If It Ain't Broke

...but hurts like a mother focker, then it's likely fractured.


Believe me, the brake in the pic above hurts really really bad. The great news is no surgery is needed, no cast is needed and that I can run within the week. The bad news is I have to deal with the pain since the only way for the elbow to heal is by moving it.

Long story short, I slipped on some ice and used my left elbow to cushion my body from the pavement. Slightly longer version.

I went out for a run Monday night. Goal was like 7 miles and to make home in time to cook dinner. All was going smoothly till just over a mile left. I hit an intersection and debated for about 5 seconds which way to go. Straight or go left. Either route would lead me home. No route was longer then the other. At the last second I decided on the left hand turn.

For almost 6 miles, I paid attention to damn near every slippery step I took. Focusing on balance and body position to help minimize a fall. This is something I've been doing over all my years of running on icy conditions. However, for this brief second I didn't focus on balance. Upper body going straight, lower body going left.

As quick as I went down I was right back up. Still running. Flexed my arm in a curl position a few times and all felt fine. Just a tad stiff. Didn't think much of it. Then I thought I'd look at my watch to see if it broke and that's when I felt it. Rotating my left hand so I can see my watch led to a few clicking noises in my elbow and a lot of pain. I just knew something was wrong then.

Ran the last mile plus home and within minutes the wife and I are headed to the ER at Porter. 3 hours later we're back home. The wife tired and me in a sling. Wednesday morning the sling was gone with the update being the one I started out this post with.

Next Monday I meet with a hand specialist to work on rehab with a recovery time frame of 4 to 6 weeks. I'm aiming for 3 with a goal to run sometime next week. Running at I'm sure will be a slow conservative pace.