Three Things Thursday ...

1. I'm not quite sure what happened this week, but I made a huge jump in healing. On Sunday, I could barely lift my arm (maybe 3-4 inches from my body). But, over the past two days I have gained a HUGE amount of mobility. I can lift my arm at least to shoulder height and I can almost get dressed like a human being again.

Now don't get me wrong, it still hurts. It hurts to drive. It hurts to change diapers. Sometimes, it just hurts out of no where. But, it's progress. Quick progress, in fact. And I'm lucky to heal so quickly (see, my superhuman powers are kicking in again). On Tuesday, I met someone who had the same injury as me about seven years ago. He had the old style of surgery which was more invasive and was in a sling for three months. When I told him that I had my surgery 13 days before, he nearly fell down.

2. So, yesterday, I sent out a tweet and Facebook post that said, "If you get me to 800 votes today, I'll run a mile." Well, you all came through. I hit 800 (feel free to vote again by clicking HERE) and kept up my side of the deal. Last night, once the girls were in bed, I RAN ONE MILE! In 9:40. And amazingly, I was pain free. But, if we are being honest, I looked like a fool. I chose not to run in my sling, which meant I had to self-stabilize my arm.

Picture this - I'm running. Normal arm swing on the left side. But, on the right, my arm is locked tight to my body with my hand near my shoulder. It was ugly.

But, it worked. I can run. (And I might even be running that 5K I am signed up for on Saturday.) My plan is to work up to 3 miles, 5 days a week. I know that I could probably run more than that, but until my shoulder is strong enough to let me swing my arm normally, I don't want to. I've seen that injuries (even unrelated to the legs) can cause postural changes which mess up form and cause more injuries. That's not going to happen here. I won't have it.

And since I will be running less, I will be riding more. Sleeper, my trainer and I are going to be best friends. In fact, after my run yesterday, I jumped on Sleeper for an hour while I caught up on Glee and chatted via text with Tall Mom. I have to say, this whole riding on the trainer thing can be really good for multitasking ...

3. Injury is tough. Not being able to train sucks. But, injury that causes you to lose your ability to function in your everyday life is even tougher. Fortunately for me, I have some amazing friends who have made meals, watched my kids, even folded my laundry. Earth Momma Mer and G have gone above and beyond to make sure I was completely covered from all angles. SpeeDee set up Sleeper with Aero Bars to make sure I was training safely when I came back.

And so many of you helped too. With your emails and cards (Thanks Marlene, Kim, Bethany and Katye) and gifts (which were completely unnecessary, but much appreciated Lesley and Jen). I am truly grateful for all of the support both virtual and in real life. So, thank you.