Temporary Hiatus

I haven't blogged in about two to three weeks and honestly, I did and I did not miss it. I missed the creative and social aspect of it, but it also felt kind of nice to get myself away from the computer for a while. Anyway, I thought I would get back into things by giving an update on what's going on in my life and how these last few weeks have unfolded.

Let's get started:
About 2.5-3 weeks ago I was doing one of my usual Fitness Blender workouts (barefoot, as per usual), and I was doing a move where I pivot and push off from one foot to the next. At one point when I pushed off my right foot, I kind of felt something "give." It hurt pretty bad, but I toughed it out and finished up my workout just taking it a bit easy.

The next day I went to go for my regular run, but my foot was still so sore that I only ended up doing about 2.5 kms and was moving very lightly on my foot. Again, I figured I probably just strained something, maybe pulled a muscle, nothing major to be worried about.

I took it easy for a few days. I walked down to the beach with a couple friends and had dinner at the boathouse one night. Mark and I also had friends over for some boardgames., and another night we had some friends over for a campfire where we were able to bond a bit more with our upstairs landlord as well (we are so lucky they are so easy-going). Our landlord ended up telling us about a hidden gem which was that there is actually a fully fenced dog park only about a 5 minute walk from our house just across the street and past the playground. We already knew about Dogwood dog park which is about a 6 minute drive, but this other dog park is only a 5 minute walk so it's even more convenient. Obviously Mark and I checked it out the next day, and although it's only a small one, it's almost all in the shade and has a neat little doggy fountain so it's a perfect little spot to go.

(New dog park)

This then brings us to the last Sunday of June, we headed to Buntzen Lake to meet up with some of our volleyball friends. Unfortunately, our friends that got there first told us that the main parking was full so if we wanted to go there we were going to have to pay for parking and do a 45 minute walk from where we would be able to park. Obviously none of us were interested in this since we were aiming for a fun relaxing day by the lake (plus my foot was still totally acting up - I had it tensor wrapped), so we decided to slightly change route and head to Alouette Lake instead. While Mark and I were on our way my car decided to overheat. We pulled off the road (where we got the lovely view of a deer chewing some grass in someones front yard - not even the littlest bit bothered by our car pulling up) and filled the radiator with almost 7 litres of water. 

(car overheating)

(Mark trying to rescue my car)

(Wild deer in the neighbourhood)

The gang at Alouette Lake

We drove the rest of the way with the heat cranked to try to pull the heat away from the engine. We were drenched in sweat but we made it to the lake and had a blast. On our way back from the lake we ended up stopping at some beach volleyball courts at The Ranch (p.s. did I mention my foot was still bothering me - at this point I was icing it every morning and wrapping it during the day time to help take some pressure off of it.)

(Mark serving)

(Me and matt waiting to receive a ball)

The day after the lake, I swaped cars with my Dad so that he could check out my car (he was an automotive mechanic for years so I'm spoiled rotten). I worked a couple of days in the meantime (yes, my foot was still killing me), but not much exciting happened.


On July 1, Canada Day, we played in Cambie Sports annual SalmonFest Grass Reverse 4s Volleyball Tournament. Dustin put on a great tourny, as per usual, and had a record breaking 75 teams this year! It was a long, hot day, but we had so much fun! I played the first game in barefeet (my preference for grass), but my foot was in so much pain, that I eventually had to put shoes on so that I had the extra support. During either our second or third game (I can't remember exactly anymore), Mark managed to get one of the ropes holding the net in place, caught between his toes while runnning, and kept on running so the rope yanked his toe sideways. It bruised and swelled instantly, but he trucked along and played the entire rest of the day. The two of us were quite the pair, both sore right feet, limping around the fields, trading off with ice and tape. We ended up fnishing 2nd place in the AA pool. Not to shabby.

AA Second Place Winners
(From left to right: Matt, Sarah, Dustin (tournament host), Me, & Mark)

(Kyle and Mark, new best buds)

(Long time friends - from left to right: Sarah, me, Jess)

The next day when Mark woke up, we checked out his toe and he could barely move it so we decided to go get him looked at by a Doctor. Why not take advantage of working in a hospital and having an "in."  We were in and out of the hospital in a total of 2.5 hrs. Mark got x-rays and sure enough his toe was broken. I considered getting my foot checked as well since it was so sore while playing the day before (there were moments when I was almost in tears), but considering mine was barely swollen and not bruised at all (especially in comparison to Mark's) I figured there was no way mine was broken, so I didn't want to make a fuss about my pain.

(Mark's broken toe)

Mark took the day off work, iced his toe a bunch. We swapped cars back with my dad (he had it all fixed up and in working order), so all I had left to do was have a nap before work. That night when I went to work, I finally decided that if it was convenient in the morning I would try to find a radiologist to order me an x-ray so I could once and for all confirm that I had nothing to worry about with my foot. By this time it had been about a week and a half since I initially hurt my foot. Sure enough I got myself x-rayed (by a fellow tech of course) and she just laughed at me. Yep, it's broken. Turns out I have an oblique, non-displaced fracture of my 3rd metatarsal. The radiologist was super helpful and called over to the ortho department and they snuck me in right away. They gave me and aircast (thank goodness so I can take it on and off as I please) and I'm on orders for no "high-imapct" for 3 months. Obviously that's not going to happen since I already did a workout, a run, and played 8 hrs in a volleyball tournament on it, but obviously I need to take it easy for a bit (at least 4-6 weeks until the bone fully heals).

(Constantly icing and elevating my broken foot)

Since Mark and I have received our diagnosis (what are the chances we are both broken at the same time), we have been going crazy just sitting at home. Sure we still hobble over to the dog park because obviously Captain needs his exercise, but, we haven't done any of our usual walks, no volleyball, no runs for me or workouts. I haven't even been able to work on my headstand because the pressure on my toes going up and coming down is too much of a strain. We are both just going stir crazy, and getting so restless. It's going to be a tough few weeks for us active people to get through.

So, even though I have worked my butt off for a little over four solid months and managed to lose 5lbs, it's only been a little over a week of limited activity and I'm already gaining it all back. Total bummer, but oh well, at least I know I can lose the weight. Also, I feel like it's too risky to practice my headstand right now, so I'm definitely going to lose a lot of progress, and there's no chance I'm going to start working on my handstand yet, again, total bummer.

Finally, last but not least, I chopped all my hair off this week too. I was really eager to do it, but now that I have done it, I'm not feeling thrilled about it. I thought it was going to be totally short and edgy....but I just feel kind of bleh about it. I've received a few compliments about it, but I think it's just people trying to be nice, not honest.

(New haircut: Straight vs. wavy)

So there you have it folks, my recap for the last few weeks while I was MIA. Honestly I don't know how much I will continue to post over the next couple weeks cause I'm feeling totally depressed with this lack of physical activity,, but I also might end up posting a ton because I'll be bored out of my mind and I'm pretty much house bound since even just plain walking still hurts me. Who knows how the next few weeks is going to unfold.

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying this summer weather, we really have been so lucky! How have your last few weeks unfolded?
-Linds