10 Things I Wish Didn't Happen but Did...

10.  Too much, too fast, too hard, too soon....
9.  Running through 'shin splints' which actually was a stress fracture in my left tibia (Feb 2009)
8. Continuing to run on the stress fracture until my tibia fractured (late Feb 2009)
7. Hobbling around the district on crutches and in a walking boot...for 12 weeks
6. Getting hit by a large shard of glass in my left calf on rainy Memorial Day at Trader Joes and finding out (13 stitches later) I needed to take a few weeks off from exercise.  (However, I should note how thankful I am for a wonderful friend who sat with me for 4 hours in the hospital, laughed with me, forced the nurse to give me pain meds, and used her stellar negotiation skills to make sure I was seen immediately).
5. Flipping over my new all carbon road bike in Margate, breaking my left clavicle (no worries, my beloved bike suffered no injuries!) July 2009
4. Dropping out of Nations Tri because who can swim with a broken collar bone?! (Surprisingly I finished my first century ride!) Sept 2009
3. Suffering great pain in my left hip leading up to the Philly Half Marathon (Nov 2009)
2. Finding out my hip pain was (another) stress fracture at the top of my left femur.  (Thankfully no crutches this time!)
1. Learning about injuries the hard way!

From these mistakes, mishaps, and misleading pain I learned the importance of listening to my body.  If it hurts (and not in the good way) stop, ice, and reevaluate your training schedule.  There will always be another triathlon, marathon or century ride in the near future.  So if not now, next year.

I'm glad to say I've recovered and started a relaxed spring training schedule, injury free :-).  I'll be running the National Half this Saturday with a friend, purely as a training run.  Look for us in our running skirts, hot pink and teal!