Metatarsophalangeal Sprain

On Saturday Jack and I are moving to Long Island. As luck would have it, while I was down in Virginia this week-end I took a stumble down a spiral staircase, spraining my foot and thereby making the physical part of the move even more excruciatingly painful than I expected it to be. I suppose I have only myself to blame. I had a few too many glasses of white wine at Nicholas’s baptism party which made negotiating the (albeit glossy and newly refinished) stairs more of a challenge than it ordinarily would have been. Well, as they say, shit happens. Hopefully I’ll be a bit more ambulatory on Saturday when I have to start putting large pieces of furniture onto a truck. My doctor told me not to do it but I don’t see him volunteering to move my dining room table.

Being inactive is driving me insane. I use vigorous aerobic exercise as a form of meditation and release and I keenly feel its absence even after four days. Today I found myself contemplating hobbling down to the gym to try out my foot on the elliptical, but then I reminded myself that it was just such an unwillingness to rest after the Long Island ½ marathon that introduced me to the elliptical in the first place. Since January of 2007 I haven’t taken more than a day off from running unless absolutely forced to do so by searing pain. I find this to be a character-building experience and a test of how far I can bend my body to the will of my mind, although anyone looking at it from the outside besides a zen practitioner or another runner would probably judge me insane. There are intangible benefits from exercise that have nothing to do with weight loss. When I run 5 miles or spend 45 minutes on the elliptical I get into a zone. A dropping away of body and mind, if you will. It’s a nice way to break up the day and can become a bit of an addiction. I suppose now that I’m laid up for a couple of weeks I’ll have the chance to meditate on my attachment to exercise.

With the move, I’m looking forward to again being within walking distance to the train station and to enjoy the experience of commuting by mass transit, although “enjoy” might not be exactly the right word. I do know that driving to New Jersey was wearing me down and not doing a great deal for my disposition. Not to mention the cost. I have to fill up the car 6x per month at a cost of $52 per tank, plus $8 per day in tolls. This comes out to be $312 per month in gas and $160/month in tolls. My new commute will cost $255 for two monthly tickets, minus the $120 I get back as a subsidy from my company for commuting by mass transit. I’ll be saving over $300/month in commuting costs alone, and doing my part for the environment at the same time. I also won’t have to pay New York City income tax. More money lying around for Jack’s piggy bank I suppose.