Injuries... To see a doctor or not?

It's always interesting to decide how to handle an injury.  There is that question of - should I see a doctor, or wait and see what it does?  As a guy, you would think my standard response would be " 'eh, we will see how it feels tomorrow."  And in general, you would be right.  However, with the Marathon looming in the future, and my realization that a couple of weeks of NOT running could make the difference in being able to do it or not - It's not the case.  So yesterday morning, right as the office opened, I gave my doctor a call.  4 hours later, I get a call back from the nurse.

"Stay off it, take it easy and see how it feels in a week or so."

So my doctor just told me to ignore it and see if it just gets better.  Umm.. No.  So I explained to the wonderful Nurse Diane, that I was training for a marathon. Further, I explained that it wasn't just calf pain, but that there was a feeling like a "twang" or a "snap."  She said she would call me back...  (Any women that read that now understand why guys don't bother calling the doctor? I had THIS logic on my own..)

[caption id="attachment_328" align="alignright" width="175" caption="Abebe Bikila. The name-sake of my shoes! AND one of the greatest marathon runners of all time!"][/caption]

So another few hours later (for those keeping score, the day is pretty much over now.)  Nurse Diane returned my call again.  Apparently they did take it a bit more seriously now, and since that day was shot, told me to ride out the rest of the day, and if it was still feeling bad - they would fit me in the next day.  Now my doctor's office IS packed. Always.  But that's just because of how awesome of a doctor he is. So I thought that was fair enough.  Though the huge delay in hearing back is frustrating. You would think that with the current cost of healt-care, you could at least get reasonably prompt phone calls - especially since its not the doctor that does the calling! 3.5 hours seems silly!

By the end of cub-scouts in the evening I was able to walk even better, so it seemed the muscle is loosening (here's to hoping that it is just a muscle that locked up).  This morning it is even better - I can walk with a definite limp, but have the full range of "walking-motion."  There is a little bit of pulling and tightness, when doing so - but not to bad.  I'm certainly not going to try running (or jumping), but I may have some hope of not being seriously injured.  The very bottom of my foot is sore, almost like there is a bruise. Not sure where that came from and if it is/isn't related.  I know by the end of last night the back of my knee was also sore - but that made sense.  My logic worked this way - If my muscle was in a knot and not able to stretch out fully, then where it worked its way up to tendons/ligaments (whatever those things are) would obviously get sore as well.  That may just be rationalization though.

No.. None of the pictures in the post are related in ANY way to the post.. But I liked them.