Running Update

After one run... I had wicked Plantar Fasciitis (par for the course with my wicked flat feet). After another run... crazy achilles pain. Next time... my calf was on fire and it felt similar to when I had that stress fracture in 2007. I decided that despite the pain (idiot that I am) I was going to go back to the gym and squeeze a slow 4-miler in just in case I couldn't do my 11-miler this weekend. My run hurt like hell and the only time the pain really went away was about an hour after my workout. Huh? Running on it fixed it? That's entirely counter-intuitive!

Today, my heel is slightly sensitive and I'm just a bit sore on the top of my foot/ankle. But compared to how I was feeling before my run, I'm SO much better. My calf hardly hurts at all! YAY! And I've come to realize that at least I'm lucky to be running one of the few marathons in April that has a half marathon option -- that wasn't a possibility in New York or the Marine Corps. So as bummed as I would be not to run the full (its my birthday wish, after all!), at least I can do something!!!

In other endorsements, after my treadmill run, I limped over to Dave's Running in Perrysburg to talk to them. How perfect that I came right before closing when there was 4 employees with no other customers. They all patiently listened to my long list ailments and the remedies I've tried and although the didn't sell full replacement legs/feet, they did actually point out that maybe the treadmill usage in the last two weeks is a huge contributor (more give and it inevitably changes your gait!). HMM! Interesante! They also highly recommended (short of visiting an actual podiatrist for custom orthodics) the PowerSteps Pinnacle inserts, which is the same brand I vaguely remember my orthopedic doctor recommmending in '07. So I put the money down ($40! Not cheap!) and will keep you posted!!! I also dug up the physicl therapy exercises from that same orthopedic doctor and will start doing those too in high hopes.

Birthday Wishes

So this year, the marathon I chose to train for is on my birthday -- April 24. My parents, little sister, boyfriend and a handful of other favorite people of mine are all schlepping down to Nashville for the Country Music marathon so some of us can run 26.2 miles (and I will celebrate all of my 32 years).

However, I've had problem after problem this year. Bad shoulder. Wonky toes. Super sharp plantar fasciitis. And now I have yet another eerily familiar woe -- the dreaded posterior shin splints. My right leg's calf is soooo sore on one little spot specifically on the inside of that leg. Been there -- done that. In 2007 I had a sore posterior shin on that same right leg the month or two before the Marine Corps Marathon. I completed... in a lot of pain and with a handful of advils. And within three days afterwards, I couldn't put any weight on it at all and I learned I had a stress fracture in my tibia. Cut to 6-7 weeks of wearing an evil boot and having to go to the world's creepiest and flirtiest sports orthopedist. Bad news.

So I'm paranoid that this is what I may have again... I sit here with ice on my stupid calf and worry that I'll have to spend my birthday tortured as I watch all my loved ones run the race that I was supposed to be in. That could be a REALLY crappy birthday. I know I'm insane to want to run a full marathon on the one day of the year that is all about me... but the actual race day is the only reason I dare run in the first place. I hate running coincidentally... but the glory of the finish line always give me amnesia to the hard work and exhaustion of training. So I'm saying my prayers and hopefully this Cobra kicks in so I have health insurance (they say it will be retroactive but I don't trust it). I have 67 days to try to get back on this bandwagon that I can't seem to stay on for even a solid week. Here's hoping!