The Goes my Hamstring

Wow, haven’t blogged in about a month. Tsk tsk. But anyhow, it’s now about a month until my next 5K, and if I can run 10 minute miles, I’ll be ecstatic. That’s because I blew out my hamstring chasing a frisbee last week. At least it was in the process of making a spectacular diving catch.

Technically speaking, the medical term is a "pulled" or "strained" hamstring, but those terms aren't appropriately gruesome enough. We're talking torn muscle fibers, leading to internal bleeding, which then leads to a nice big bruise. And even after everything settles down enough that you're able to walk normally, the damage is still there, just waiting to give you a jab of pain if you do something the muscle doesn't like. Such as trying to tie your shoes in the morning. Can I just wear my bedroom slippers to work?

So I have about 4 weeks to rehab an injury that typically takes 3-6 weeks to recover from. This seems pretty doable, since my 5K pace is very slothlike compared to my sprinting pace. I start with some gentle walks later this week and if that goes well start working some jogging into the walks. This is pretty straightforward.

The other challenge to get done in the next month is to start and finish our income taxes. We always owe on taxes, so there’s no real rush to get it done, other than avoiding jail time for failure to file. But if I let myself fall into old habits, I’ll somehow convince myself that I can’t sit at the computer using TurboTax because my hamstring isn’t up to the task. Or more accurately, how can I focus on taxes when I’m a gimp? If the answer to that question is anything other than “easily”, I won’t have a leg to stand on.