good bye running shoes, hello bike helmet

here is a little following up regarding this past post .

I have a neuroma.  The dr. shot it full of cortisone 6 weeks ago.  That method works about 50% of the time.  It seemed to work for me at my follow up appointment 2 weeks ago...until last week when Rick and I decided to get out and run because the dr. told me that I could.  Well, about 2 miles away from home I realized that I was not meant to be a runner.  I pretty much had to crawl home.  I had put on my list of things to do in 2008 to run a half marathon.  Not gonna happen.  I went back to the dr. yesterday and he took an ultrasound of my neuroma.  It's actually quite small, smaller than the dr. would recommend for surgery.  so, he gave me another shot of cortisone.  (ouch)  he said that if this one doesn't work, the next step is surgery regardless of the size.  He discussed the risks with me.  It's a pretty involved little procedure requiring 6-8 weeks of recovery.  Mostly, I don't have the time and patience for any of that.   

So, I am no longer a "runner". I have dusted off the bike helmet and tuned the bike up nicely and now I am a "biker girl". 

The reason that appeals to me is because of this:

 or this   

or even this

and definitely this

 

 Hello spin bike.  Hello eliptical machine.

I got a little bit emotional thinking about it last night.  It reminds me of a shirt that I have that says:  "I run so I can eat more chocolate cake"  which sums it up to a T.  I don't really consider myself much of a runner, I still don't "get" that runner's high nonsense.  I do love the way it feels AFTER I run, or when I participate in a 5K and I finish and get to wander around at the end of the race with people who have finished 30 minutes earlier and are still snacking on the fresh fruit.  It makes me think of when I am pregnant and I can't run (except when I ran on the treadmill 8 months prego with cole at the YMCA--I think they had 911 on speed dial when they saw me coming and I only ran until I started to pee my pants which wasn't really very far at all, anywhoo).  It was when I was pregnant and couldn't run that every made me feel like I wanted to run.  Well, I felt that way last night when I finally came to the conclusion that I must give up running.  But, I consider myself lucky because I have 2 legs that still work great and I can ride a bike, I can do a lot of other things--as long as it doesn't include impact on the ball of my foot.

I guess if worse come to worse I could always try swimming for exercise.  The only reason that appeals to me is because of this:

 

or this...or this...

I will keep you updated...