Victory!!!

VICTORY is mine!!! 😀

Guess what I did this morning?

I went running!

6 Mile Stats

And my heel didn’t hurt. Plantar fasciitis ain’t got nuffin’ on me! 😉

Truth be told, I am beginning to think I don’t have full-blown plantar fasciitis.

Though the “running expert” at our local running store felt my foot last week  and said he was pretty sure I had plantar fasciitis, I did a lot of research and talked to more people about the symptoms of the condition. I have come to the conclusion that I may have a very mild case of plantar fasciitis, but that the real pain I was experiencing in my heel last week was likely due to a bruised heel.

Ninety-five percent of the pain I was experiencing in my heel occurred on impact, when I would walk or run. It sounds like those with plantar fasciitis feel tightness and pain regardless of whether or not they’re running or walking.

After noticing pretty intense pain in my heel, I gave myself a little more than a week off from running completely. 

My heel started to  feel remarkably better on Wednesday of this week.Though I was tempted to run on Thursday, I told myself to take a couple more days of rest and save my first attempt at running for this morning.

At 8 a.m., I leashed up Sadie for a run around the lake near our apartment. I promised myself I would stop at the slightest sign of pain. Six miles later our run was done and I was still pain free!

I am so happy. I feel like I will be able to at least participate in the half marathon on August 1. Now I just have to build up my mileage after 2+ weeks off of running my long runs. Eek!

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning resembled yesterday’s lunch because I couldn’t stop thinking about how delicious my spiced up peanut butter and banana sandwich was during my run this morning. (There are some adorable odes to different foods in the comment section of that post that you should check out if you’re in the mood for a smile. 🙂 )

I made myself a pb & b sandwich with Krema natural creamy peanut butter combined with one tablespoon of caramel sauce on one slice of honey wheat bread and banana slices on the other slice.

Banana + Pumpkin Pie Spice

I sprinkled everything with pumpkin pie spice before slicing the sandwich and digging in.

Saturday Morning Breakfast

I don’t know about you, but I find that spreading refrigerated natural peanut butter can be a huge pain. I recently started microwaving the tablespoon or two of peanut butter I remove from the jar for on my sandwich before spreading it, which makes it much easier to spread. Just a lil’ tip!

Ooey-Gooey Peanut Buttery

The Goods

This breakfast was a slam dunk! 😀

Today’s Plans

Today will be a busy but fun day!

Our plans include:

• Returns at the mall
• Pool time
• Select the tuxes/suits for Ryan & his groomsman for our wedding
• Register at Bed Bath & Beyond

Annnnnd I’m off!

Plantar Fasciitis

Lunch!

Friday Lunch

Lunch today was a simple spread.

I enjoyed homemade tuna salad on top of a toasted bagel with green peppers and smoked almonds on the side.

Tuna Salad

Fishy Bagelwich

Good-for-Me Fats

I followed this yummy lunch up with a quick trip to Mochi.

Ryan was downtown visiting the DMV and when I received his text requesting a Mochi meet up, I jumped at the chance to join him for a quick 15-minute fro yo date!

I opted for cake batter/cheesecake swirl frozen yogurt, topped with mango, strawberries, rainbow sprinkles and cheesecake bits.

Mooooochi

Ryan and I also swung by Starbucks to share a grande Tazo Chai Créme Frappuccino because we’re sweet-tooth soul mates.

Chai Tea Frapp

Those of you non-coffee lovers should give this lil’ baby a try. It’s delish!

I enjoyed most all of the whipped cream and about a third of the Frapp.

Yum!

Now on to some less-than-exciting news…

Plantar Fasciitis

This just in: I may have plantar fasciitis. 😦

Yesterday around noon, I started to experience pain in my left heel.

I thought it was kind of odd and figured it would probably dissipate by the evening.

Unfortunately that was not the case.

I went to bed thinking it might feel better in the morning… Not so.

It doesn’t hurt at all when I am sitting, and the pain is pretty dull when I’m standing, but when I walk or run, the pain becomes fairly intense.

After BodyPump this morning, I approached the instructor (who is a personal trainer, marathon runner and knowledgeable about muscles and sports-related injuries) to ask for her insight about my pain.

After explaining where I felt pain and when the pain started (several hours after my morning run), she said it sounded a lot like plantar fasciitis, a condition characterized by inflammation of the band of tissue that connects the heel to the toes.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition is “particularly common in runners.”

• The good news: Ninety percent of people recover from plantar fasciitis.
• The bad news: Recovery usually takes several months.

This doesn’t exactly mesh well with my half marathon training plan.

I am really, really bummed. I am supposed to do a long run (10 miles) in the morning and I don’t see how that’s going to be possible if my heel still feels this pained.

I really want to run the half marathon in Chicago on August 1. I am hoping with all of my heart that the pain will be a passing pain that goes away soon. Cross your fingers!

In the mean time, I plan to ice my heel, stretch it and massage it.

I want to keep my cardiovascular strength up just in case the pain goes away in time for the half, so I will follow the advice of several orthopedic and running articles I read and supplement my running with cross training (swimming, biking, elliptical) until I feel like my heel is healed (Gotta love a good pun!).

I am trying not to be too dramatic about this injury, but I cannot help but remember when I had bursitis in my hip and literally couldn’t walk without pain for an entire summer. It was miserable and I was so upset. I don’t like not being able to walk without discomfort since walking is such a huge part of daily life and poor Sadie needs her morning walks!

"What am I supposed to do? Walk MYSELF!?"

I’m trying my best to look at this as simply an obstacle I must overcome.

It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, though it’s really upsetting to me right now. I’m mostly upset because I’m supposed to be running the half marathon with my girlfriends at the conclusion of my bachelorette party in Chicago and I was really looking forward to doing something so neat with all of them.

Bummer!

I am injured, injured bad. 😉 (<– Click that link for a flippin’ adorable video that you’ve probably seen 5 billion times already.)

Question of the Afternoon?

Have you ever been sidelined from a sport or athletic training plan due to an injury? How did you cope?

(If any of you out there have experienced plantar fasciitis, please, please let me know how long it took for you to heal and how you recovered!)