August Runfessions!
Well, I set out to write a post about how I’m getting my life back in order after all the recent upheavals, but things are still so chaotic I couldn’t get that put together. Yes, I could confess that I haven’t done upper body strength in seven weeks, or how I want to do yoga three times a week but keep “forgetting,” but then I thought…. I’ll join Marcia for August Runfessions! I have lots of running related confession, so let’s get started! The first thing I’ll “runfess” is that this plantar fasciitis is getting old. Really old. Like, a year old. There have been times during the year where I thought it was getting better, but if anything, it got worse during the six weeks I didn’t run because of my hip issue. It doesn’t usually hurt when I run, but getting up in the morning, or if I’ve been sitting for any length of time, is ridiculously painful. Sometimes I’ll just hop to the bathroom in order to avoid stepping down on that foot. I read an article about an unusual treatment for PF, which is botox injections. I’m intrigued! However, I seriously doubt our insurance will pay for botox injections in my foot. I don’t mind paying the money, IF it works. After all the other things I’ve tried, I would say botox injections sound iffy. On the subject of physical ailments, I’ll “runfess” that after years of rolling my eyes at people who say running is bad for your knees, and having two perfect knees (in spite of all sorts of other injuries) I now seem to have a “bad knee.” This one literally came out of nowhere. One day I was running just fine, and the next time I ran both of my knees were suddenly killing me- aching horribly below the kneecap. I hobbled through a couple runs, then took about a week off and slowly eased back into running. Now my left knee is fine, but I’m left with a sore and achy right knee. It doesn’t hurt much while I’m running, unless I step down in a funny way or have to stop short. It does hurt a little when I do squats or lunges, so I feel like I’m constantly babying my bad knee. I still have no idea what caused this. Hrumph!!! Okay, enough about aches and pains. In my opinion, a good “runfession” should include something horrible or embarrassing, and I’ve got one of those. On my recent road trip to Texas, things started out so well, food-wise. We ate healthy foods that I brought along, and managed to find good, vegan-friendly fast food options (Moe’s, Blaze and Chipotle) for the first three dinners. As I drove back by myself, however, the food I brought along dwindled and finally on the last day I was so intent on just getting home, I only wanted to stop for the bathroom or to get gas. Having only eaten an old tortilla with some peanut butter all day, I decided to buy some boiled peanuts at a gas station in the middle of Florida, and ate them for lunch. This, possibly, was a mistake. I made it home just fine, and the next morning went for a five mile run. Somewhere in the middle of the run my digestive system was letting me know that it was very, very unhappy. You know those runs where you have to make an EMERGENCY STOP in the bathroom? Well… this was just like that, but there was no bathroom involved. Ever have an emergency stop in the bushes? – Up until last Sunday, it hasn’t happened to me in a long time. Are you running with any aches and pains now? Ever have knee problems?