Speed Bumps

Three years ago I made a mistake. I was given a ride to a movie which all my friends had already entered. I was late. My ride dropped me off at the door, and, spotting a friend, I ran to catch up to her.

Thus the mistake. I was wearing flipflops at the time, and I've never been a graceful person. I tripped - hard - over a speed bump, and stubbed my toe.

At the time, it hurt like hell. But it always hurts when you stub a toe. I ripped part of the toenail off and spent the entire movie with a bag of ice over my bloody foot. It hurt for months afterward, if I stepped wrong or wore a particular shoe.

Now, years later, I have just discovered that I actually did some permanent damage to my foot. Parts of my foot are indefinitely numb, and I have some sort of neuropathy in both my ankle and my arch. My doctor is mentioning tarsal tunnel syndrome and nerve conduction tests. All because I tripped over a speed bump.

It just goes to show the delicate state of our bodies. Football players and marathon runners are absurd on the one hand for the voluntary damage they do to their bodies, and heroes on the other for the pain they live with each day.

My advice, however, is to take care of the body you're given. We can't all take tackles each day and survive, and I have seen up close the total knee and hip replacements required to allow bodily abusers to walk. They are violent, bloody operations, hardly worth that momentary soccer fame or those seconds of air from a snow drift.

Our bodies can do amazing things, but, unfortunately, they are also breakable.

A Weak Heart

Exercise is hard.

I have asthma, meaning running is twice as hard as it should be (or at least I let myself believe that). I ran nearly every day for a year, and my endurance only increased a little - running three miles without stopping was something for me to be proud of. My lungs burn with intense cardio, and I feel like I never get my second wind. It only gets harder as the minutes pass.

I stopped running completely after my dad died, and after a few months I could feel the weakness in my body. My legs would burn as I walked up stairs, and my heart would strain against the exercise. Living life was a lot harder than it should have been.

I've never been a healthy person. Asthmatic, anemic, and hypotensive, I often feel like I'm living in a dark, dizzy bubble. None of that makes aerobic exercise any easier, but I know my body needs it. I want my heart to be as healthy as possible. I refuse to be a victim of heart disease.

After the run, I feel so good. The runner's high is something I look forward to. Despite my body's troubles, I feel healthy. But lately, I can barely keep my pace up. I've downgraded to the elliptical, and I feel like that is somehow cheating. I can go so much longer on the elliptical, and that makes me think that it's just not as good for me, that it doesn't stack up to the benefits of the treadmill or the road. Is this the case? I still haven't decided.