So I've completed neglected my blogging responsibilities. Everythime I thought about my blog I quietly would tell myself "Tonight, I'll write a few thoughts" and be right with the blogging world again. It's now been over 3 months and I finally decided to log in and type my thoughts out.
Since my last entry nothing major has occured other than NOT being able to run. My ban from running was not self imposed. Well it first started as a self-imposed 1 week exile which really meant I wouldn't do any "real" running but continue participating in sprints when doing my cross trainings...and that eventually turned into a complete ban from running or other high impact fun activities :-\.
It all started with a pain in my left heel. At first I thought nothing of it, it would bother me on occassion when I woke up in the morning and took my first step or after seating for a while. The pain then began to bother me after my runs...causing me to hobble a little or change my gait slightly to accomodate the pain. Now, any normal and sane person would quickly make an appointment with their doctor, afterall, hobbling is not a good sign. Nooo, not this runnergirl! As long as I could run, I could deal with the pain and discomfort afterwards. Then one morning I had to cut my run short (after only 1 mile or so) and hobble my way back home. I felt hurt and battered, but mostly my pride was crushed. How is it possible that I could not go past 1 mile??? and furthermore I was now WALKING not running back home. I know, this sounds absurd but I take pride in starting and completing my runs. Yes, it's true no one is out there watching me, nor does anyone really care whether I run, walk, roll, skip, or do any other variation of motion while I'm out there....but it matters to me. So that walk back home was quite crushing. I took a week off and tried again...it felt ok, still some pain during the run but nothing I couldn't push past but hours later the pain was crippling. I decided maybe it was my shoes. So I went to one of the new runner's specific stores and was properly fitted. To my surprise I was running in the wrong shoe---I was using the Mizuno Wave Inspire (a stability shoe) when I'm in fact a neutral runner and would benefit more from a neutral shoe or so I was told *** NOTE*** there will be an entry about my experience at the runners' store later.
So armed with new shoes I decided I'd try again. And it felt great. No pain during but hours later yes, but not crippling. I tried yet again the following weekend and was only able to manage a short 2 miler with mild discomfort during the run but crippling pain hours after the run. So at that point I decided it was time for an appointment with the doctor. I opted to bypass my own general practioner and made an appointment to see a sports medicine/orthapedic specialist. In preperation for my appiontment I tried to pinpoint when exactly I started to feel pain and what brought it on. I was very vague as to when I first noticed the pain as well as what may have brought it on---my best recollection was after doing a 7 mile run one morning I noticed something bother me. I did note that I had been doing only outside runs (all on concrete) a lot of "hill" workouts---all my runs incorporated the bridge near my home and I was running much faster (a positive result from the insane cross training I was doing)..so I concluded all these things came together to form the perfect receipe for an injury. By this point I had self diagnosed myself as having plantar fasciitis but then changed that after not only was my heel hurting first thing in the morning but my ankle was also bothering me---not the actual joint but a tendon around the joint....now I was worried about having issues with my Achilles tendon....so I completely eased off the running and jumping routines, even though I wasn't really running I noticed I felt pain if I did any jumping routines or if I placed too much strain on my foot. As the day of my appointment drew closer the symptoms had almost completely disappeared. After multiple x-rays in various different angles of my foot were taken and 3 doctors examined my foot the conclusion was that I had a small heel spur at the bottom of my heel, plantar fasciits, and what appeared to be posterior tibular tendonitis. Ohhh and I apparently pronate just a bit and probably should use stability shoes (mind you those were the shoes I was wearing when my injury developed)...so I'm somewhat flatfooted but with a very flexiable foot. So I've been sent to physical therapy and have been miserable since then. But on the bright side PT is going well --- more on that later.
