Demolition!

My stepdaughter and son-in-law are destroying their house.  I think they plan to build another one on the foundation, but that is not relevant, when I get to wreak havoc with a sledge hammer, crowbar and chainsaw!  Destruction is so much more fun than construction.  I enjoy building, but it pales in comparison to taking apart Ikea storage modules in 93 seconds.

This blog is actually about PF (plantar fasciitis). For some strange reason, I thought that the first few days of destruction would involve removing trim, carpets, fixtures and storage cabinets.  I did not bring my steel toe, steel shank, acid proof running shoes.  Okay, they aren't exactly running shoes.  With 4 of us swinging and smashing, the basement was soon down to the stud walls, plumbing and electrical.  Plumbing was simple, cap all but the upstairs sink and toilet, which was the simplest configuration to maintain some plumbing during the initial destruction.  Stud walls were also easy, but unfortunately, while walking backwards to get a better look at some plumbing in the ceiling, I stepped on a nail.  Fortunately, I had received a tetanus shot the previous week.  My body seems to have an affinity for collecting metal; the shot was preemptive.

The nail didn't even come out the top of my foot, so I could safely ignore it and get back to destroying things.  A few hours later, I washed the wound and it is now almost completely healed.

2 days later, I went for a run along the Niagara path (the same one as the Niagara Ultra course) which had about 4 inches of crusty snow.  Running was tough, but it was nice to be on a trail (albeit paved) for the first time in about 4 weeks.  The nail hole, almost directly in the center of my foot, caused the identical pain as running with PF!  I thought briefly of putting a nail into my other foot to even out my gait, but that was just a crazy thought.  The Niagara trail was tough going and after only 6K I decided to turn back to Niagara-on-the-lake, where Lee Anne and I were staying for 2 nights.

While I was braving the cold and snow, Lee Anne went to the NOTL community centre, which includes a sports complex.  Guess what?  They have an indoor track!.  Not the biggest, but it is comprised of 2 lanes that follow the outside perimeter on the second floor.  The next day I tried the indoor track and it is MUCH easier than running outside, in 4 inches of snow.  I got to thinking of the various surfaces I have run on and this is how I would grade them, from easiest to hardest:

Treadmill, indoor track, road, crushed stone track, road with slush, trail, wet trail, muddy trail with hills, trail with 4 inches of snow, trail with 1 - 2 feet of snow, trail with hills and 1 - 2 feet of snow, Tour de Mont Blanc.  For those of you fortunate enough to have never experienced the TDMB, it is not a walk in the parc.  Try climbing at roughly a 10 degree slope for 4 hours, to start your day.  The scenery is wondrous and travelling through 3 European countries (France, Italy and Switzerland) on the same hike is quite the spectacle, but this is the same trail used by the UTMB race and it will kick your ass!  I could easily run the UTMB, if I had a month.

That's it.  A strange entry, but all the elements of slapstick comedy...