just call me gimpy

As those of you who have seen me in person since Christmas know, I tried snowboarding on Christmas day. And, naturally, I injured myself, because an extremely out-of-shape 27-year-old has no business trying anything that could in any way be construed as an "extreme sport." About halfway through my first run down the baby hill, I wrenched my left ankle. Luckily, my mom is a doctor, so when I limped back to our time-share room, she took a look at it and ruled it no more serious than a sprain. So I iced it, kept it elevated when I slept, and once I got home, I made Bean wrap it up in an Ace bandage (the perks of knowing a nursing student! Heheheh).

Even besides my ankle, I was pretty banged up. Here is what my knees looked like just after my half-run down the slope:

My upper arms and my abs were sore for several days afterward, too. If I ever do that again, I'll try strength-training my upper body and abs for like, a month beforehand - and I'll wear knee pads and a butt pad. Actually, I think I would really like snowboarding if it weren't so downhill, or if the downhill slope weren't so steep. Cross-country snowboarding? Well, maybe not. But maybe on a less-steep bunny hill.

So Christmas was 11 days ago now, and my ankle still hurts, though it definitely has gotten better. How long do sprains usually take to heal? It was swollen for days, but once the swelling went down, I took the Ace bandage off and tried to go to work for a day without it on. By the end of the day, my leg felt like it was on fire. Ouch! Learned my lesson there. I didn't think I spent that much time on my feet at work, but apparently I do. With my luck, I will probably be all better just in time for school to start, and then I will slip on some ice rushing to class and injure myself in a new and different (though no less inconvenient) way. I'd still be willing to try skiing, tho', because I've heard it's a lot easier than snowboarding. Maybe in February sometime.