One afternoon, Andrew, Livie, and I headed to Fitness Sports in Windsor Heights because I was desperately overdue for some new running shoes. I'd been on a bit of a running hiatus because I'd developed plantar fasciitis in both feet (it was worst in the left foot, and somewhat bearable in the right) last spring.
Plantar fasciitis (PF) is a painful foot problem caused by irritation in the foot's plantar fascia - the ligament connecting your heel bone to your toes, and supporting your arch. Running tends to make plantar fasciitis worse.
Mine was so bad (in the left foot anyway), that I had to go to physical therapy. I went twice a week for about 8 weeks, and in that time, took a break from running. I was given some stretches to do (calf stretches, foot stretches, quad stretches) to help alleviate the pain, in addition to PT.
Then once my fall 2011 semester started up again, I went back to doing a lot of walking on campus (including lots of hills) on school days, which also aggravates PF.
So, unfortunately, running was put on hold indefinitely.
Well, I like how I feel when I've been running consistently, so after talking to "Santa," it was decided that I needed new running shoes so I could gradually (meaning within a painfully slow time frame) add running back into my normal schedule. Besides, I'd asked about adding running back in while I was still going to PT; I was told that when I felt ready to add it back in, I need to do it very, very gradually . . . and to make sure I do my recommended stretches regularly (which I've been slacking off doing lately . . . shhhh!!).
Needless to say, if I want to run, I have to stretch, so the day after our visit to Fitness Sports, I began re-incorporating my stretching into my routine. I'd been really, really good about stretching - that is, until my end-of-semester crunch time in early December, and then . . . well . . . I got out of the habit.
But my belated Christmas gift of running shoes (a green pair and a blue pair) was just what I needed to get back into properly caring for my feet.
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| Old pair on the left (obviously), and new (green) pair on the right. The new blue pair is in the closet. |
Now normally I would run outside,
We had the guy come out and see what he could do - he'd put a temporary fix so Livie was able to get a bath last night, but that's about it. The guy was supposed to come back today to install a new water heater (which was delivered to the house this morning). But he called Andrew to reschedule . . . he won't be here to install it 'til tomorrow.
So off to the gym and the treadmill I went.
As good as it felt to be running again, I limited myself to 20 minutes and a total of 1.43 miles - mostly walking with a little bit of running sprinkled in. The running felt really good, but I'm already feeling a bit of heel pain, so I'm glad I limited my running. I kept reminding myself, "turtle, not rabbit!"
And even better than the running was the hot shower in the locker room after my mini workout! I must've stood there forever, enjoying hot water, since the last decent shower I had was Saturday morning at Abuelita's house!
Aaaahhh, sometimes we don't realize how good we have it until something like a busted water heater puts things into perspective.
And hopefully I'll be running as much as I used to before I know it.
7 comments:
good for you! good luck, but don't overdo it!
Keep pacing yourself and good luck...with running AND the hot water!
You are brave to start again. Most people would just use it as an excuse. Nice shoes!
Oh I feel your pain. Literally!
I had PF that developed in late winter 2010 and kept running and other high impact activities for another two or three months, icing and stretching 2x a day until finally I realized I wasn't doing anything to let myself heal! Finally I got the sense knocked into me to go 100% low impact, which I did for EIGHT months or until I felt no pain and had no awareness of stiffness or soreness in my foot. I had it on my right foot only. I modified all jumping things in fitness classes at the gym and started road biking A LOT. Then I eased back into running slowly... only 1.5-2 miles two times a week for a couple of months. I do other high impact things like jumping rope and other jumpy things in fitness classes at the gym, too. But I was so scared of the PF coming back. Now I'm back to normal, but I'm more of a 5K type runner, so I'm okay just running 2-4 miles at a time 2-3x a week max. Good luck!!!!
Oh and good luck with the hot water, too! yikes.
those look comfy
always nice to have a new pair of shoes and be comfy again. It's amazing how soon (sometimes) the old ones wear out.
I feel your pain as as far as not having hot water, it happened to us once--UGH! not fun but hopefully you will be back and running in both departments soon!
Exercise is always a good thing!
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