My left foot

When we last left our blogger, she was on her way to PT Pete after doing something really stupid. Let's pick up where we left off shall we?

So I went to see Pete and told him what I did and he looked at me and said, yea, that wasn't too smart, you aggravated it. I sure did. So we worked on it and taped my feet again. It didn't feel any better. He told me to take sat off from running. So I swam a half mile. First time I've swam in over a year. He said if I woke up on sunday and it still hurt like this, don't run, go for a ride or something. Lucky for me, I have lived the life of a triathlete for many many years so it's easy for me to just do something that's not running. If it felt ok, pop to advils and run. I woke up Sunday and it still hurt a fair amount. It was pouring so I laid in bed all day and watched netflicks about Everest. So no long run for me. I ran 18 miles last week, a HUGE cut back from what I've been doing. I would rather cut now than not run at all later, but I'm not happy about it. When I was talking to Pete about my milage, there was another guy in there getting worked on. He heard me say I've been running 40-45 miles a week and his eyes bugged out of his head. He was getting to do a long run of 12. Pete looked at him and said don't pay attention to what she's doing. Yea, dont or you might not be running at all!

Ok, Im being dramatic. Pete told me to drop down to 30 for a few weeks and let my foot rest. I can do that. I think. I'll be away for the next 2 weeks on vacation. The first week I'll be hiking so I knew there wouldn't be much running anyway. If this were anyone else, I'd say you're crosstraining, you're going to run again this week, you've got a great base, you're not going to loose any fitness. Of course I know this but it always feels different when you're telling yourself this and not someone else.

Living with another runner has it's ups and downs. The ups being someone to run with and someone who gets it. Even though Loren isn't a marathoner, she gets it. The downside, when you're hurt or can't run you get to stay home and have a huge pity party. Ok, it's not that bad, but I was bummed when Loren went out for her 9 mile run and I was left here glazed over in front of the boob tube.

When I woke up this morning, it certainly was feeling better. I went and swam 1k. My plan is to maybe run tomorrow or Wed. I'm going to call Pete and see if it should be worked on before I run.

Like I said, this isn't the worst thing in the world. It's not the worst time for it to happen. Yes I have a goal for NY but I'm not married to it. I've hit my big goal for the year so I'm being much more relaxed about the whole thing.

Im also starting to look at what I want to do over the next couple of years (doesn't that sound INSANE). Those plans include going back to being a big multisport geek. I'm really curious to see how I do in the longer distance triathlons after a few years of dedicated running. I think it would be good for my body to have a bit of a break from all running all the time.

he's a magic man

I woke up this morning, with that ever familiar heels on fire feeling that only PF can give you. People who have had this know what I'm talking about: The anticipation of those first few steps, the feeling that your foot is on fire, you know what I mean. Even though my new stretches and what not seem to be giving me some relief, I'm not taking any chances. I'm calling a pro.

At 12:45 I was back on the table of my loyal physical therapist, PT Pete. I haven't seen Pete in months, since before the NJ Marathon actually. I just dont want this to turn into a major problem. I told him what was going on and he took a look at me and told me this is pretty much the same problem I've always had: weak hips. This time, it's just pushing itself down further and explained to me how. So I admit, I've been a bit lazy about doing all the exercises I'm suppose to be doing. No more though, believe me. I want this to go away. He did some ultrasound on my heel and legs, he did some ART, he stretched me, iced and stimmed me, and ended by taping the bottoms of my feet. He all but patted me on my head and sent me on my way. He also told me to not run for the next 2 days to, go give the inflammation and chance to go down. Of course, no one ever wants to hear that. I've been averaging just over 40 miles a week for the last month so 2 days is certainly not going to kill me or set me back. Runners out there, you know what I mean. SO cut back week it is! You can find me with my feet up eating bon bons...ok, not really. If it stops raining, I'll go for a bike ride tomorrow and maybe take Wed. Totally off. I did run an easy 4 this morning however.