Confessions of a crazy runner, cont.

On Friday, I received the results of the bone scan I had gotten the day before: I have a stress fracture on my foot.

So on Monday I got an air cast that I am supposed to keep on all the time except for when I'm driving or showering. It should take four to six weeks to heal. Katie says it looks like a duck.

I don't want to bore you with repeating the cause of the fracture, which I described in the post "Finishing with a Flourish." If you're just dropping in, I'll summarize: I ran six miles despite pain in my foot. Why? It never occurred to me to stop. Now I am paying for it.

I know others have done similarly stupid things. And yesterday, Gina Kolata's column in the New York Times, "One Runner's Suffering is Another's Inspiration," , reminded me that running through pain is a common thing to do.

Kolata says she runs for the euphoria and will keep going to achieve it. Other reasons: "In races, for example, many of us keep going because we want to see how well we can do. Some do it because they are stubborn."

I guess all of those apply to me.

She mentions Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, who wrote in his book "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" that he wants his epitaph to read, "At least he never walked."

Well, I personally wouldn't go that far.

Kolata explores new scientific research addressing the question of pain in exercise, not coming up with definitive answers but raising interesting points.

So, no tennis, no dog-walking, no running, and not even any swimming. Just a lot of sitting around, eating, drinking coffee, getting out of shape and kvetching.