Friday, December 4, 2015

The Foot....

Oh... the foot.  Not really sure what I can say about this foot.  Years ago, I would make fun of people who said they couldn't run because of plantar or because their foot hurt.  I secretly thought they were wimps and just needed to suck it up.  Well... then karma appeared to bite me in the ass and I found myself walking the walk of shame from Breakaway on Germantown pkwy all the way back to the visitor center at Shelby Farms.  I literally could not run another step because of the pain.  I called everyone I knew in between fits of stomping my feet and cussing to pick me up but no one answered.  Karma was laughing.  It was also laughing when I went from there to a boot. Not once but about a year later that sweet foot ended up in a boot again.  Sigh...


So, fast forward a few years - after  I really  have shown  true sympathy for people with foot issues  I find myself there again.  As Dr. Croft says I spend a lot of time on my feet that I don't consider when not running.  I also spend it in weird combinations of shoes.  You would think working in athletics with work out gear on, I would just wear a running shoe and be done.  Nope, you can find me in keens, uggs, rain boots, crappy shoes, etc.

So... let's go all the way back to April and the Boston Marathon.  I was hurt... surprise... being over zealous and lots of hills tend to do that to me.  I thought I had a stress fracture in my hip ( I didn't) but leading up to the race, I quit running.  I had not ran in about 2 weeks or more.  As luck would have it, I had just bought a new pair of shoes that I had never ran in.  New brand, new type everything.  I figured race day couldn't be worse so I wore said shoes and HATED them!  And FYI - not sure race day could be any worse.  I really disliked everything about Boston.  I use to say Hate but over time I guess I have mellowed.  I returned these clunky heavy shoes and asked for the lightest thing they had and thought I loved them.  I took some more time off to recover from the race from hell that left me for dead and to heal the injury and I started running in these shoes and they were great.  This was around May.

In June, I became sick with pneumonia and was put on an antiobotic that was told after the fact, athletes should NEVER take.  I developed tendonitis in the top of my foot and it hurt like a bitch.  Dr. Croft prescribed my best friend ( a steroid)  but it did not really do the trick.  I was in the middle of Ironman training and I just had to suck it up.  I also made sure I never ran back to back and if I could get a longer recovery time to baby my foot, I could manage it.  Even though it did and still would keep me up off night with pain.  We did spend a TON of time working on my tight calves.  I am sure if the school PT guy would bill me, I would owe him my next two years of paychecks!!

Made it through Ironman, took time off, back to running  - yep pain is still there.  This time we try steroid ( YES) and 3 weeks of vimovo.  First we think it is really working but then not so much!  GRR...  I am now ready to get back at it.  I feel fat, sluggish, and no sense of purpose.  I decide to train for the Wynne 25k in Jan.  I decide to just run 3 days a week, lower mileage - higher intensity.  Sometimes I am not sure if I am going to make it there.  Sometimes I feel like I am one step away from a boot. 

So I constantly think about this foot.  It is always in the back of my head.  My ankle is tight with not much mobility, the top of my foot is painful to the touch, and sometimes just taking my shoe off hurts.  But... I am still running.  I am brilliant - right?  Well, I began to wonder if maybe the medicine was not the problem but the new shoes?  They were kind of close together in time range.  So - yesterday, I had mile repeats.  Decided to go with my racing flats instead of my usual shoes and YES the foot did hurt some, and yes it woke me up last night, and yes I did have to start my morning rolling my calves but it really feels better.  It really feels like the pain is not like it usually is a day after the run.  So I begin to think, could it be the shoes that I have bought 3 times now because I LOVED them and they were my favorite?  Please don't tell me they are the culprit??  Have I spent months on meds and PT and in pain when all I should have done was switch a shoe?  Yep, I am a slow learner so I will hit Fleet Feet before my long run.

Praying that these shoes are the culprit.  Wouldn't that be sweet?  Who would have thought?? I do love a simple solution!

Happy Running!

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