Jeremiad: n A long, mournful complaint or lamentation.

I’m sure my two readers have long since given up, fed up with a long tale of woe I’ve spun about my stress fracture. Rest assured: The end is near.

Walking no longer hurts. Walking down stairs, I barely notice the spot where my bone is healing. And for the last week and a half, that was when discomfort most showed.

The healing continues, so I look forward with guarded optimism. Hell, I might even try a run this weekend. You can get back up to marathon fitness in two weeks, right?

At the DIY Street Fair in Ferndale earlier this month, Mrs. Blocletters and I had a wonderful bit of ice cream. It was based on a porter from Woodward Avenue Brewers, and had peanuts and chocolate covered pretzels in it. It tasted awesome, and my first thought was to attempt to duplicate it.

Here’s the recipe I came up with. I opted for Bell’s Porter because, well, why wouldn’t you?

Ingredients

1 bottle Bell’s Porter
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup roughly crushed chocolate covered pretzels
3/4 cup peanuts

Directions

Heat and reduce the porter in a saucepan to about 3/4 the original amount.

In a separate saucepan add cream, milk, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat.

Beat egg yolks in large measuring cup. Whisk a cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, and then slowly add the egg mixture to the remaining hot cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into bowl to chill. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to keep a skin from forming. Chill thoroughly.

Remove from refrigerator and add the porter reduction, whisking until well blended. Pour in an ice cream machine and freeze, adding pretzels and peanuts toward the end.

It ended up being a big batch. I put the first half through the ice cream maker before work today, and plan to put the rest through as I sample some this evening. Can’t wait.

It’s three weeks to the day since my latest stress fracture, and recovery continues to trudge along. I now walk without much discomfort. For the first two weeks I would step wrong at least once a day, and get rewarded with shooting pain. Today, I made a painful misstep, but it had been two or three days since I’d done that. I can stand on the foot, but can’t yet hop.

Dancing as much as I did at a wedding this weekend probably didn’t help. But, I spent almost as much time recording video of girlie attempting the Cupid Shuffle as I did on the floor myself. I tried to balance fun and recovery, and think I did a good job.

I remain optimistic, mainly because by Thursday this last week the baseline pain went from a 2 or 3 on a scale of 1-10, to a 1. At this rate, I feel like I could attempt a run soon. We’ll see. Obviously, I want to err on the side of caution.

The Free Press Marathon sits anxiously ahead of me, three weeks from today.Three weeks. That’s not much time. I won’t hesitate to decide against running, but I can’t even think about that right now. Another long run would be nice, but I could even sacrifice that knowing my current fitness. So, unless I’m still injured the day before, I think I can still finish. Any time goals, of course, would be out of the question.

Three weeks is a long time without running. I miss it (and really needed it today after a rough weekend). But when I return, I’ll appreciate it that much more and hopefully be a smarter runner for it.

Oh, and here’s today’s reminder to donate. It’s quick, easy and tax-deductible. I apparently suck at fundraising, so even $10 would give me a huge ego boost.

Did a few small walks over the last few days to test out the sore foot. Sunday, I strolled around the block with girlie, slow and in foamy flip-flops. Went great. Monday, I did a mile walk around downtown on my break from work.  Overall, didn’t feel too bad. Foot felt a little tender at the end, but I attribute that to the heat and dress shoes.

Also did a mile today on break. The foot was a little sore after, but no more than Monday. I remain optimistic about chances for getting to the starting line of the Free Press Marathon.

Baby steps.

Um, yeah, so think I did it again. Only this time, not nearly as badly. “It” is a stress fracture.

During last Sunday’s long run, a planned 18-miler, I felt a sharp pain in my left foot just after mile 13. I stopped, tried again, stopped. Then I hobbled home cursing myself. Sure, I can train for and run a marathon in Vibram FiveFingers. Other people can, so why not me? Well, ask my third metatarsal.

The two people who read this blog may remember I got a stress fracture last summer running in Vibram KSOs. That led to several doctor visits and eventually a fitting for a boot that’d make Frankenstein’s monster green with envy. It also derailed plans to run the Detroit Free Press Marathon.

I vowed to not repeat the mistake I thought I made: ramping up too fast in the Vibrams, which I read everywhere can cause injury if not used carefully. I spent months building up to even beginning my marathon training, in KSOs then Bikilas. Either a) it wasn’t enough, or b) my poor foot bones aren’t cut out for both distance and super minimalist shoes. It could be both, I guess. I don’t know. I ran too close to the sun, after swearing not to, and got burned again.

Without a doctor’s diagnosis, I’m not 100 percent sure what I have now is a fracture. But, it sure feels like the pain I had last summer, and I’m 100 percent sure it sucks.

On the bright side, the injury doesn’t come close to the severity of the one last summer. Last summer, my foot blew up like a balloon with swelling the next day. I could barely stand, let alone walk, for weeks without sharp pain. This time, little swelling. I had a noticeable limp the day it happened (aggravated by calf pain in the other leg), and that continued into the next day. By Tuesday, I walked normally, albeit with discomfort. And that’s where I stand now.

It’s early to tell, but I don’t think this one’s going to keep me out of the race. I can stand on that foot and raise up onto my toes without much discomfort. That’s encouraging. Last summer, the doctor said I could run again when I could hop on the injured foot without pain. I hope that point comes in the next week or two. I’m fairly fit, so catching up with a couple long runs after getting back on the road should put me on track to at least finish.

In the meantime, I’m shopping for new shoes, and considering the New Balance Minimus Road which, despite its name, has quite a bit of padding for a low-fi shoe. There is something to the idea of stripping a shoe down to basics, but I need more padding for long distances and will relegate the Bikilas to short jaunts and cross training. Despite the injury potential, they have value, particularly for leg strength.

And taking a break can help me get a better grip on my fundraising for Team World Vision. Click here to donate.

This story caught my eye a few weeks back, and I wanted to make a note of it. The Eagle Tribune in North Andover, Mass., writes about Dave McGillivray. I hadn’t heard of him, but he’s a long-time Boston Marathon race director.

Since McGillivray was a teen, he’s kept a birthday commitment: run one mile for each year. He turned 57 on Aug. 22, and celebrated by running 57 miles. I’ve never met the guy, and doubt I will, but Mr. McGillivray, you have officially made my hero list. If I do meet him, I’ll buy him a carb-loaded Guinness recovery drink.

I turned 38 this year and didn’t even run on my birthday, let alone 38 miles. Slacker.