A friend asked me last week if I wanted to run the Halloween Half with her. I told her I was injured, which was the same unfortunate reponse I had for her regarding the Pioneer Day 10K in July. The same reply I sadly gave another friend for the Moonlight Half last month.
"STILL??!!" she asked me increduoulsy.
Yes, I do realize that four going on five months is an awful long time to have a running injury. In fact if I were not actually suffering myself I might have the same question for a friend with an injury that's kept her benched that long.
Afterall, as a runner we sometimes think...a little rest, new shoes, some ibuprofen and all should be well.
At least that's what I used to think!
I have an injury that's fairly invisible to the naked eye...plantar fasciitis. (I know it just sounds like warts, doesn't it?!) It doesn't sound like a real man's/woman's injury like a ripped IT Band, or torn ACL. Not that either of those are to be desired, they just sound much more painful, hence understandable that you're not running.
When I explain that the fascia on the bottom of my foot is pulled so that it feels like ice picks are being driven up through the soles of my feet, I'm just given a confused nod of understanding. But really is quite painful!!
So I've been to an orthopedist, he ruled out a stress fracture. I was in so much pain I would have put money (if I had any) that it was one. Acutally I really wish it was a stress fracture...four weeks in a boot, and I should be running again. He gave me a few stretches to do. I barely have time to go to the bathroom let alone hours to stretch a pinky toe. No help there.
Then I tried a podiatrist. He didn't even really look at my foot, just suggested shoe inserts and cortisone shots. I skipped the inserts (I've been running for years with no pain why inserts now), and went back three times for cortisone shots. The shots helped for exactly a day and then the pain was back.
Third doctor's a charm, right? I'm praying so! Actually this time it is a Physical Therapist. He's using a technique called ASTYM which for description purposes is like having someone rub a large plastic spoon dipped in cocoa butter up and down my calf and foot. Sexy, huh? It's rather quite painful and leaves so many bruises on my leg I look like I've been kicked. Actually a friend asked me the other day if I ever washed my leg because she thought the bruises were just dirt. I've had five treatments, and lots of foot taping. Sometimes I think it might be working, other days I think about all of the fun things I could have purchased with five co-pays!
As of now, it still hurts. I feel like a hypochondriac. Matt pretends to be sympathetic. He's just tired of the whining. He wishes it would just go away as much as I do. I always wondered if there would come a time when, like Forest Gump, I would just stop running. Guess now I know?
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