Friday September 5, 2008

It is Friday and I am feeling fine. Why so confident you ask?

It is Friday and I am feeling fine. Why so confident you ask? Well, I just came back from a very empowering training session. Let me explain. When I last left you I was hobbling around complaining of heel pain. Well, I?m still complaining and hobbling, just not was fervently.

Despite my urges to do otherwise, I took it easy this week. Once I finally admitted that my heel hurt I felt relieved as if saying it out loud (or writing it in a blog) some how absolved me of my training sins: forgive me Father for it's been 3 miles since I've stretched. Ok, I'm not Catholic, but you get my drift. I had been ignoring my heel for a while and it finally caught up with me. But, once I admitted it hurt, and took steps to alleviate the pain, I made progress. My quasi-rest period seems to have worked.

This week my training was all about the riding and less about the running. I actually didn't run at all and instead opted for the Stairmaster hoping the cardio benefits would be sufficient training. And, it was. This morning, after dropping our respective children off at their various schools, Amy and I got together for our new Friday tradition: brick training. It didn't look like the weather was going to cooperate with us; the sky was filled with dark, ominous, clouds. But, it actually turned out to be perfect training weather: nice and cool.


We started off with a nice brisk jog. We told ourselves we'd run for ten minutes, turn around and run back. But we both felt great and the next thing we knew, we passed our turn around time. After feeling confident with our run (and no walking!) we jumped on our bikes for a demanding, hilly one-hour ride. Amy was having some break issues but we pressed on and when we got back to the car for our final run we were both feeling good. After a quick transition we took off running again and gripped in conversation we ran further and faster than we anticipated. We were so proud of ourselves. Granted, we didn?t do the full biathlon distance, but we were close. I?m feeling more and more confident about the upcoming race.

I'm going to relish today's accomplishment and dutifully ignore the throb in my heel.

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Wednesday September 3, 2008

What a pain!

Ok so I haven�t wanted to admit it but finally I can�t ignore it anymore. My heel hurts. No, I mean it really, really hurts. The last two days I�ve tried to run and had to stop minutes later because the pain in my left heel was just unbearable. Now you have to remember that after each of my three c-sections I didn�t use any pain drugs and was back at the gym within the week: I have a very high tolerance for pain. But even now, while sitting at my computer doing nothing even remotely physical, it hurts. Groan. This was not part of the plan.

After doing some research I�ve concluded that I probably have plantar fascitis. According to my various online sources, plantar fasciitis is the most common condition that causes heel pain and is due to irritation and inflammation of the tissue that forms the arch of the foot. One of the primary causes of plantar fascitis is �repetitive pounding on your feet from long-distance running, especially running downhill or on uneven surfaces.�

Yup, that sounds about right.

Fortunately my newly-acknowledged condition it is treatable. Self-treatment options include decreasing training, better stretching, icing my heel and avoiding going barefoot or wearing slippers, flip flops and open back shoes. This is doable. I guess sometimes I forget that I�m (almost) 40 (yikes!) and my body doesn�t bounce back as quickly as I�d like. I need to treat it nicer.

Now I have to decide, do I tell my training partner, Amy, or do I just pretend it doesn�t exist (side note: as I type this my heel is throbbing). I don�t want her to think I�m a wimp. I�m supposed to be the one in great shape, pushing her along. Friday is our brick-training day. I�ll take it easy this week and see if I can convince her (and myself) that I�m just fine and will be ready by race day � only 3 � weeks now. Gulp.

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Monday September 1, 2008

There are times when I just want to smack myself

There are times when I just want to smack myself, give myself a real flogging. I mean really, how whiney can I be? I can be so pathetic. Why all this self-hatred? Let me explain. This morning I went out for a run. By now you all know the woes of my running outside: I�m a rock star on the treadmill but struggle to complete any length of time in the outdoors. But I decided that today would be different. I was going to go out for an hour. I would run, walk, crawl if necessary, but I would move for one hour.

So here I am, about 40 minutes into it, and yes, I did walk a fair amount, but I was keeping my end of the bargain and moving. Well, as the road started to slope upwards my resolve started to wane. I started thinking of every excuse possible to stop and was just about to when I looked up and saw these two people in front of me. It was a woman pushing a wheelchair with what looked like a grown man. Was it her son? Her husband? Either way, it caught my attention. The woman was wearing running shorts, a singlet and running shoes, she looked like she was used to going much faster. The person in the wheelchair had his head cocked back as if he was unable to control all his movements. I passed them pretty quickly (I wasn�t going to stop now) so I didn�t get the full scene but the image stuck with me. I wondered if the man was her husband and used to be active and was just in an accident, or if he was her son and had always been that way or what. I started to think about the sacrifices that woman obviously has had to make and will continue to make. I thought about the man in the wheelchair. I have no idea what kind of person he was before or is now. And I thought about what his life must be like being unable to use his legs.

Of course I have seen other people in wheelchairs, but for some reason this scene, on this morning, it really moved me. Maybe I was just over-heated? Well regardless, I have resolved to quit making excuses. My legs work and they work well. They might not always work fast or for long periods, but they propel me forward, always. I need to remember that and just keep moving because I can.