hurt this bad? I haven't like not been running, although I guess just being active on it at that point for a while. Um, and then eventually, whenever get back, get back to the good old USMA, have my doctor's appointment. I mean, the first one with I don't know, some more I don't think it was an orthopedic doctor. Well, I guess maybe like an orthopedic PA. I don't know. Chauddy just like whipped my hip around, made me do things, and like nothing hurt, like just moving it around. So it's a good sign that I didn't have like something torn, but then they did have an MRI and I had a fucking broken femur or like a stress fracture, and maybe a torn labrum. And they were like, oh yeah, you should you should probably be in crutches for the next month. And I'm like, oh hell not. At that point, it didn't hurt to walk anymore. I was like, I've been walking on this for now for like three months at this point, and it has improved. Maybe not a lot, but it's improved, so I was like, I don't I do not want to be like crutch handicapped for like a month and a half. I think there's like six weeks they said maybe what they recommended. I'm like, yeah, miss me with that bullshit dog. I mean, I guess I mean well, apart from just the whole hassle of all that, like also the logistics of having a dog and like being the only one. Like, I guess I could have left her at home with my parents temporarily, but then I'd have to like figure out getting her cross-country again. And that was like, even all that is how I'd I'd miss my shoddy, my main beach. Um, and I was like, uh, I'll figure it out, I'll just behave. And I did, I was careful. Like, I just I did cut back a lot of my walking and whatever. Um, and then eventually, I guess it was like the Christmas break, and saw the doctors, and they're like, okay, I mean, your bones should be good at this point if you're not running. And the labrum thing, I think basically what they said is that if it's not causing problems, and they didn't really think it was, and they weren't even super convinced it was torn, maybe. I think it was maybe a little bit of question. Um, they didn't want any surgery. I'm like, okay, sick. Because I was also kind of dreading that. I was like, that would definitely put me in crutches. I have to get like some labrum surgery on my hip. So I avoided that. So I was actually pretty hyped about that. Um, but I still kind of laid low for a while. Um, and then it was kind of starting again that spring is where I started ramping up for uh, or I guess that was this past spring where I've started uh running more again. Although, in short order for running up, my hips are hurt bad again. Quite similarly in the same ways. Now I was like, oh no, is my labor is totally cooked? I was kind of reading about it and seeing like lots of things where there's like and the one thing the doc said too is like it might be as many as like 20% of people have torn lab rooms and don't even know it if they just like grabbed the Rachati off the street and threw her an MRI. Um and then reading things is like a lot of times uh people get the surgery and it doesn't really make things better, or people have no problems and they have torn lab rooms if they like do scans of them. So it doesn't seem like surgery was like the greatest option. And like a lot of things what I've seen were like and I'd have experience with this. A lot of things is just like sort of rehab exercises. Like the biggest thing I think I've learned in running from all sorts of weird aches and pains is you can never have too much cake, like those glutes are never gonna be too strong. Like a lot of times you have like there's like all sorts of like weird little muscles, especially like the glute medius and minimus, I think are them, kind of like higher up on you butt cheeks, kind of by your hip. If those get weak, like all sorts of funky stuff happens. I've had some like really bad knee pain in the pain in the past, and it's kind of like from your IT band, but I think at the end of the day, what it is is like a weak glute muscle, like one of those. And like you try everything else, like massaging your your IT band and like try to do stretches, but never goes away. But then the second like you do some like uh booty work, it's like crazy how much a difference that makes and how quick it works. So I was like, okay, I should try this. So the biggest thing is like, well, I guess like some like weird hip raises and things like that to like kind of target these, and some loop bridges where you're just laying on the laying flat on your back in the ground and just you doing doing air humps, you know, practicing that stroke game from the bottom, you know, learn how to treat cowgirl right, you know, you know. Uh but that miraculously like made things feel really much better and such shorter. That was kind of insane. So do your glute bridges, gang. Anyways, that was great. I was running. Um, things were going well until I just totally fucked my foot. And that's that's where we're at. So yeah. Like 2028 not looking so hot. I don't that that's kind of me being a crackhead, or I don't even know, just high in the sky thoughts. Like sometimes I get like hype, you know. You know how you have those like random, like I'm him moments later tonight where you're walking around, you just get hyper for no reason to have like excessive self-confidence. You just feel like you that motherfucker, you know, you know, normally it requires me blasting some demo and you know, dancing with my dog. But you know, it's one of those like think about, you know, could I could I, you know, run track more, do some racing around here and marathon stuff. I feel like I kept fucking myself. Maybe this was also influenced, I should add, by a few months prior. This is actually a crazy story. I downloaded Tinder and I was swiping and got some match from I mean, it was there was nothing that crazy. It was just some chicks seemed like she was running like into running from a profile, which is all the green flag for me, and seemed I mean I think a lot of times my problem, I guess, at this point was like I mean in general, like I feel like for me to actually feel attracted to a shoddy in terms of I mean, more than just like thinking like shoddy's fine, looks good, she's hot, like I always think that but I should like kind of be more pulled in. I feel like I normally have to like ha know more about a person or like like their vibe, you know, to be more interested in more than, you know, something that like you'd have a longer desire that would last, you know, through the post-not clarity, you know, you know, where it's like uh if you're my clear head, I'm like, no, I have no interest. But from the profile, which is saying nothing. It just seemed like she seemed cute and entertaining. But this is the point too where like it just I mean, I don't know if y'all played around it that much. Where I at this point I like just downloaded it and it was like one of the first few matches I got, and we're like, oh wow, and like you're like care more about what like when that happens, and you don't realize like before you realize how uh little any of them like ever amount to anything, like most of them you just go nowhere, send a message, and maybe they'll just respond, maybe not. Or if they do, if it usually dies out. Not a lot happens, at least in my case. Maybe I gotta you know get the riz up. But I was it was like doing a little bit of like a creeping on a shoddy because I cared more at this point, like seeing like oh what I don't know, a little bit creepy, I will admit, but it was I I don't know, I'm past that anyway. I typed in from her profiles, like sometimes try to find more about the shoddies, you know, when you're curious, you know, when you're crashing on someone like, oh, what's more? What is this person? And I typed in the most basic Google search, not like expecting computing. Sometimes, like, if there's more information or profiles, like you can find something, but it was just her like basic first name, and she said like uh like Australian Irish. I typed that up, and Wikipedia blew up, and I'm like, oh okay, whatever, someone must have these things. And uh it turns out it was her shoddy had I'm pretty sure her on Wikipedia and whatnot. Um turns out Shadi ran at the goddamn Olympics. So your boy fumbled in Olympian. Although I don't even note that I fumbled because nothing ever there was legit no interaction. That was just a trip realizing, whoa, this this chick actually ran in Paris. And and I pulled up the gram and found out. I mean, this was uh you know, really, really got spoke to my heart. She had like a post about it and a like post of her running at it, and the the the IG music, the beat that she had was The Fellows in Paris by you know Kanye G, Jay-Z. And I was like, oh damn, damn. Made me made me feel harder, but it didn't go anywhere. I tried some like head-as banter line. I think there was something about hating slow walkers, even though I feel like normally I'm actually not a slow walker, but I was like, you know, just trying to get be bantery on the on the DMs. And there's never a response. And then I went to like some headass strategy that has not panned out. Maybe, maybe it will. I never continue this, or I never resolved this where I like over it's it was over like several months where like, you know, maybe we started off like every few days, then every couple days, I was like writing out a story of emojis where I think it was like like a kangaroo and a turtle are like racing, and then an egg falls into their path, the turtle stops in time, the kangaroo just obliterates that thing, and then um the the turtle one well, I guess the the mom bird comes back and finds the one egg, and then you know, pulls it up on the kangaroo, hits it with all the smoke, uh, R.A.P. kangaroo. But the turtle, where it is stopped and saved the egg, uh joined the bird again, joined the bird army, and I don't think I ever went further than that. I don't know what happened, just that egg hatched. But I just wrote this out in exclusively emojis because I was like, I can't be like double text anymore, and that's like over a few months. I thought it was entertaining. It's probably in hindsight pretty head-ass, one of the more head-ass things I've done. Actually, no, it's not. I wish that was one of the more head-ass things I've done. I've done so much Stuitchia, but besides the point, I think it's still there. I don't I feel like I checked at one point to see, and I think it's that she's still like three miles away, which I don't think so, because I think she like lives not in the US, so I think it's just either been deleted or never opened. So maybe maybe someday she'll open this masterpiece and you know come calling. Not optimistic, but that's that. But that gave me like more, you know, running motivation. I was like, she can run faster track times than me. I'm like, damn. That's like my goal is like, yo, I just gotta be as fast, you know. Not not looking good at the moment. I I'm still I'm still broken. But that was that was an interesting trip. Maybe it gave you extra motivation. Um, so we're here. We'll see, we'll see. Especially I was I was kind of hyped to like lock in for the summer. Like I was like, I should do more like weight training for running. I really don't ever do any like actual lifting stuff like in the gym. I kind of just do like a sort of like caldenic-y work. Is that what it's called? Like where it's like just your own body weight. I guess I had some weights where I do like some like glute things. Uh, what is it called? There's a Bulgarian split squash. Those things torch your ass. Like, hit it like no other. And I also bought um one of those big uh hex bars for deadlifting and like a bunch of like 55-pound plates that I just like loaded up and put on my my balcony. Luckily, my balcony is like concrete, so it like holds them. But I was like, I'm gonna do get locked in on this, and we're gonna yo get the booty right, um, do all those hip exercises so that my hip don't bother me. And I was like gonna try to join subtract club, do some races, but we didn't now make it far into the summer. Like by the time I got all of that, I was like starting to do everything, and then just rip cracked my foot. That was kind of got stopped dead in the water. I mean, we still got time, you know. Who knows? Who knows what will happen? When is it? So it's 2020. It's only 2025, it's 2028. There's a lot that's good to happen. I mean, I'm washed though, washed as hell. Although I will say it is impressive how much just walking like maintains your fitness. Like, I mean, walking with my dog, and I guess in a big city, I feel like you just like walk a lot more like for commuting without taking like the train and stuff. I don't really take the bus, but mostly train, like going to and from campus, things like that. Because I feel like, especially in the past few years, I guess it's been holy sheesh. It's been at least three years since I've actually like really raced college like competitively. Um, and there's been like long periods of time where it's been like a few months where I haven't really done a proper run and go for one. I mean, you still feel like ass, but on the first one, but it's like only like a few where I'm like really like my lungs hurt just breathing, not even just like spillwinded. There's like I don't I don't know what what parts of you toughen up to kind of make all that better, but it's I've been amazed at like relatively how short that phase lasted, like how quick I can like be running again and like in shape, even though I haven't been running. And I think it's legit just from walking. Because I know even in like when I was like racing more and like running more competitively, if I I was a little bit more lazy in my like off periods where I like didn't run for a few months, especially during like the pandemic and COVID, like when I stopped and like ran for the few time, like how did I ever get good at this? Like, how did I just hate existing right now because everything just hurts, breathing hurts, your legs hurt, everything just it's not a good time. But walking, I mean, that's the only thing that I can think of that's changed. And I do walk a few miles a day, and it's not always that fast, honestly, because like sometimes the dog wants to sniff around and you know, get shenanigans. We walk a little bit more brisk in the winter when she will walk brisk, but she's pretty lazy in like anything, not even anything not cool weathered. Especially even if it's cool weather, the sun comes out, she gets she got a big black fluffy coat, and I think it's toasty quick, and she gets hot and lazy. So most of our walks are not just not not at all uh you know an aerobic challenge or a good you know workout. Like it's not even like my my heart's really pumping. I don't got my heart saying saying thank you. That's what my my mom you're supposed to always say when I was like little and be like going for walks with them and be like, what the hell, mom? This hill's too big. She's like, nope, your heart's saying thank you, thank you, thank you. That's what I'm saying when you hear your your heart pounded in your chest. So I don't got that even on the locks. Um that's how she know, you know, talks into fitness. Well, not really. She wasn't trying to, it was legit just like the most basic walks, but you know, it's just like little and you know, like to whine. But not even that. And walking or running, even without much like training, it's so I feel like I've like retained much more fitness because of that, or some like board baseline. I mean, I don't I'm guessing it's like based on the prior work. Like I don't think just walking you'd get good at running, but like if you had some like built-ups at some point and then keep walking in your off times, it can't maintain cardio. There's probably research on it. I don't know. But if there's an expert out there, let me know. Let me know what the the best ride is. And also the best ways to heal a bone. I've been like abusing like calcium pills. I mean, I don't think I've been abusing, but I've been grinding like some calcium pills or calcium gummies, trying to make sure I get a bunch. Um, because I'm not I mean I feel like I don't know how a grim of a diet is of calcium. I don't know what you really get it at. I mean, I always tell you like milk as a kid, like go drink your milk so you get strong bones and whatnot. But I feel that, especially not at home in the Midwest, like it was normal to have like milk with every meal, that's just what you'd be sipping on, but living on my own, especially just solo, no low. I don't ever go through a gallon of milk, at least not regularly on my own, so it's like I don't always want to buy it and don't always want to drink it, so I feel like I probably could be lacking a little bit in the calcium. And I feel like there's like times I was like paranoid about things being broken, so I was like, I'm just gonna slam the calcium so you know have big strong bones. Um but now I'm trying to make some new bone. It's not maybe that's the one thing that's making progress. Maybe on top of my just not babying the foot. Uh having a little bit of calcium is helping it actually do something. So I'm I'm sticking on the calcium grind set. But if there's any other any things I should be you know taking, is there any other bone boosters? Is there bone steroids I can take to get thick bones? Although I don't know. I feel like if you got really thick bones, it'll make you heavy and harder to run. That's actually a big thing, too. I know like I feel like it was my freshman year uh of like college, and I was like, for whatever reason, I kind of this is like the only time I've ever like tried to be in the gym more than like I guess the the gym lifting that we had to do for like tracking cross country, which is like twice a week for like 20 minutes do some like lifts and pull-ups. I remember the first time I did that, I was like, I'd never done a pull-up before. I had to use so many bands to like do the saddest pathetic pull-ups. I now I can't do them, but it was a long road. Um, but then I was like, I wanted to do some, you know, I was trying to, you know, get that aesthetic build. Actually, I didn't even know, I just wanted to get strong. And I mean I think I did get strong pretty quick, but I mean it probably wasn't almost a lot. But I feel like what I was able to lift in short order, just like doing all these like machines in the gym at home over a few months, like went up very quickly. Although I feel like I put on a lot of weight in short order. I mean, not I it wasn't crazy, but I probably put on at least 10, somewhere between like 10 to 20 pounds, and then like starting the track practice in the winter with like that weight difference felt god awful. I was like, okay, never again. No, this is not worth so shout out to those like whatever hybrid athletes that do lift a lot, and there's like pretty big dudes running. I mean, they're not like big dudes, but there's like there's like a lot of mess, and I mean I guess as far as like cross-country runners go, like I was like by far like the the biggest dude on the team. Not that I was like a jacked or anything, but uh just your your typical cross-country build is not mine. But maybe, maybe if I you know slim down, I'd be like real aerodynamic. Maybe I just got that I got that big frame, but I got that that V12 under the hood. So if I you know, you know, strip down, uh could really really go zoom. But that's this is all hypothetical or whatever the word is. We to be determined if I've ever in one piece um and start to run. Maybe, maybe, maybe you'll you'll see me, you know, twerking on the ops at the Olympic Games in LA. That'd be that'd be sick. That'd honestly maybe I don't know. I it would be sick to like try to go. I just at least I'd be content if I made it to the the trials. I mean, actually, because like what I'd want, I mean, what I would what I would want to and would like the my best shot would be at uh 800. But uh the US got some speedy 800 dudes. Um so you know, it's fun to daydream, but not very practical. But even just do the trials. That that actually be a big goal. Maybe I will. I don't know. We'll see where I'm at in life and see if my foot heals. Maybe lock, try to lock in for the third time in a row, third summer, and pray to God that we don't break something this time. Don't got a good track record. Um I've just got to stay maybe stand calcium every time. Um take care of everything everything else, eat right, sleep. Sleep, I think, is also important. Well, okay, I know it is important. I mean, I guess what I'm saying is that I don't know if I was also sleeping enough in some of these times. Cause I didn't have like AC in the summer as I was waking up. I mean, okay, the foot one I feel was a fluke. I feel like this summer was just shitty bad luck. I feel like this summer before that, there were things I was maybe not doing so great. And I mean, I probably wasn't making every decision great, but this is the first time it's like been like a traumatic break, as opposed to like something where you just like my prior injuries injuries have just been like, you know, going a little bit too head-ass um and really ramping stuff up and not uh having the I guess like building up your body for it, like because like there's like all sorts of things where like you gotta even if you aerobically can, because it's kind of insane, honestly, when I run, it's like after a few weeks, at least with the base that I've probably built over the years or whatever. I mean, I think the analogy is that like one of my specific coaches that shout out to him was he'd be like, you know, and I think it's like even any any other like physical exercise in general, even like lifting, it's like once you blow up the blunt once and kind of you know stretch that hole out, it's easier to re-inflate later. But I think like after like a few weeks of running, if it's not at like a super fast pace, just a comfortable pace, I feel like quickly it can run for like hours without like being like out of breath or winded, it's just I just like run until like I like legit my leg muscles are like fried and they don't want to move anymore. But even though you aerobically can do that, if you haven't been running, like the all the running kind of like strengthens your bones. So if you just like really hit the gas on that without too much buildup, you just can you know wear stuff down and break stuff out. But I've been able to do some like head-as stuff in past summers. I think like the most I run at one point. I mean, I think in particular this was especially stupid because I had like hardly run anything before it, maybe a few like 30 miles a week, and then maybe like 160, and then I like at one point did just raw dog 130 miles in a week. I think I remember looking at the Strava for that week, and it was like I'd been running like 18, 19 hours. hours of the whole week. It's it's fun. It's it's a good time, but running that much, like the people that do like ultras, I don't I just don't know how you have a life because it's like it it consumes everything. There's like even like just the the boring shit of it. Legit shit actually like when I run even though it's like okay sure it's 18 hours do the meth it's like two plus a day. So like you know there's lots of time left in the day. But you gotta sleep so much if you want to stay healthy doing that. Like I there are times where I probably didn't sleep as much but then like even timing it like eating and you gotta eat so much I would like have to be like making myself like every meal eat till like I like felt sick and I'd still be like shedding weight running that much. But it's like I'm trying to eat these like fat turkey sandwiches where like just buy a pack of turkey and just put it between bread with a bunch of cream cheese. That was one of the more headache things that I do. A lot of the a lot of the meals I eat are kind of a little bit out there but that's like you know we chunk your stuff down but time and like trying to eat enough or drink enough I would like definitely blew some racks at uh Target buying juices one time. It was like I'd run like I don't know probably like it was probably a day where I like ran like 20 miles and it was like one of the weeks in LA it was like 100 degrees and I was like super dehydrated going to Target and I like basically I like deadass was like just on the shelf of like body armor just slid into my car because I was just like totally fried at that point and just didn't give a shit and I was like yo I want this and then bought like a bunch of juice I think I legit just spent a hundred dollars on just drank alone and when I was doing that some guy's like if you good you you run or something I don't even know what he said but it was I like turned around like I thought it was a long day out when I like slided onto the cart and I turned and there's this guy just like giving me like the the look and I'm like mind your business G but this this tells you to run that much and I like I do like okay that's probably my favorite running my favorite okay my favorite running is just do like like last like long vibey miles you know in pretty places but I really do not love racing long distances. I really love racing like short track races like 800 um but also then on the flip side I fucking hate those workouts I mean okay that's like maybe strong way to put it but like those ones are just so brutal when you're doing like 400 meter repeats. I know there's like this one my freshman year track uh I think it was just like basically an all-out 400 and then you had like seven minutes of rest where it's and like at that point it's like that's like a long break for like an aerobic thing but it's not even aerobic it's legit for your muscles because like you're fine after a few minutes um then it was like 350 and then 300 so I did the 400 and the 350 and like my ass was feeling it and as Tom came to do the 300 or whatever the next seven minutes and I started and I tried to like push off I just felt so tight and then I just legit just ate shit face blinded um my legs just like weren't gonna move there like my booty was not having it and then like my coach just walks up and he's like oh you got got by the good old booty lock and I'm like uh is that what you call it I mean that's a very fitting name because it's like your whole ass cheek just like a lockup and they don't want to move and I guess booty lock is the term and it's it's pretty uh apropos or fitting. Is that what apropos means? I don't know. Big word photosynthesis. I'm not sure I think it might be it's it's kind of fun to say apropos Edgar Allen apropos um but yeah so we'll see we'll see um lots lots of grinding to do well kind of the opposite grinding at the moment bone building you don't want to grind that down and spin ground down enough it's got a ways to go uh got another extra in a few weeks hopefully it's all cleared up by then all looking better all looking spickin' span sturdy and strong and then we can't get back to the lab or well the streets you know running the streets I don't know how people do like the the cross training. I did just well I you know bootlegged a bike some like road bike that hopefully I'll be using more um it was my dad's that I don't think he ever I know actually for a fact he never rode it once because it still had all like the stickers and tags and like some like cardboard things in the pedals that like would not like last a bike ride. And one of these motherfucking stickers said it was from 2006. So that's actually been just hanging out in the garage for dead ass 20 years. Seems like a nice bike but yeah I guess 19 years has just been sitting there so it's it's fine. And he's not gonna he's not gonna take it out now for a spin. So he was happy I bootlegged it. I haven't actually taken it for a spin yet but I'll maybe try to since I'm gonna be you know hung up with the the bump foot for a little bit longer. But I don't I don't want to do any other I mean I guess I was more referring to like some like treadmill stuff. I don't I despise treadmills I will I will run in anything outside I will suffer I mean in Minnesota winter's running out there uh that anything indoors probably better you go through some stuff like the air is just so brutal and like I sound like I smoke a pack a day I feel like the first run I do in cold uh winter air there like your lungs are just fried but then they do toughen up. So it's probably I don't know I mean I don't know if it really hurts you. It's probably not benefit but it's just at least for me mentally easier than a treadmill. Although I wonder if like a treadmill is like in some sense is nicer because I know some people like swear by running under and hate pavement. I kind of myself like pavement um at least you I like that you get better traction sometimes I get like annoyed running on gravel and stuff when you like you feel yourself like slipping around and you know like when you're pushing off each step you're like not getting the all the gas out of that out of that step you're not getting the full giddy up going like because you're trying to run fast but then these steps you're just slipping the sliding um but I guess if you're running like uh lots and lots some people say it's much harder or much at least well it's like a lot better to run on dirt and things like that. Which I mean I do believe I just you know like you know need for speed but because if you have some more cool to run that helps under um so I guess some of the things I have are maybe like contradictory because I feel like probably some other dirt trails are more pretty if you're running on that but sometimes you know I'm I'm a fan of concrete you know put me on the track maybe run on like a just give NASCAR track. I've done some like headass track runs where I'm I'm pretty sure I've done at least 15 miles on the track if not 20. So what is that 60 laps? I don't know if there's I did 69 at one point. I maybe did that just for the meme. There was a time where um I got some I told some girl on the track team that she was running with me I was like I got a new route and I did uh a route that was basically a big old dick bust in a load um and like it was required some like total like 180s on the run and like on like the last one Shadi was so pissed like why are we just stopping? I don't know. She was like a little bit high strung at that point. Uh and then I don't know if it made it better at the end or worse when she got back as honor strive that she just had a a a big old busting uh schlong on her on her feed but it it was worth it so I was I was an artist for the day it was kind of a fun route to plan out um it was it was entertaining to to do some like just like run straight up a road we know when we were working on the the cum shot part of the the masterpiece and then just 180 back and some uh you know our other arcs we did that uh but it did it turned out pretty well I will say it was it was it's got to be up there I feel like I've seen some pretty intricate ones though as of recently this was about this maybe was five years ago almost at this point. That's making me feel old. But maybe I'll have to get back to someraba art. So if you have any other suggestions for other masterpieces you'd like to see maybe once I'm uh back at it back in the saddle as they say I'll have to uh get that whipping up some masterpieces go hard in the paint without paint you know you know but I think that's all I got for now um hope y'all take care and you know we'll be back with more shenanigans and shit I've been up to and hopefully a little bit more bone but for now peace peace