On Monday I decided that I would try going to yoga after giving my injured toe a few day’s rest. I buddy-taped it up real tightly and headed over to the YMCA. I was kind of apprehensive as it definitely doesn’t feel good when I put any pressure on the toe and it is still very black and blue. As anyone who does yoga knows, the class is done barefoot so its not like I could use my shoes for extra support.
I dreaded the first downward facing dog followed by the plank, but thankfully all was okay. There was some discomfort during the chaturanga vinyasa during the upward facing dog portion, when the top of my foot was on the mat. I made it work though. After class, I made sure to wear sturdy shoes the rest of the day to give my foot/toes good support and it seemed to be okay.
Since I did so well at yoga, I decided that I’d take a run on Tuesday. Because of the weather the previous week and taking off on Sunday because of my toe injury, it had been an entire week of no running. I was definitely worried going into my run, but I didn’t see too much difference from my recent runs prior to my toe injury. My average pace was a little slow – 13:08 and I was just shy of 3 miles (2.96 actually) around Memorial Park, but I did it. I think that I actually went out too fast on my first mile (pace 12:23) and then I slowed down later. But when you consider that I walked briefly once and then stopped for water, I’m very happy with my run. I’m trying to keep at or below 13 minutes per mile and my goal is to get closer to 12 minutes in the next month. Thursday’s run ought to be back to normal, I hope.
My toe is still black and blue but I think that the bruise is receding. I’m keeping it taped all day only taking the tape off when I shower so I’m not in any pain. I want to continue working out doing both yoga and running, so I’m trying to be careful when I’m not exercising.
As I get more “experienced in age” it certainly is more difficult bouncing back from an injury. I keep telling myself that if I can run with a broken rib, as I did when I first decided to run, I can run with a “broken” toe – although I’m not even sure that it IS broken…oh well.
