Frustrated. That is literally the best word to describe how I feel about running right now. It's been about 3 months since I hurt my heel. What I thought initially was nothing more than plantar fasciatis (hereafter referred to as PF because I can never spell it right when I write it all out), I now think is more than likely a stress fracture (or something else...) in my heel. I can pinpoint when it happened and likely what caused it. On my last 6 mile training run just before running the OUC Half, I decided to (stupidly) run on concrete rather than my normal asphalt. I see people ask all the time why runners decide to run on the road instead of perfectly good sidewalks. There are multiple reasons, but two that are usually my own are that sidewalks tend to have cracks which can be dangerous, especially at night, and concrete is so much harder than asphalt. It seems weird, but until you spend time walking/running on both, you don't necessarily notice the difference.
The OUC Half came and went, but my heel definitely took a hit. It hasn't been the same since. I thought for a long time after the half that it was still PF. I ended up ordering some Oofos which are amazing flip flops and help even though I no longer think I have PF. It helped a little, but any time I ran, even if it was a measly 2 miles, my pain came back full force. Also, anytime I spend a lot of time on my feet, such as walking around Disney, the pain gets worse. It doesn't always hurt too much in the moment, but later in the day or the next morning, it gets bad. It started so bad that most days I would wake up in the morning and have to hop on one foot for a while before I could put any weight on it. It was not fun.
I've noticed since then that it seems to be getting "better," but that is a relative term. It is better in that anytime I walk (such as the 5k I walked with Kenzie... with maybe .5 miles running total and the 4 mile I walked entirely except the last .1 mile to the finish line), it hurts later in the day just a bit and the morning after. However, I can put weight on it now immediately so I'm not hopping around any longer. Other than that, it hurts off an on.
So, as much as it pains me, I have taken off all running for a couple of months now and I know I'm going to have to continue to do so for at least the summer. I'm hoping that time off helps. We do have our final race of the season, a 10k in just a week and a half. I'm planning to walk all of that. Let me tell you, walking 6.2 miles is BORING.
So, now I feel like I'm in limbo. I would love to walk in place of running, but I find that even walking longer distances causes extra pain that I know is a sign that I'm not helping myself at all. I'm trying to find some alternate exercises to do. I did find a YouTube channel I like that has 10 minute to 1+ hour workouts that use nothing more than resistance bands, small weights, or body weight. I have done a few of those, but it's hard to get into it. It isn't what I want to do necessarily, so it's hard to find the drive to do it. I would love to swim some (short) laps... it's not a big pool, but the weather still isn't cooperating. I did get one night in the pool last week and I did quite a few laps. That felt good. I'm assuming that will be my plan over the summer. Get up early and instead of running, get in some laps. But for now, I have to find something else to do. It's just frustrating.
That was a whole lot of random thoughts that probably didn't make a ton of sense... but my mind can't entirely wrap itself around the fact that I have to take a break from running right now. I'm already worried about basically starting over again whenever I can start running. I'm also nervous about the fact that this could be a long term issue and I MAY have to seek medical advice at some point. If it had not yet gotten better, I would have seen a doc already, but it feels better most days so I haven't done that... yet.
I guess we will see how it all goes and I will reassess everything this summer. My plan for now is to take the summer off, run the Track Shack running series again next year (2020-21), and the run the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February 2021. I have to have some goals or I'm going to lose it.
I'm just frustrated. But I know I have to take this all one day at a time.
The OUC Half came and went, but my heel definitely took a hit. It hasn't been the same since. I thought for a long time after the half that it was still PF. I ended up ordering some Oofos which are amazing flip flops and help even though I no longer think I have PF. It helped a little, but any time I ran, even if it was a measly 2 miles, my pain came back full force. Also, anytime I spend a lot of time on my feet, such as walking around Disney, the pain gets worse. It doesn't always hurt too much in the moment, but later in the day or the next morning, it gets bad. It started so bad that most days I would wake up in the morning and have to hop on one foot for a while before I could put any weight on it. It was not fun.
I've noticed since then that it seems to be getting "better," but that is a relative term. It is better in that anytime I walk (such as the 5k I walked with Kenzie... with maybe .5 miles running total and the 4 mile I walked entirely except the last .1 mile to the finish line), it hurts later in the day just a bit and the morning after. However, I can put weight on it now immediately so I'm not hopping around any longer. Other than that, it hurts off an on.
So, as much as it pains me, I have taken off all running for a couple of months now and I know I'm going to have to continue to do so for at least the summer. I'm hoping that time off helps. We do have our final race of the season, a 10k in just a week and a half. I'm planning to walk all of that. Let me tell you, walking 6.2 miles is BORING.
So, now I feel like I'm in limbo. I would love to walk in place of running, but I find that even walking longer distances causes extra pain that I know is a sign that I'm not helping myself at all. I'm trying to find some alternate exercises to do. I did find a YouTube channel I like that has 10 minute to 1+ hour workouts that use nothing more than resistance bands, small weights, or body weight. I have done a few of those, but it's hard to get into it. It isn't what I want to do necessarily, so it's hard to find the drive to do it. I would love to swim some (short) laps... it's not a big pool, but the weather still isn't cooperating. I did get one night in the pool last week and I did quite a few laps. That felt good. I'm assuming that will be my plan over the summer. Get up early and instead of running, get in some laps. But for now, I have to find something else to do. It's just frustrating.
That was a whole lot of random thoughts that probably didn't make a ton of sense... but my mind can't entirely wrap itself around the fact that I have to take a break from running right now. I'm already worried about basically starting over again whenever I can start running. I'm also nervous about the fact that this could be a long term issue and I MAY have to seek medical advice at some point. If it had not yet gotten better, I would have seen a doc already, but it feels better most days so I haven't done that... yet.
I guess we will see how it all goes and I will reassess everything this summer. My plan for now is to take the summer off, run the Track Shack running series again next year (2020-21), and the run the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February 2021. I have to have some goals or I'm going to lose it.
I'm just frustrated. But I know I have to take this all one day at a time.
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