Maquinna's Poop du Jour

So Whatever Happened to Boot Camp?

In case you were wondering why all mention of boot camp ceased rather suddenly last month...circumstances unfolded in ways I did not anticipate. On the Friday of the third week of camp, a week before the wedding, I was out for the warm-up run along Salisbury Street when without warning, I heard an unbelievably audible *POP* in my left calf, and simultaneously felt my entire leg seize up in sharp pain. I knew right away this was not good.

I stopped running and leaned against a tree to see if I could stretch it out, but the pain was just greater. I knew without talking to anyone that boot camp had ended for me right there and then.

Sergeant Erica saw me hobbling back up the hill and asked what had happened. When I told her, she just shook her head and knew what I knew. I had to get to a doctor that day and get myself sorted out - quickly - if I was going to be able to walk in a pair of 3" slingbacks along beach rocks a week later for the wedding.

I drove home, pissed at myself, and getting increasingly agitated about the situation. A couple years earlier I had torn both calves playing volleyball, and I didn't walk right for weeks after that. Why had this happened again when I was, I thought, being so careful about stretching and warm-ups?

I won't go into the distress I had dealing with my doctor. Suffice to say I'll be looking for a new one if mine can't fit me in a week before my wedding with an urgent injury, and sends me to the E.R. instead...a half hour drive (yes, I drive a standard, and we are talking about my clutch leg here), limping around the hospital's extensive construction zone, and then waiting to be examined. Diagnosis: rupture of the plantaris tendon, sometimes referred to as 'tennis leg'. E.R. sends me away with my leg wrapped like King Tut and a pair of crutches that were more trouble than they were worth.

I spent the weekend with my leg up and iced, and three or four days later I felt I was walking without any noticeable limp, although it still ached. I had an entirely useless consultation with a sports medicine doctor when I returned from the honeymoon, but today I will be heading to a physical therapist to learn how, if at all, I can prevent this from happening again in the future.

As for boot camp, I will be back as soon as I have the medical all-clear.

posted by Maquinna @ 9:48 a.m.