Hi, my names Citrus (not actually? But don’t share your name with strangers online kids) and I’m 17F in the end of my senior year of high school.
Recently I’ve been issue with my wrists were my Ulna bone pops and sideways (basically out of place). Sometimes it causes me a lot of pain up my arm to my shoulder, as well as in my fingers.
It’s been happening since I was around 12/13. And every doctor I’ve been to had recommended physical therapy, but hasn’t given me an actual diagnosis.
So as a result, I’ve kind of been going down rabbit holes and researching on my own. And I ended up finding Ehlers Danlos. Upon further investigation I’ve found that have a few of the symptoms.

• Flat Feet (Plantar Faciatis)
• Asthma
• A lot of people have mentioned repeatedly having ingrown toe nails

I also have one middle toe on my left foot that has the top part bending upwards while the part with the crease on it goes inwards. And when I googled “hyper mobile toe” that’s what came up.
I don’t want to jump to conclusions, especially because I also don’t have some of the symptoms that a lot of people commonly do (like stomach issues, and numbness). And I’m not particularly flexible. But I also desperately want answers.
No ones obligated to and I know this isn’t a place to share medical advice. But I just want to see if my experience is similar with or could be ED’s. Regardless I’ve already been to the doctors about these issues so maybe somebody could just give me insight into if I should ask about ED’s with a doctor. Or if I should be looking at a different disorder.
Thanks, and sorry if this violates any of the rules.

Hi fellow PF sufferers 👋
I created a massage tool for plantar fasciitis based on one that I bought several years ago. I could no longer find this type of tool for sale when I wanted to give one to a family member experiencing PF, so I made some.
I just launched my store and am interested in feedback from users about their website experience and experience using the product, so I am offering a 40% off discount code at thewowball.com.
You may have heard physiotherapists/doctors recommend using a tennis ball or water bottle to massage your foot. This massager uses a smooth wood ball and handles that you can use to vary the intensity and is intended for mild to moderate PF.
Promo code: REDDITFEEDBACK (Expires June 7th) Website: thewowball.com
Shipping is included in the US contiguous 48 states
Feedback I’m looking for: - Good/OK/Bad website experience? - Did the product work well for you? - What do you like/not like about it?
Thank you 🙏

Session 0: https://www.reddit.com/DeltaGreenRPG/comments/1d0l92x/impossible_landscapes_session_0/
(Okay, these will be long. Five players, lmao. Hadn't quite accounted for that)
Operation ALICE, New York, 1995
The Roster (Player/Character)
Lea (she/her): Jules Gradkowska - Agent MIRANDA. Journalist - research and human intelligence.
Iain (he/him): Ralph Bevis - Agent MILHOUSE. Academic - history and occult specialist.
Quinn (he/him): Richard Delapore - Agent MAVERICK. FBI Special Agent - criminal and forensic expert and the official 'face' of the investigation.
Phil (he/him): Jean Duvall - Agent MAIN. US Navy Master Chief Petty Officer - operational security specialist.
Duncan (he/him): Jake Little - Agent MALATESTA. Civilian contractor - computer and electronic specialist with a side line in hacking.
Rob_sothoth (he/him) - Handler. The arbiter of the world: the good, the bad and that which cannot and should not be named.
Background: The Agents of M-Cell are tasked with investigating the apartment of Abigail Wright. Missing since June, Delta Green has reason to suspect para-natural involvement. Their orders are simple: catalogue the apartment and remove anything deemed suspect for destruction.
Despite heavy changes made, full spoiler warning for Impossible Landscapes.

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Session 1 "The Apartment" (May 24th, 2024)
New York: Tuesday, August 8th, 1995
1:45pm - 3:32pm, EST
Entering the lobby of the Macallistar building in Kips Bay, NYC, the Agents first make a sweep of Abigail's mailbox. Agent MARCUS (M-Cell Case Officer) provided them with a complete set of keys, not to be copied. The mailbox is stuffed full with bills, junk mail, catalogues and offers; mail still being delivered by people who have no idea Abigail is missing. MAVERICK gathers it in a bag and they make their way to Abigail's apartment (Ground floor).
The Macallistar echoes an earlier age. Faded purple carpeting and design from the turn of the century. Opposite Abigail's front door is an old-fashioned telephone nook, complete with bench and curtain for comfort and privacy when phone-lines in individual apartment was an expense few could afford.
M-Cell enters the apartment, finding it somewhere between a hoarder's dream and crime-scene technician's nightmare. The small hallway leads to a living-room (the apartment's largest space), an adjoining bedroom and a kitchen and bathroom opposite each other. Aside from the hallway, on first inspection the only other uncluttered space is the kitchen, which doesn't really look as if it's been used much. MAVERICK ear-marks that as something he wants to check himself as the team begin taking stock.
The NYPD has left a box with copies of their files, including a list of tenants they interviewed, many, many evidence collection bags and a box of latex gloves.
The apartment is filled with various items, with almost no floor visible beneath the collection. CDs and CD cases are stuck or glued to the wall, along with mannequin parts, sketches and assorted pieces that might be ceramic or plastic arranged in odd patterns without reason or rhyme. Stacks of phone books, stretches of dyed fabrics stitched together, an antique claw-footed lamp. Bags, bundles of pictures (drawings and photographs) of seeming nonsense. No furniture is immediately visible in the chaotic mess.
MAIN finds the same result in the bedroom as the first Search rolls are called for. Something catches his eye in the anarchy of the bedroom.
MALATESTA begins sorting through the pile of mail. MILHOUSE at first begins helping, but seeing the scale of the cataloguing, volunteers to make a coffee and food run. MIRANDA begins photographing, while MAVERICK gloves up and asks for things to be passed to him such as brushes, anything with a handle really or something more likely to have fingerprints on it. He wants to see if he can grab a set of Abigail's prints, if that's possible.
It doesn't take MALATESTA long to work out Abigail stopped paying her rent and bills in or around March before disappearing in June. Money was coming in up to a certain point, apparently from a showing Abigail had at the Mercury Gallery in Greenwich Village in November the previous year. There's even a letter from the gallery owner asking about another possible showing; from the way it's written, it might not have been the first time he spoke to Abigail before she vanished. Then, the only money coming in appears to be from her father, though she doesn't appear to have used it to cover the rent. He also gets the building management company, Art Life and their address.
As the Agents work, with MAIN carefully picking his way through the bedroom towards whatever caught his eye and MAVERICK uncovers a battery-powered hi-fi under all the trash, MILHOUSE returns from his coffee run and bumps into someone else entering the Macallistar at the same time he is. After an awkward hesitation on the threshold, MILHOUSE spends a little chatting to Lewis Post, one of Abigail's neighbours. MILHOUSE passes a HUMINT roll and I ruled that having spent most of his time in academics and his fellow PhDs, he can spot signs of some kind of social anxiety. I felt that was a fair get for a good success.
Lewis is hesitant but forthcoming as MILHOUSE works that high charisma score, knowing what to say to diffuse any potential tension. As far as Lewis knows, he is FBI of some kind after all.
MILHOUSE: "Did she ever mention a boyfriend? Girlfriend?"
Lewis: "Our relationship wasn't really like that. We had coffee sometimes. Talked about art. The process." He thinks. "She might have mentioned someone, but not a name, only what they did. A salesman, but I couldn't tell you what they sold."
MILHOUSE: "Talk about anything else?"
Lewis begins heading upstairs "She mentioned moving, but not before she was ready."
Back in the apartment, MAIN voices what others were thinking. "Where was she staying?" No bed, no signs of habitation except for the assorted hoard of crap. MAIN finds a hand grenade nestled in some papers and art supplies near the bedroom's walk-in closet.
In the living room, MAVERICK finds a single cassette tape in the uncovered hi-fi and flips it on, finding the batteries still live. Everyone hears MAVERICK's conversation with his significant other, Natalie from the previous evening. MAVERICK realises it's cut up and out of order, rewinds it and then flips it over. He thinks the entire conversation has been split between A & B sides of the tape.
MALATESTA and MAVERICK both consider phone-tapping, but MAIN, grenade temporarily forgotten, asks how it ended up here?
SAN check for MAVERICK. Pocketing the cassette tape, MAVERICK closes down a bit and prepares to go over the kitchen with a fine tooth comb; perhaps this is how he copes?
Before MAIN can mention the grenade he's worried about, MIRANDA, MALATESTA, MILHOUSE & MAVERICK notice something on the wall behind where the hi-fi was previously buried under junk. Fixed to the wall, maybe with some kind of glue is a piece of brown packing-paper with some kind of symbol drawn on it. Everyone focuses on it.

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3:41pm to 5:22pm, EST
MALATESTA: "That certainly looks like what we're supposed to be worried about."
MIRANDA snaps a polaroid. MILHOUSE tries to examine it, but his Occult check can only give him the vague thought it's connected to demonology, but little else beyond that. MAVERICK is cautious, but more concerned about getting to work on the unusually spotless kitchen.
Carefully, MIRANDA removes it and a blaring sounds like something between a horn blast and explosion almost deafens the Agents. It seems to come from everywhere and nowhere, from right next to them and outside at the same time.
Everyone passes a CONx5 check and the subsequent SAN check. Through the living room's window, MIRANDA, MILHOUSE and MAIN see a yellow-cab in the street outside. The cabbie appears to have leaned on the horn as someone crosses the street. They appear heavily dressed for summer, possibly homeless.
Is that a snake draped across their shoulders?
MIRANDA takes a polaroid while MILHOUSE and MAIN head outside to investigate. The picture reveals in sharp clarity, the cabbie staring down the barrel as she snapped the shot directly at her. MAVERICK gets to work in the kitchen and MALATESTA picks over things in the living room and bedroom respectively.
Search rolls for those in the apartment.
Outside, the cab has turned the corner and the pedestrian has carried on, though MAIN and MILHOUSE are able to work out where they went. MILHOUSE heads to cut off the other side of the alley, while MAIN approaches from behind, getting the pedestrian's attention. It's the height of summer in NYC, the air reeks of gasoline, rotting garbage and baking, soiled concrete and asphalt.
MAIN finds a nondescript, seemingly homeless man by the state of his clothes, but with a python draped over his shoulders. MAIN strikes up conversation, lighting a Gitane cigarette and pointing to the snake. From the other end of the alley, MILHOUSE makes his way towards the pair.
MAIN fails an alertness check.
Is this guy sweating? It's hot and he's bundled up like it's winter. Is he sweating? Why isn't he sweating?
Back in the apartment, MAVERICK tests the kitchen for blood and body fluids, breaking out the spray bottle and UV light. There's no cutlery, glassware or dishware anywhere in the room, but as he's lifting what could be a print, finds a mechanical diagram drawn on a napkin taped above the inside of an otherwise empty drawer. MALATESTA & MIRANDA continue their search of the living and bedroom, with MALATESTA finding a card printed with the following:
"For a good time Call D - 999-202-9989"
On the reverse are a series of what appear to be street corner addresses in Brooklyn. Could be a sex-line, could be a way to see Red Band underground film screenings, could be something online related. MALATESTA drifts between a few circles and he pockets it out of curiosity. When MIRANDA locates the grenade in the bedroom, she is careful to give it a wide berth and locates what MAIN missed: a backpack radio in the bedroom's walk-in closet. She calls MALATESTA over.
Back in the alleyway, MILHOUSE rolls under 10% and passes his disguise check. Dressed casually and a college athlete to boot, he fits the general chad look in his New York Knicks shirt despite his academic leanings. Being loud and obnoxious like he's drunk, he barrels into the homeless guy with the snake who stonewalled MAIN.
Instead he hits MAIN as the man with the snake is there and gone in the space between blinks. One moment MAIN is looking at him and then MILHOUSE knocks him flat on his ass. Like a film edit. Just gone. MAIN crit fails his SAN check and takes 4 SAN loss without projecting. Instead, as he scrambles up begins kicking over trash cans and searching the alley while MILHOUSE tries to calm him down and get a handle on things.
As MILHOUSE is talking MAIN out of tearing the alley apart, MIRANDA and MALATESTA check out the radio. As it comes to life, they listen and hear the following:
"Exeter. India. One. Thirteen. Sierra. Twenty. Twenty. Forty-nine."
MAVERICK meanwhile, finding the kitchen bare oddly finds the refrigerator stocked. There isn't much inside, some milk unopened and a pack of cheese and deli meat. Expiration is months ago, but through the plastic and glass of the bottle it looks fresh. Curious, he opens the milk and finds it smells as fresh as the day it was bought. Months ago.
Passes his SAN check. Given what he heard on the tape, it's not the strangest thing today.
MAIN and MILHOUSE detour to grab some more coffees, more to calm MAIN down and give him a (successful CHAx5 check) to flirt with the coffeeshop waitress. On their return, MAIN heads into the bedroom, pulls the pin on the grenade and activates the firing lever.
Nothing happens. His "hunch" was correct. Despite failing to properly identify it, something about the shape of it didn't match modern ordnance. Like the radio, it's vintage and either deactivated or else rendered inert by time and age.
I gave MAIN a SAN point back, because why not?
As things begin winding down, MILHOUSE and MAVERICK puzzle over the weird fridge, with MILHOUSE sacrificing his green tea and MAVERICK a donut to see how "fresh" they are come morning between the fridge and not.

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After 6pm, EST
Between them, M-Cell take the rest of the evening to take care of home-scenes or any unfinished business they can get done with their resources at hand. They also divide the Operational evidence from the Case evidence, with MIRANDA taking the symbol, MALATESTA the backpack radio & phone number, MAVERICK the cassette tape (for obvious reasons) and MAIN the mechanical sketch on the napkin.
MIRANDA and MILHOUSE, using the former's academic credentials both stay on the case, with MIRANDA leaving her photos from the park to develop in her bathroom. While she fails her roll, she does help MILHOUSE identify the demon the symbol refers to and book-related lead. She hits up a criminal contact named Hugo to put out feelers for weird items she may be interested in. He agrees for a fee, which she negotiates in her favour.
Returning to her apartment, MIRANDA finds her photos of the dancing clown and watching crowd have developed. In every photograph, the clown is turned away from her, but the faces in the crowd are looking at her. That's not how she remembers it. Fails a SAN check. Projects on to her editor, knowing she's going to be taking a "personal day" tomorrow, and this after she agreed to go to the grill.
This will have consequences.
MAIN, unnerved by the day's events, not the least of which was being knocked on his ass by a fitter, younger man, heads out. He returns to the coffeeshop he and MILHOUSE visited and takes the waitress he hit on out on a date. After a romantic interlude, MAIN has a new bond. Her name's Marsha, she's 27 and very nice.
Breaking Operational Security, MAVERICK asks MALATESTA to come back to his apartment and check for possible surveillance. Despite suffering comparatively little SAN loss overall, MAVERICK is letting the day's events impact his behaviour.
It's trivially easy for MALATESTA to confirm there are no bugs in place, which really does narrow the options for how the conversation could have been recorded. Thankful, he asks MALATESTA to keep this to himself for now, to which the grunge-kid agrees. MAVERICK drops MALATESTA near his home and leaves, putting the tape in the player of his car as he pulls away.
MALATESTA lives near the Village and diverts to check out the Mercury Gallery. Though closed, it seems legit and he makes a note of it for later. Back at home, he breaks open the backpack radio and examines it. The battery is not connected to the radio itself, the wires having been stripped out, yet he and MIRANDA both heard a voice on the end of its phone-mic. He passes his SAN check and finds in place of one of the transistors a small, black stone which does not feel like stone at all and feels like it's body temperature. MALATESTA leaves it on his desk, covered in a cloth.
Alone in his apartment, MAVERICK watches his phone. The time comes and he does not call Natalie. A moment later, his phone rings.
Alone in the apartment, MAVERICK does not answer.

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Post-Mortem
We ended up playing for a touch longer than I intended, but I knew that would happen by the time the cab sounded its horn. Despite some tiredness and some drinking, we ended up with a really strong session in retrospect, which has set the overall tone of the campaign for me as GM going forward. Between the five players, two have been through one Delta Green campaign, one has experience with Pulp Cthulhu and two have varying levels of exposure. They all roleplayed the f##k out of their characters and while I was worried about just how weird I wanted things to get out the gate, it feels like the balance is correct and I've given enough avenues for further investigation they may want to pursue.
I got a far better sense, as did the players, as to what drives and motivates their characters and how they cope or don't cope with Delta Green work.
MILHOUSE is definitely setting himself up as the curious academic, Iain playing his interest as forever drawn towards what's there "to discover," he said in character. Perhaps a fool and his sanity are easily parted?
MAVERICK is the "all-American", Agent Cooper adjacent FBI Agent who butts up against the para-natural and is seemingly rocked by it, revealing a complicated and perhaps conflicted depth. In his previous operation with MIRANDA, MAVERICK killed one person, but something about this has gotten under his skin. I wonder what Natalie thinks about their missed call?
A hacker by trade, MALATESTA likes a puzzle as much as he does not like the "weird shit." He talks a good talk when it's about something he knows, but is much too shy to chat up his co-worker. He and MAVERICK had some friction in Session 0 when MAVERICK wanted to call him Mal, to which the younger man pushed back against. Yet, he now knows where MAVERICK lives. Maybe he can learn more? What will he do with that? Does he even want to?
As much as MILHOUSE, MIRANDA is likewise driven by curiosity and a need to know, but first and foremost to keep herself safe. She and him are not the same. There's a scar above her hip from a knife, and it still twinges from time to time. She's also the first to directly or indirectly involve a Bond in the investigation. I wonder what Hugo will or won't find? I wonder what those photos mean. MIRANDA wondered aloud whether the crowd or the clown was the "entity." What does that mean?
Despite being built like Jack Reacher (albeit in a sailor suit), MAIN projects a tough air but is clearly a man at the crossroads. He turns 40 before 1995 ends; middle age. When hit with a problem or something he can't otherwise work out, his behaviour swings from one extreme to the other. To date, he's coped with the case by: lashing out at trash cans in an alley. Chatting up a waitress and forming a romantic bond with her. Pulling the pin on a grenade he "thought" could be fake. It's day one. I'm here for it.
Our next session is scheduled for June 7th, 2024.
Until then, be seeing you.

I finished my first marathon over the weekend. I followed a combo of a Runners World plan / Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan, and have been a half marathoner / triathlete for 10+ years. I completed my first half iron man last year.
My goal had been between 4hrs - 4:15, which felt very achievable based on my long run pacing. I had my plantar fasciitis under control with regular strength training and yoga, and I was surprising myself with how well I took to speed work / how fast I was getting.
About 16 days out from the marathon, I contracted a cold. I kept living my life, including my training schedule and some travel I had planned. Due to this hubris, the cold turned into full blown bronchitis. I was feverish and super rundown for days, and had to cut out a few of my taper runs. I completely fell off my cross training.
By the time the marathon came around, I still had a productive cough. That said, because I was not contagious, and because I had worked so dang hard, I decided to send the darn thing anyway. It helped that the weather projections were perfect: 59 degrees and foggy at the start, with clouds giving way to sun and a high of 68 at the height of the day.
I started with the 4:10 pacer, and felt really good. The first 10K melted by and I was holding myself back from speeding up.
It's a good thing I did, because by mile 8 everything fell apart.
My heart rate hasn't been right since I got sick, and by mile 8 it started to spike. I also started to feel some plantar fasciitis pain, likely because I haven't been taking care of it for weeks. I had to slow down. As I approached the split for half marathoners to finish / marathoners to continue on, I wavered. Maybe I should just finish the half marathon?
I didn't. I stuck it out and finished the first 13.1 at 2:04 which, while slow for me in peak health, bolstered my confidence for several miles.
Until mile 17.
At that point I broke down and began to interval, for the sake of my heart rate more than anything else. At mile 20, the top of my right foot began to throb. This was a brand new sensation, which actually scared me. I decided I could walk the rest of the dang thing at that point and still finish. Any other "goals" went out the window. A friend met me at mile 21 and jogged/chatted with me for a while, which was a huge boost. At mile 24 some friends were cheering for me, which also pushed me on. At mile 25, a stitch made me stop dead for a moment. I kept moving, and managed to jog the last 0.1mi for a 4:42 finish.
I don't know that I made the "right" call by running the race. My cough has worsened, likely because I put my body through so much trauma on Sunday, and my right foot is still swollen. That said, it was so freeing to drop all expectations of myself, and move into a "complete not compete" mentality. All of you are such warriors for doing this sport. Your speed/splits don't matter, just simply doing the thing makes you incredible.
Congratulations to everyone running out there, you inspire this ill idiot.

Hi there, I'm trying to work out how much my swing through knee should flex/foot rise up towards my backside when doing an easy or long endurance pace. Is it correct that the speed you are running influences this? As in: if sprinting or running fast the swing through leg has a lot of knee flexion and the heel of the foot almost kicks you in the butt, however at slower paces, it won't or shouldn't be as much as that? Thanks in advance

Race Information

• Name: Edinburgh Marathon
  
• Date: Sunday 26 May, 2024
  
• Distance: 26.2 miles
  
• Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
  
• Website: https://www.edinburghmarathon.com/marathon
  
• Time: 3:53:55
  

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Finish	Yes
B	Sub 4	Yes
C	Sub 3:50	No

Splits

Kilometer	Time
1	5:50
2	5:37
3	5:02
4	5:39
5	5:22
6	5:21
7	5:14
8	5:10
9	5:17
10	5:33
11	5:30
12	5:22
13	5:18
14	5:23
15	5:22
16	5:15
17	5:15
18	5:13
19	5:25
20	5:15
21	5:15
22	5:14
23	5:21
24	5:29
25	5:26
26	5:26
27	5:36
28	5:16
29	5:22
30	5:25
31	5:30
32	5:37
33	5:33
34	5:30
35	5:37
36	5:46
37	5:47
38	6:02
39	5:58
40	6:04
41	5:57
42	5:37

Training

This was my 2nd marathon attempt, with the first one ending disastrously in a DNF just before the 20 mile mark. The training for the failed attempt had gone horribly as I was suffering from Plantar Fasciitis and I missed the final few weeks. Foolishly I tried to do it anyway and my ankle blew up 20 miles in.
This time round I had fully recovered from PF and training had all gone to plan, my training plan went up to 20 miles long run (twice) which was the furthest I'd ever run up to this point. Most of my long runs were done at about 6:00/km pace which translates to 4hr 13m but I was keeping those at an easy pace so I set myself a goal of sub-4.

Pre-race

I travelled up to Edinburgh on the Saturday, arrived in the afternoon with my wife and did a little bit of sightseeing and shopping. In the evening we met up with 2 friends, one who was doing the full and one who was doing the half. We had some pasta and talked race tactics and stressed out about the weather forecast!
I had a surprisingly good night sleep before the race, I woke around 6:30am and had some coffee and flapjacks as pre race fuel. One thing that made me anxious was I was unable to take a dump, I tried a couple of times but only managed gas.
The weather was very wet on the morning, it was raining non-stop from the moment I woke. I met up with my friend and walked roughly 20 minutes to the start area, the rain was getting consistently heavier and by the time we reached the start area it was a full on downpour. We managed to find some shelter near the bag drop area and nervously waited for 10am. At around 9:45 we said our goodbyes, I was starting from the orange pen and he was yellow. As I got to the orange pen the rain intensified and it felt like a full on monsoon, several hundred runners were taking shelter under the canopy of a university building and I managed to squeeze my way in, the energy was nervous and there was a bit of a grim silence as the minutes ticked by and the rain lashed down. Finally 10am came and everyone made their way to the corrals, although we were waiting around 10-15 minutes before we actually got going, so I started off soaked to the bone.

Race

Miles 1-6
I was very surprised not to see any pacers, my pre-race plan had been to follow the 4-hour pacer for the first half and then see how I felt after 13 miles. However, there were no pacers to be seen, which was quite a shock given this is the 2nd biggest marathon event in the UK after London, so I set off with the crowd and had to rely on my Garmin for pace. Despite the pouring rain there was a good number of spectators cheering us on as we ran through the city centre, there's a very steep downhill section early on and due to the heavy rain there was a torrent of water running down it meaning it was fairly treacherous under foot, it was slow going at this point as the course was packed and you were at the mercy of the pack.
By mile 3 I was completely drenched from head to foot and I could feel my clothes and running rucksack become noticeably heavier, certainly not the greatest start. Nevertheless, I resolved not to let the wet weather ruin my day and decided to just get on with as best I could. Just before mile 6 I ran past my wife with her cheer squad and managed to give her a quick peck on the cheek, at this point the rain had subsided and I managed to get my earpods out of my vest and put on a podcast to get me through the next couple of hours.
Miles 7-17
This was where I really got in the zone, the miles were zipping by and I was feeling strong, I managed to mostly dry off and the podcast kept me distracted, although at around 15 mile mark the battery on my earbuds died so I put them back in their case to recharge, ready for the final 6 miles playlist I had prepared. I think at about 16 miles I felt a strong belief that I would get this finished and achieve my sub-4 goal. I did some mental calculcations and realised I was actually in line for sub-3:50 which became my new on-the-day goal.
Miles 17-21
Around this time, the sun came out and was surprisingly warm which, along with the undulating hills, started to sap my energy. The miles were definitely not zipping by anymore and my pace was slowing down. I was sweating heavily and tried to grab a water at every opportunity. At mile 20 I fished out my recharged earbuds and put on the final 6 mile playlist, mostly comprising of cheesy 80s songs from Rocky and a few heavy metal bangers. This definitely helped me keep going and I tried to focus on the music rather than my increasingly strained body.
Miles 21-finish
Now I understand why they say the real marathon starts after 20 miles. This bit was sheer willpower, every minute felt like an hour. I tried my hardest not to look at my watch but every time I did barely anytime had gone by. Every ounce of concentration was poured in to taking the next step. To help me keep going I visualised crossing the finish line and seeing my wife and friends, I kept repeating in my head I WILL DO THIS, I WILL DO THIS, I WILL DO THIS. I realised my new dream of going sub-3:50 was slipping away but I knew even if I slowed down to 7:00/km I should still make sub-4.
The closer I got to the finish, the more walking wounded and collapsed runners I saw, one guy nearly collapsed on top of me but I managed to catch him, thankfully there were medics closed by and they came running to his aid. The pain at this point was all consuming and I could barely even think, I just knew I was so close and had to hang in just a tiny bit longer. Once you got to Musselburgh, where the finish line is, the course was lined with supporters and spectators cheering us on which was a huge help, I put my earbuds away and soaked in the atmosphere from the crowd, my legs were screaming out to stop and I could feel cramp creeping up on me in the calves but once I passed the 26 mile mark I got a final burst of energy and adrenaline from the crowd and sped up to the cross the finish line on 3:53:55.

Post-race

I stumbled through the finish area and picked up my goodies in a daze. I was delighted with my time and giddy with emotion. Somehow my wife managed to find me, there was no phone reception whatsoever so co-ordinating with others was almost impossible. I sat on the wet grass and wolfed down a cereal bar, when I stood up I felt extremely dizzy and had to sit straight back down, I stayed down for a while and downed an electrolyte drink which seemed to help. We waited for my friend for about 30 minutes but then the rain really started pouring again, the finish area turned in to a muddy bog and we still had no phone signal so decided to head back to the city. Once we'd got far enough away from the crowds we managed to get phone signal and ordered a ridiculously expensive Uber back to Edinburgh city centre.
Back at the hotel I had the longest shower of my life and we cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

Reflections

As I write this, a little over 48 hours after the finish, I'm still in a fair amount of pain. When I stand up or sit back down my quads are screaming and I just generally feel like I've been hit by a bus.
At the minute I have zero interest in ever running another marathon. I also have a new found respect for those people (freaks?) who do challenges where they run back to back marathons on consecutive days, or anyone who does an ultra. But I'm delighted I've done it and achieved my goal of sub-4, I have a half booked in for later in the year and who knows what the future will hold.
Thanks for reading :)
Made with a new race report generator created by herumph.

So far no lawyer will help me because I didn't need stitches.
Edit: Located in Delaware USA
Me: F23 Husband: M36
TL:DR psycho in love with my husband spreads rumors about him cheating with her, ignores his rejections, talks about wanting to fight me, and then leaves an aggressive dog outside to surprise me on a delivery to her house. received no help from the police, hospital or lawyers.
I'm going to start a year or two before the incident. Trust me it's relevant. My boyfriend (now my husband) and I worked at a convenience store together. He eventually got promoted to manager, but because the owner was a bit misogynistic I never got promoted despite doing everything in my job description and more.
For a while we managed to keep the fact that we were dating a secret, mainly to avoid drama. But then I made a few “friends” and gushed over him a few times to my friends. One of them spread the news. It didn't affect our jobs because he wasn't a manager when we started dating. But it started drama.
Eventually, I requested a transfer to get away from all the drama. He stayed at his store and I moved to a different one, hoping to finally be recognized for my skills and dedication. (I didn't) After I transferred, a new girl was hired at his store. I'll call her B (for B*tch).
B had a boyfriend. B was also on some substances but could be categorized as a “functional” addict. Because she never nodded out on the job. At some point, she developed feelings for him. I mean, I'm not shocked. He's really handsome and very quiet, so he's definitely got the air of mystery. But she caught feelings to the point of being crazy about it. She started rumors with my old friends that she was dating the hot manager. They informed her he's already got a girlfriend and that B is not even his type. She took his number from the contacts list and used that as “evidence” that they were dating since she had his number.
Then B would send him flirtatious texts and he would either ignore them or play dumb. She would show these off like they prove something. Eventually, he caught on and showed me the texts to get my opinion. I laughed and told him B was definitely trying to sleep with him. She had been trying to invite him to her house to chill because he “looks like he's got a lot on his mind” and suggested she could help take his mind off whatever it is. I explained what that meant in literal terms, and he sent her a text politely explaining that he was not interested in her.
She then sends a long text asking him out and sheepishly admits to having feelings for him, completely disregarding his text. It was as if she didn't even read it. When he showed me I was genuinely confused. So I told him maybe she didn't get it, and he should be more direct.
He was irritated with her and sent a rather harsh text reiterating his disinterest and threatening to get a restraining order if she didn't stop. This isn't just because of the texts. He was genuinely getting stressed out by the rumors she had been constantly spreading. He even quit his job and started working somewhere else. But since that convenience store was the only gas station close to us he had to stop there occasionally. And every time he stopped there and she was on shift, she would twist the whole interaction.
For example, a pack of gum was on the counter next to the register when he checked out. She asked if it was his, and he said no, and left after paying for his things. She then paraded the gum around the store bragging that he bought it for her.
She also told everyone there that I was the only reason she couldn't have him to herself, and I was actively stopping him from pursuing her. Sometimes she would tell people that she wanted to fight me, but I'm so skinny it would be like "snapping a twig" and not even worth the effort.
So his text may have been harsh but I understood. He ended up having to block her, and look for her car every time he got gas. If it was there, he would try to make it to work and get gas later when she was gone.
Sometimes I had to go inside when she was there. I assumed since I never met her in person she wouldn't know me just by looking at me. I was polite and friendly to her despite having a pit in my stomach and feeling shaky. I soon found out she definitely knew who I was because then I got a text from one of my old friends that she was telling everyone the b*tch keeping her man from her came in that day.
Every time I was near her I got a rush of adrenaline and anger. I wanted to jump the counter and teach her not to go after a man with a family. (we each have one kid from a previous relationship.)
We got married almost two years ago and that really made her ramp it up. Then she no-call no-showed a few times and got fired. Finally she was out of our general life. I ended up quitting the company and moved onto a restaurant with delivery in a different town.
I got a delivery to a familiar name. And it turns out it was her. When I got to her house she was waiting at the end of her driveway. She said "I was wondering if it was you when I saw the name." I laughed because I didn't realize the delivery app had my actual name. I had thought I set my name to Mrs. Jeepers, since I drove a jeep, and customers greeting me by name was a bit unnerving. Turns out I never hit save. To this day I can't figure out how to save the changes.
I delivered to her a few more times. The first three times she was waiting at the end of her dirt driveway. It's probably wide enough for three cars to park side by side and long enough for three to park end to end. Each time she would make the comment that she knew it would be me. Then one day she wasn't waiting at the end of the driveway. So I parked and began to walk up to the door. Each step was difficult as my feet were sinking into mud that smelled strongly of sewage. The whole yard and driveway was flooded, it may as well have been marsh. Or a swamp. I had to hold my breath and breathe sparingly. I didn't say a word to her when I handed the food over, because I would gag if I inhaled too deeply.
The next time I delivered I expected the issue to be resolved but no, the property was just as rank and flooded as last time. At least five deliveries were made to her door, after treading through disgusting mud.
Now is a good time to explain some of the perks of our delivery app! You can see the name of the driver, their location, eta, and you can leave instructions for the driver. Examples are as follows:
!CONTACTLESS! LEAVE AT DOOR
beware of dog, meet at x location/call on arrival
(description of hard to locate house)
Tip in envelope
dogs are loud but friendly
etc etc...
She never left any instructions. Nothing at all. And I always check because it's in the navigation app, and printed in bold on the top of the receipt right under the house number. Since she always told me she knew it was me, I knew she used the app.
The Incident
One day I get there, yard still flooded, and there is a dog laying down on the front steps. I check for instructions and I see nothing. At first I hesitate, but not because of the dog, because of the mud. It's deeper every time and I dread walking through it. It suctions my feet in. It feels like walking with weights. The dog is a white pitbull with the cutest pink nose, and It's laying down. No barking, no raised hair or growling. I am unfortunately a pitbull empathizer. I know they aren't naturally child eating monsters, it's usually dog fighters that breed them and raise them to be that way. So I begin to walk toward the steps. Confident that this dog is no threat. If you were expecting pizza, and used a tracker, you would keep your aggressive animals away from the door or driveway. Or at least leave instructions to call while still in your car so they can put the dog in.
I was too trusting.
My foot hit the first step, the dog is still laying down, now less than a foot away from me. It looks up at me and I say "hiii" in my baby talking dogs voice. As if the dog teleported I was instantly being attacked. The dog went only for the backs of my knees, biting and shaking its head. I was knocked off balance and tossed the pizza into the mud. I started to try and get away while this dog bit me repeatedly, and shook like it was trying to tear off a chunk of my leg. It was snarling loudly the whole time. I fell down into the mud because I couldn't lift my feet out of the mud fast enough to balance myself while I tried to escape. I managed to get upright before the dog lunged again, and eventually someone came outside and called the dog in. Then I was alone, and my legs were screaming in pain. I limped to my car rather fast, probably running off the adrenaline, and called the store.
my boss picked up and all I could say without crying was "I just got my legs f*cked up by a dog and I dropped their pizza, what do I do?! It hurts so bad." She told me just go to the hospital and they will deal with the customer. I typed in hospital and started navigating to the first result, as I was in so much pain it was actually hard to think of anything else.
You know that hard tendon thing on the outer side of your knee? I felt like mine was falling off. I felt like I could feel it bleeding and dangling. I called my husband and told him what happened, and that I was going to the hospital. Then I called my parents. Honestly I just needed someone to talk to, to distract me from the pain. It helped as much as drinking water helps a stab wound. I got to the hospital and wanted to call someone to help me inside because I was seriously struggling to get my legs to work properly. Every step my knees would give out and I ended up walking like a newborn deer. I looked and felt rediculous. I decided I didn't want to risk being overdramatic. Even though walking was incredibly difficult and painful, I was still mobile.
The hospital visit may aswell been a visit to the school nurse. I sat in the lobby crying for two hours. Then someone took me back, looked at it, and asked what happened. Then I was sent back to the lobby for another hour. Finally I was taken to the trauma unit where a doctor came in, looked at it again, and basically said "yeah that's a dog bite." As they were talking discharge I asked why my legs felt like they were asleep. Ever since the attack, alongside the pain was a buzzing sensation that wouldn't stop. The doctor said it was some kind of temporary nerve damage because of the bites to the soft backs of my knees.
They counted six bleeding bites, but since I was wearing some men's work pants, I had been protected enough to not need stitches. If I had been naked, the bite force would have been enough to rip the meat from my bones. They told me do not go up and down stairs, get up and down out of chairs, in and out of cars etc for at least a week or I could risk making the damage worse. So I was out of work for a week.
Someone had to take me out to my car in a wheelchair, and help me in. I drove back to work, and had someone help me inside so I could fill out the injury report for workers comp.
My first few days back I had to work short hours because I would get this exploding pain in the back of my Left knee, which took the most damage, if I was on my feet for more than an hour at a time.
ffw a few weeks and I get a letter from the store owner's insurance company stating that they will pay any related medical bills, but they won't be paying for my days out. I call the owner and explain what I read. He called them retarted and said he would make some calls to try and sort it out.
I have the MyChart app, and the hospital visit was logged by then. So I checked out the report and notes. There was a diagram of the location of the bites, discharge notes and other notes. I read the notes, and saw one that among other things said "no difficulty walking." I'm really irritated by this, and now I'm wondering if this is why workers comp is refusing to pay me for my time out of work.
Aside from this I called the lawyer my boss uses, and they apparently don't take injury cases, so they referred me elsewhere. After finally getting a call back from lawyer 2, and a long conversation, he told me he won't take my case since I didn't need stitches. He referred me to another lawyer that I have yet to call since Monday was a holiday and his office was closed. It's 5am where I am.
The reasons I'm getting a lawyer are because this incident was so traumatic that I freeze up anytime an excited dog barks at me or even walks in my direction. Also because the buzzing in my left leg has yet to go away, and I can't fully extend my left leg without pain behind the knee. It's been nearly two months. Plus I don't know if workers comp will come through and the week out of work caused me to miss a car payment. Now I'm behind and since I'm paycheck to paycheck, I don't have enough to pay twice to get caught up.
While talking to my mom about the incident, she suddenly had an angry expression, and told me "I think that girl did this on purpose." she put the puzzle pieces together with me, and now I have a new fear. This girl is really crazy, and I've seen it before. I'm genuinely scared she might try to hurt me in other ways now. She has been banned from our store as far as I know, but she knows where I work.
I want to get some kind of restraining order and fine her for the neglect, and emotional damages. Honestly she should be charged for animal abuse. There's no way her dog was that aggressive for no reason. I had tried to file a police report once I was out of the hospital and a little more clear minded. They said there's nothing they can do about it, and referred me to some kind of animal police. They said they could find out if the dog was vaccinated for rabies for me so I said yes please let me know. They never called me back either.
WTH do I do here? Everything is so messed up. It's like no one cares. Sometimes I space out and unwillingly replay the incident in my head. Once I delivered to a house that looked a lot like hers, and I suddenly forgot that I wasn't at her house, I wondered when her yard finally dried up. I wondered why we accepted her order. I thought she was banned. Then I heard barking dogs and froze up completely. It wasn't until the customer turned on their porchlight and opened their door that I snapped out of it and completed the delivery.
I'm messed up, mentally and physically, and no one is helping me. What should I do?

For the bot 🤞
I'm a 27-year-old male, non-smoker, tee total, no medications, no past medical history, not diabetic. Family history of degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis. I have weight lifted for approximately 12 years, including strength training (3-5rm) for around 7. No previous injuries.
I've had chronic lower back pain for around six years. The pain had an acute onset initially: I was squatting heavy (3RM), felt a sudden twinge in the right side of my back (around my QL, but the pain was more diffuse and hard to pinpoint specifically). At the time there were no neuropathic symptoms. By the time I walked home from the gym I was holding up traffic trying to cross the road, then bed bound for about a week following. I didn't follow a specific rehabilitation plan nor see a doctor at the time, so I can't recall the exact timeline of my recovery. Since then, I have had limited right-side lateral flexion with a firm end feel way sooner than the contralateral side, a grinding sensation with concomitant pain on extension, and pain on forward flexion - particularly when seated. In the past two years I have developed radiculopathy that seems to travel down the classical sciatic dermatome, a fluttering sensation in my right calf at rest, and tingling in the plantar surface of my foot. Over the last few months the pain is starting to interfere with my studies, every day function and sleep, and now I'm concerned that a similar fluttering in my left calf is developing into bilateral radiculopathy which I understand is not good.
Recently a physiotherapist assessed my lumbar spine and palpated a notable step-off around L4-L5. Pain on palpation seems to provoke the exact symptoms I'd been feeling so far, and both the straight-leg raise and slump test were positive. Reflexes and myotomes were all normal.
He wouldn't refer me himself. When I asked if a GP (I'm in the UK) would likely refer me, he said probably not. At present, I have no idea if it is indeed spondylolisthesis, because I don't think the evidence suggests physical examination alone is enough to provide a diagnosis. Therefore, I can't say that the neuropathic symptoms are because of that either. I'm only 27, and feel that if I had an accurate and definitive diagnosis or differential diagnosis I can then adapt my lifestyle to it or seek further treatment to prevent it's progression.
Would you suggest I pursue a GP referral? At the moment I feel a little frustrated at the prospect of being turned away and ignored when the pain is very real.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! 🙏

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I made a post a while ago on strength training for runners, showing how strength training can improve performance and reduce injury risk. I had some requests to elaborate, but never did. I focus my strength training on prehab/injury mitigation. Keep in mind the literature is limited when it comes to injury mitigation, but I strongly believe that strength training has a big role to play.
A few caveats first:
Everyone has different bodies. My issues, such as collapsing arches, plantar fasciitis, medial knee injury, etc are most likely different than yours. Everyone has slightly different anatomy.
The following is a general prescription. It's something to build a base with and tweak for yourself.
Equipment I use: an adjustable kettlebell, ab rollewheel, and a set of resistance bands.
Warm up: rollouts with the wheel, side plank with rotations, monster walks with the bands, lunges, high kicks
Core exercises: split squat, kettlebell swing/Romanian deadlift, calf raises, push ups, single arm rows
Accessory exercises: special calf raises to target tibialis posterior, toe yoga/other intrinsic foot muscle work, big toe adductor exercises.
How many sets/reps, and weight? I aim for 2 working sets a piece on each exercise. I treat the first set as a partial warm up, not going completely to failure. For the second working set, I push to failure/form breakdown. I aim for 12-20 reps, and increase the weight as I am able. There is no need to increase the weight quickly. I do this mostly for injury prevention.
How to structure your program: ideally, aim to hit each muscle group twice a week. You should include a strengthening exercise for all major muscles used in running: quads, glutes, gastroc/soleus. You should include accessory exercises to maintain hip/pelvic/spinal stability while running. You should target what you know to be your weaknesses/common injuries and prehab them.
The following is my rationale for each exercise and might help to give you an idea of how to tailor a program for yourself.
Warm ups: Ab wheel- works on trunk stability which is helpful for long runs, and I like it Side plank rotations- lateral trunk and hip stability Monster walks- lateral hip stability. Working on the gluteus medius is important for me due to genu valgus (knee knocking and medial knee issues). Lunges/high kicks- just warms ups.
Core exercises Split squat: good general strength training move to target quads and glutes. Standard squats would work too, but I think the carryover is better for split squats since it's a unilateral move.
Kettlebell swing/RDL- great strengthener for hamstrings and glutes, and generally the entire posterior chain. I like swings since it is a quick loading and force producing move- like running is.
Calf raises- good general strengthening for ankle stability. I always emphasize the eccentric portion in the hopes that this is benefitting my Achilles tendon.
Push up- general pushing strength exercise for upper body
Single arm row- general pulling strength exercise for upper body.
Accessory exercises: Tibialis posterior calf raises- I do these because my feet are pretty flat and I tend to get super sore in my tibialis posterior after long distances. I know I need to focus on this if I want to have a good time on a run more than 10 miles long.
Toe yoga/intrinsic foot exercises: I like to do towel inversion and eversion floor pulls and “toe yoga” which is basically working on independently moving my big toe from the rest of my toes.
Big toe adductor exercises: I have a family history of bunions, and my big toe is starting to drift. This is my effort to limit this. I manually resist this exercise with my hand.
Thanks for reading!
Edit 1: I'm a physical therapist with a DPT degree- but I also don't claim to be the world's foremast expert on anything. This is what I personally do when training for long distance events.

I made a post a while ago on strength training for runners, showing how strength training can improve performance and reduce injury risk. I had some requests to elaborate, but never did. I focus my strength training on prehab/injury mitigation. Keep in mind the literature is limited when it comes to injury mitigation, but I strongly believe that strength training has a big role to play.
A few caveats first:
Everyone has different bodies. My issues, such as collapsing arches, plantar fasciitis, medial knee injury, etc are most likely different than yours. Everyone has slightly different anatomy.
The following is a general prescription. It's something to build a base with and tweak for yourself.
Equipment I use: an adjustable kettlebell, ab rollewheel, and a set of resistance bands.
Warm up: rollouts with the wheel, side plank with rotations, monster walks with the bands, lunges, high kicks
Core exercises: split squat, kettlebell swing/Romanian deadlift, calf raises, push ups, single arm rows
Accessory exercises: special calf raises to target tibialis posterior, toe yoga/other intrinsic foot muscle work, big toe adductor exercises.
How many sets/reps, and weight? I aim for 2 working sets a piece on each exercise. I treat the first set as a partial warm up, not going completely to failure. For the second working set, I push to failure/form breakdown. I aim for 12-20 reps, and increase the weight as I am able. There is no need to increase the weight quickly. I do this mostly for injury prevention.
How to structure your program: ideally, aim to hit each muscle group twice a week. You should include a strengthening exercise for all major muscles used in running: quads, glutes, gastroc/soleus. You should include accessory exercises to maintain hip/pelvic/spinal stability while running. You should target what you know to be your weaknesses/common injuries and prehab them.
The following is my rationale for each exercise and might help to give you an idea of how to tailor a program for yourself.
Warm ups: Ab wheel- works on trunk stability which is helpful for long runs, and I like it Side plank rotations- lateral trunk and hip stability Monster walks- lateral hip stability. Working on the gluteus medius is important for me due to genu valgus (knee knocking and medial knee issues). Lunges/high kicks- just warms ups.
Core exercises Split squat: good general strength training move to target quads and glutes. Standard squats would work too, but I think the carryover is better for split squats since it's a unilateral move.
Kettlebell swing/RDL- great strengthener for hamstrings and glutes, and generally the entire posterior chain. I like swings since it is a quick loading and force producing move- like running is.
Calf raises- good general strengthening for ankle stability. I always emphasize the eccentric portion in the hopes that this is benefitting my Achilles tendon.
Push up- general pushing strength exercise for upper body
Single arm row- general pulling strength exercise for upper body.
Accessory exercises: Tibialis posterior calf raises- I do these because my feet are pretty flat and I tend to get super sore in my tibialis posterior after long distances. I know I need to focus on this if I want to have a good time on a run more than 10 miles long.
Toe yoga/intrinsic foot exercises I like to do towel inversion and eversion floor pulls and “toe yoga” which is basically working on independently moving my big toe from the rest of my toes.
Big toe adductor exercises I have a family history of bunions, and my big toe is starting to drift. This is my effort to limit this. I manually resist this exercise with my hand.
Thanks for reading!

Hi everyone, I found this board in early February before my surgery for Achilles rupture on February 20, which puts me at about almost 14 weeks post-top. I am an active 50 yr W that played tennis 3 times a week and holder 7-8 miles almost daily prior to surgery. My rupture was not a tear that happened at once.. It was wearing and tear over Time from running, jumping, tennis and finally tore last fall (my insurance company required eight weeks of PT before they would allow an MRI hence why I did not get surgery until February after everything was said and done) If I would have listened to my doctor three years ago and went the non-op route I might be fine now, but I digress. I have had a couple complications, I had a blister on the bottom of the incision from my boot that is still not quite healed, and I had a huge bone spur on my heel shaved off during surgery. Now I’m doing pretty well however, my ankle stiffness and toe stiffness and plantar stiffness is making it very difficult to walk correctly, especially with uneven services because my foot does not bend properly . I do attend PT once a week and we have foot exercises, etc. but I was just wondering if anyone out there experienced this and if you did anything special or different to help your foot loosen up. When I go to PT this week, I’m going to ask about using heat. What is happening as I am active all day long my foot is not bending properly and then that ankle area aches, and it hurts. At this point it’s getting pretty frustrated, but my surgeon gave me clearance to do basically whatever I wanted to other than jumping or running, about two weeks ago And encouraged long distance walking, etc. and I need my right foot done in October. So there’s that. Forgive my typos, I’m on the treadmill.

PART ONE THOUSAND AND FOURTEEN
[Previous Chapter] [The Beginning] [Patreon+2]
Sunday
Lucas was still thinking about the gun issue after he’d loaded all his purchases into the car. Technically, he could go home and deal with this tomorrow, but once he was back at work, there’d be little time to breathe, let alone side ventures to the store (especially when he was supposed to have his final fitting on his suits at some point, though God knew when that was going to happen). Besides, Levi and Austin could be called out as early as tonight, which made tomorrow too late. Something needed to be sorted, and he needed to do it now.
So, on his way back, he swung into The Home Depot on 23rd Street (he only had to park two buildings away, which was a big plus for Sunday shopping!) and searched their aisles for viable gun safes. He’d already been leaning towards a biometric safe with a backup key lock over a combination lock for both speed and safety. Still, he’d always assumed either option would involve the traditional style safe where his gun would be laying on its side next to his magazines.
As it turned out, while he perused his options, he found something infinitely better. A narrow, upright lockbox that looked like a side-on-wall letterbox with four numbered buttons on the top. From what he read in the manual, each number correlated to a specific person, and that person then had three seconds to place their thumb on the scanner to unlock the safe.
But that wasn’t even the best part. The gun safe opened by releasing the door from the top to fall out on a forty-five-degree angle like an opening laundry chute, presenting the gun’s grip ready to grab and go. Under the muzzle was space for two spare magazines. The foam inserts would comfortably fit his Glock 19, but his Glock 42 was a smaller gun, and he didn’t like the idea of it rattling inside the padded cradle.
He lifted his right knee and unholstered the smaller weapon, but just as he was about to slide it into the safe to see its fit for himself, someone called out, “Ahhh, excuse me?” from somewhere behind him.
Lucas turned, maintaining control of the weapon and pointing it at the ground beside his right foot. “Yes?”
The man, who was probably around Lucas’s age, though much thinner in comparison, held up his hands apologetically. “Do you have a carry permit? I’m sorry, but I have to ask.”
“So to speak.” He made a very small movement with his left hand, indicating he was about to move in the direction of his pocket before continuing the motion to retrieve his bifold. As soon as he revealed the gold NYPD shield within, the man immediately relaxed.
“Sorry. People brandishing weapons…”
“I know. It’s okay, and I’m sorry if I scared anyone. I just needed to see if the safe could hold my backup weapon as well as my primary one. I’ll be taking at least one of these today. Maybe two if the fit works.”
The guy might not have been much to look at, but he definitely knew his guns. “Your primary’s a Glock Seventeen, right?”
“Nineteen, actually, but how’d you know?”
“People tend to stick with their preferred brands. Glock, Smith and Wesson. Heckler and Koch. SIG Sauer. It’s like motorbike brands. You’ll never see a Suzuki rider on a Yamaha unless he’s dying and being transported to the hospital. Don’t ask either of them what they think of a Hog. Though I would’ve thought someone with your size hands would need a seventeen for the better fit.”
“Nineteen’s plenty and my fiancé has no problem pulling the trigger when we’re at the range.”
If anything, he seemed to get more animated. “But that’s my point. She’d be better suited to the nineteen because her hands are smaller.”
Lucas was beginning to see a pattern here, and he couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh or be pissed off. “Can we just see if it fits in the safe, and if it does, I’ll buy two and get out of your hair.” Before I punch you.
“Actually, that model safe comes with a smaller interior variety. It’s over here.”
Lucas slid his badge into the neck of his shirt so that no one else would be freaked out that he was carrying a gun in plain view. Then he picked up a boxed gun safe in his free hand and trailed after the guy.
“It looks the same size from the outside,” Lucas said, comparing the two.
“Yes,” the guy agreed. “That’s intentional. If you start having boxes of different sizes close to each other, people will target the bigger one for the better gun.”
“I thought these had an insane safety rating.”
“They do, don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about the kind of thief who’ll sit in your house until they figure out how to crack your safe. I’m talking about the kind who’ll rip the whole safe off the wall and break into it later. Speaking of which, do you have anyone to install it? These have tricky specifics.”
“My fiancé was a construction worker for years, so yes, I should be good on that score.”
The guy winced before doing a patronising nod. “Well, the instructions are simple enough to follow, so if she stuck with the job long enough, she should be able to follow the building jargon.”
“He,” Lucas corrected, taking offence that the guy had effectively dismissed women as incapable of being construction workers and wanting to knock him off his proverbial high horse. After all, if he hated the idea of women in that field, the top of his head should explode at the thought of Lucas and Boyd as a couple.
Just as he’d thought, the guy’s friendly attitude vanished, and his lip curled in disgust as he recoiled.
“Remember the badge and make smart choices,” Lucas warned.
The smile was more of a hateful grimace. “Will that be all, sir?” he practically sneered.
“Yes, I’m good now. Run along and take your homophobic, chauvinistic attitude somewhere else; thank you.” Deliberately keeping his weapon low and behind his back, Lucas drew a deep breath and straightened to his full six-foot height, tensing his muscles in a clear display of intimidation. “Now would be good.”
The guy disappeared in seconds, leaving Lucas to snort and drop to one knee, holstering his weapon. He straightened up, placed the first box on top of the second, and carried both towards the front of the store. He kept his badge on his collar in case of any blowback from his interaction.
Sure enough… “Detective,” a woman’s voice called out.
Lucas stopped with a sigh and turned to face the woman with a large security guard behind her. “Yes?”
“There has been a complaint—”
“Let me stop you right there,” he interrupted, and surprisingly, she paused. “Your guy that served me knows his stuff. I’m not going to belittle him by saying he doesn’t. But he was the one who implied women couldn’t do construction work and then flipped out when he found out my construction-working fiancé was a man. I cut off whatever derogatory slur he had percolating in his homophobic head by reminding him I’m also an NYPD detective capable of arresting him if he chose to act on his hate. I’m sure your store has a policy against that sort of discrimination, and I’m not holding his behaviour against you or this store.”
Lucas tapped his badge. “You can see my badge number here, or I can give you my card. But if you check your security feeds, you’ll see I wasn’t the aggressor. I was here to buy two gun safes, and with the help of your clerk, I now have them, which was why I was leaving. Is that alright?”
“Would you mind if I take a photo of your badge number and write down your name and phone number to add to the incident report?” She pulled out her phone but waited for him to nod.
“Go right ahead. It’s no secret.” He gave her his name and phone number.
“And you’re off duty at the moment, correct?”
“Yes. That’s why I only have my backup weapon with me. And again, as you’ll see in the footage, I only had it out to find the right sized gun safe for it. It was never pointed at anything but the ground and the gun safe, and as soon as the sizing was done, I re-holstered it.”
The manager took the photo and wrote down Lucas’ name and number. She then looked over the two gun safes in his hands. “Getting the jump on the new legislation, Detective?”
Lucas frowned. “Sorry?”
“I heard on the grapevine they’re going to start pushing hard for gun safes to be mandatory for all weapons in New York City.”
If anything, that made Lucas smile. “It’ll certainly make my job a lot easier if they did, but no, I hadn’t heard about that. My three-year-old niece is going to be staying with me from time to time while my brother’s at work, and I’m not having loaded weapons anywhere near that precious little girl.”
“Good idea. I always thought it was crazy to be allowed to store a loaded gun in your bedside drawer.”
Lucas didn’t quite go that far in his beliefs but to each their own. “Is that all, ma’am?”
The manager snorted and smiled in amusement. “If I didn’t think you were a cop before…”
As lovely as the manager was being under the circumstances, Lucas didn’t have time for the chitchat. “I’m sorry, but I have to get these home and installed and am due elsewhere this afternoon. I have no idea when my niece will be coming to stay, and if it’s tonight, these need to be in and ready to go.”
“Thanks again for your understanding, detective.”
“No worries.”
* * *
((Author’s note: Hey all, thanks for waiting for me. I took the week to rest, given that the governmental stuff could take months to sort itself out. I was wound tighter than the proverbial and very close to snapping, which was why I needed to week.))
((All comments welcome. Good or bad, I’d love to hear your thoughts 🥰🤗))
I made a family tree/diagram of the Mystallian family that can be found here
For more of my work, including WPs: Angel466 or an index of previous WPS here.
FULL INDEX OF BOB THE HOBO TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!

Went to the ER and was told that I need to be intubated for pneumonia. Was supposed to be intubated for a couple of days. Though, apparently I didn’t wake up as scheduled and stayed intubated for about a week. When woken up, apparently, I was not able to breathe on my own and had to be intubated again. After another week or so, I woke up.
During the first intubation period, apparently, I caught a really high fever (around 105) that they had trouble getting down for a few days. As well, I caught rhabdomyolysis.
After I woke up, I was told I had pneumonia with sepsis and an unknown virus. Even though, they couldn’t figure out what virus it was, they said it looks like it’s gone. So, no longer a big deal.
In addition, I had nerve pain from my hip to foot. Was initially told it was from the peripheral nerve and then later was told it is from sciatica. Also, got plantar fasciitis and Morton’s neuroma between big toe and second toe. The leg with the nerve pain was (and still is) considerably weaker than the other.
After around a year, still having trouble walking (everything above is still present) and recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

Having read a lot of reddit posts I am super certain this is what I have erythromelalgia. I'm 32 and have many back issues (scoliosis, also developed sciatica in the last few years - read my other posts if you relate) as well so I always assumed my leg/foot pain was a result of that. It's sometimes tricky to distinguish the pain but I probably also have leg pain that actually stems from the back. However what I now think is erythromelalgia affects only my feet. Don't know if primary or secondary but I'm pretty sure I have it. My feet have been flaring up for a few years now, both of them. I have checked my veins and some reflux was observed but not enough to cause too much harm. Regardless, I even did a peripheral vein surgery on one of my legs as it seemed that my veins were not pushing the blood back up sufficiently. It didn't change anything in therms of my symptoms. As for my symptoms, they are really strange and irregular. Firstly every morning when I stand up, my feet immediately hurt and tingle. Then on it's just how much that pain fluctuates that differs. Sometimes it's okay and when I start moving a bit it becomes better (like 4 out of 10) but other days it's just crazy painful. If I stand in the same spot for 10 seconds it's torture. I've tried all sorts of orthopedic solutions but they at best make a small difference. On one of my leg I sometimes get a plantar fascitis type of pain too. I think I first noticed it a couple years ago especially during winter time as it felt like frostbite. But it happens in summer too. I think that even some socks make it worse, almost like an allergic reaction. When my feet get sweaty as well. So many things make it worse. On my toes I even developed some type of dead skin I definitely did not have before. The swelling is absolutely worst when bending or crutching as blood seems to pool into them. I did a lot of standing yesterday unfortunately and today my feet are ringing with pain. Finally my toes become really scary dark especially when I'm showing with hot water. They quickly become less scary (still very red but less scary) when I walk out of the shower. The doctors here don't have a clear idea about the symptoms or how they are interconnected so it's a guessing game, just trying different pills. It's me who googled erythromelalgia! So far it's been about a year on gabapentin (7x300) and pain killers with no real improvements.
Anyways, as I have a whole number of symptoms I still live in the hope that some of this can be fixed by back surgery or something. Maybe it's caused or influenced by something else. Does anyone have anything similar to me (I hope that you don't) and if so can anyone share their case? Looking for a sliver of hope.

I have been treating a plantar wart with cryotherapy at a dermatologist and salicylic acid at home with almost no success. A few layers of skin peeled off and the wart and immediate surrounding skin is all white.
I treated the wart today with Dr. Scholl's freeze away wart remover (link), applying it for ~2 mins instead of the recommended 40 seconds, and the skin was already thinner than usual. It is very painful 6 hours after application, more than the last cryotherapy session at the derm. The area I applied the freezing agent to turned whiter, and the skin around that white area turned a darker tone of red, which worries me (picture below)
https://preview.redd.it/rov3qtqc8u2d1.jpg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4139c4d1bdaa8b43b1da46dcbdc13679420aca71
Up until 2 hours ago the area was more painful than usual, but I wasn't TOO worried. To my detriment, my toddler stepped on my foot which made the persistent pain from the freezing a lot worse and not getting any better.
What are the chances this can develop skin necrosis or some sort of frostbite? I'm scared! When should I visit an ER?