Challenge Schmallenge

Remember the Fitness Challenge? 

Well I didn't win.  

Nope, the money was split between the administrator of the contest and another participant.  Yes, that would be the same administrator who picked all of the mystery points each week. The mystery points that were not revealed to the rest of us until the week was over, so we all had to wait on pins and needles to find out what it was and just hope that we had done it (or not done it).    Most likely she was totally honest and picked it blindly at the end of the week like she should have, but if it were my fitness challenge,  the participants would get to take a turn picking the mystery points, just to be totally above board. 

So, enough with the petty complaining, I have a serious gripe now.

The final week of the challenge, the same administrator who took home half the money, decided that the weekly challenge would be to run 13.1 miles during the week.  Not all at once or anything, just in cumulative during the week.  No problem.  I was already running more than that anyway.

But wait.  Miss Diehard Administrator, who was going to win the contest anyway, decided that it wasn't challenging enough yet.  She decided that  the 13.1 miles had to be IN ADDITION to the 1/2 hour of daily exercising that was the normal part of the challenge.  In other words, we were to go against all fitness guidelines about only increasing your intensity by no more than 10% per week and increase by closer to 75% in one week.

Which brings me to the 6:15 appointment I had last Tuesday morning.  The appointment to find out why my foot has been hurting like the dickens ever since the last week of the challenge three weeks ago.    The doctor taped almonds to my foot to mark the points of pain, so the technician could focus in on those spots. 

Turns out the MRI didn't tell me anything about my foot pain...



But while they were in there looking at that same side of the same foot, they were able to confirm that yes, indeed, my pinky toe is broken. 

What does all this mean?  It means all the good exercising habits I spent 12 weeks developing are gone, gone, gone just like that...

And in addition to being in pain, I'm a tad bitter too.

(Disclosure:  The administrator is a stranger to me  and to her credit I never spoke up about these aspects that made me uncomfortable/bitter.   I also do have to say that the fitness challenge in general was a very good thing for both Glen and I.  It was the first time in years I'd put all the pieces together--exercising and eating healthy--and for that part I am very grateful.   I'm more mad at myself for not speaking up about things as I am at the administrator who was just doing her job (and kicking butt at the fitness challenge.))