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Sunday, June 5, 2016

Oh, My Achy-Breaky Heel...





If I say,"Pain in the heel," would you know what I'm talking about?

This past week gave me all kinds of High-Alert signs that something wasn't right with my right heel. But, let's rewind....

Monday was Memorial Day. We had ventured almost 4.5 hours down the road to my husband's hometown. He was the key note speaker for the Memorial Day ceremony at the cemetery there. After a long and difficult 15-miler on Saturday, I was pleasantly surprised to feel like a new person Sunday morning as we jumped in the car and hit the road.

In keeping with my #nevermissaMonday routine, I brought along my running gear to do a short run early Monday before heading to the cemetery. Much to my surprise, the husband had brought his running gear along as well! The two of us took off, in the hopes of running a couple miles, depending on how my heel was feeling (it had been feeling a little achy the past couple weeks...nothing painful, but definitely "off," so I had been trying to be careful and cautious). We wound up running about five miles, all the while feeling great.

Memorial Day miles with the husband...and a bonus plank!
As I was totaling up my monthly miles, I realized I was sitting at 98.5 for May mileage. Hmmmm. I am not a high-mileage gal, and I seldom ever set quantitative (mileage) goals for myself. It's been my experience that "quantitative goals" usually lead to injury because a lot of the "quality" gets overlooked in the quest for those high numbers. But, hello? When I'm that close to 100, even I can buckle.

I had an extended lunch hour on Tuesday, and it was a beautiful day. I decided to lace up, head out, and do that final 1.5 mile to get me to the century mark for May. No harm, no foul...right?


Wednesday morning, though, my heel was not happy. It was not too painful to walk or stand on, but it certainly didn't feel comfortable. I'm not new to this running thing....I know that tough 15-miler would eventually come back to bite my backside, I was just surprised it took almost four days to do so. And, typically, I do not run five miles following a tough run (but I had waited two days, and everything felt fine). Could it have been that itty bitty 1.5 lunchtime run (in some older shoes) on Tuesday that did it?

None the less, Wednesday was Global Running Day, and I was not about to sit it out.  I had tried to organize a small group run with some local people, but it never came to fruition. My friend, Barb, wanted to run a few miles, so we went to a nearby lake which has an approximate 1-mile loop around the perimeter. Throughout the day, my foot had been rallying back and was feeling better. This was a perfect scenario...I could run one mile and call it good, or I could run a few extra miles if the stiffness/achiness dissipated.

It may have been Global Running Day, but a gal can still plank
I wound up running two laps (two miles) and decided to leave it at that. My heel felt better the longer I ran, but I didn't want to overdo it. Besides, I had a half marathon (my FAVORITE event every year) happening on Saturday and I didn't want to DNS that race.

Thursday arrived, and my heel was feeling kind of achy again. I taped the heel and part of the arch, slid on my comfy Alegria's, and hobbled off to work. Determined to stay off my feet until race day, I did the absolute minimum....some planking, push-ups, and a little bit of upper-body strength work. And, throughout the day (and evening) I iced, massaged, stretched, and rolled.

More planking...don't plank on your forearms in a shirt with button cuff sleeves...you won't last long #ouch
Also, I tapped into my inner art geek and worked on modifying a shirt to wear for Saturday's race. This was a shirt I'd gotten last summer, in support of a friend who was battling colon cancer. Sadly, my friend, Michelle, lost her battle in August. Although I had never worn the shirt, there was no way I was gonna get rid of it. It didn't really fit me very well, though, so I found some ideas on Pinterest and got to work. I cut several slits along the side seams, and "braided" them, which gave it a funky, ruched effect. I cut off the sleeves, and then did several thin slits along the neckline, and braided those as well (which gave the arm openings a ruffled look)...and that was the final touch!  I was very happy with how the Michelle shirt turned out!

Michelle's fighter verse: "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength"
Friday, the heel felt better, but still not optimal in the morning. By the end of the day, though, it was feeling (almost) back to normal. I continued icing it, massaging it , and foam rolling it throughout the day (and kept my fingers crossed!).

Saturday arrived with a 3:30 AM wake-up (that is not a typo, by the way). We were up, dressed, breakfasted, and in Barb's car by 4:15AM to make the trek to Des Moines. The race, Dam to Dam, is a point-to-point race, and all the runners have to ride shuttle buses to the start line...and the last bus departs downtown Des Moines at 5:45 for the 7:00AM start time.

After the finish line, with the husband
Let's just say we had beautiful (near perfect) weather, my heel felt a little strange for most of the race (but didn't get angry until near mile 11), and even with some intermittent walking I still sneaked in a course PR. The full race recap is coming, so stay tuned.

Myself with Eric, Dave, and Barb
Immediately following the race, though, I had to hobble all around. My heel simply was not gonna let me stand or walk on it without attitude. I didn't do much on my feet for the remainder of the day. When we got back to town, the new issue of Runner's World had arrived in the mail, so that kept me entertained as I lounged with my feet up.

Recovery 101:Feet up. Compression on. Runner's World to read. Max for company.
By Sunday, my foot was already feeling better. We went to church, and to the grocery store. I did some weed pulling and gardening stuff....but pretty much stayed off my feet as much as possible. And, I did some ice, compression, rolling, massaging....wait, have I mentioned that before? I'm not worried (much) about my heel (yet). It was exactly a year ago (around mile 9 or 10) of Dam to Dam 2015 when my left foot had almost an exact same issue...except that gradually spread to my arch as I was running (well, hello there, Plantar Fasciitis!). So far, this has only been my heel affected, and I'm hoping to keep it that way. I have another (local) 13.1 this next Saturday, and a whole slew of stuff happening in July...including my 12-hour Ultra. I don't have any time for a wonky heel to mess with my running.

In other news...

The planking challenge has been extended another month, and we're also doing daily push-ups! Max supervised my 2:30 plank on Sunday morning, and helped me count out my 30 push-ups as well. He's a good dog.


I was really saddened to hear of Muhammad Ali's passing. He was a great athlete with a strong drive

How was your week? Ever experience a wonky heel? How about Plantar Fasciitis? Both? How did you treat it?

As always, I'm linking up with the fabulous ladies, Holly (from HoHo Runs ) and Tricia (from MissSippiPiddlin ), for the Weekly Wrap. Do head over, check out their great blogs, and see what everyone else has been doing.





35 comments:

  1. My ankle/heel still isn't 100%, but thankfully it's not PF. I'd say it's 99.5%, though & I'm in a little mini off season -- not currently training for anything since my next half isn't until Oct.

    Hope you heel let's up & congrats on the PR!

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    1. Thanks, Judy! The heel pain is a Catch-22....painful at times, but not as chronic as PF (Glass Half Full)

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  2. Luckily I have never experienced heel nor foot pain. Hope it heals up soon. I always like lounging around in my compression socks after a long run. I have not read a current Runner's World Issue in awhile. I need to get on that.

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    1. I LOVE my compression sleeves post long run/race! I had never had any foot/heel problems until last year...not fun, but manageable ;-)

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  3. I've never had heel pain, but yes, my left foot was actually diagnosed with arthritis a few years ago and acts up every once in a while. Congrats on your course PR, especially with having trouble after mile 11. Hopefully this is just a little blip on the radar and you will be feeling much better soon.

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    1. Thank you! I'm not worried yet. What I experienced last year was much worse, and I was able to run Grandma's Marathon a few weeks later. The PF pain (in my arch) continued off/on the rest of the summer, though it wasn't horrible. So far, this is just in/on my heel...

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  4. I"m so sorry to hear about the return of the dreaded PF. It just kind of sneaks up on you...not that I know anything about that. The one thing that helps me is stretching my calves. It just kind of loosens up my achilles, which seems to pull on that arch. Believe it or not.

    I have a shirt I'd like you to do your magic on...

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    1. I have been trying to stretch my calves as much as possible, they feel so tight (probably more from the gimpy walk I had following my race than the heel stuff LOL). So far, my arch feels fine...it's all in my heel (at the moment), and that has improved since Saturday. #fingerscrossed

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  5. Congrats on your course PR!

    I dealt with Plantar Fasciitis years ago. I too tried everything, even got cortisone shots. You know what finally got me over it? Hurting my knee so that I couldn't run for over a month. You see, I had been trying to get better while still running. Sadly, sometime running through small annoying injuries leads to bigger injuries, that eventually keep us from running for an even longer period of time.

    Like Wendy said, calf/achilles stretches are great, as are hamstring and glute stretches. That is the whole fascial back line and it's all connected, so a tight back line definitely can affect your foot.

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    1. I totally agree that small injuries lead to bigger (badder!) things. I'm playing it cool, and doing all the stretching, etc. in hopes I can keep this at bay. So far it's "only" in my heel and the arch feels good (knock on wood) ;-)

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  6. I've had foot pain before and taping it really helped. I hope yours gets better fast! Great job on your planks!! I need to do the challenge and start planking everyday!

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    1. Yes, get in on the planks...and tag us on Instagram ;-) It's been a lot of fun!

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  7. Ooh heel pain is never good! Hope that works itself out soon. Congrats on the race! Hate the early start times. I may need to jump into the plank challenge. I love all your pics

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    1. Yes, we'd love this planking challenge to become an epidemic ;-) Join us!!

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  8. A heel problem is one thing I have yet to experience -- just everything else. Wouldn't it be great if our bodies would just do what we wanted? At least you got to mile 11 without problems. I'm looking forward to the recap. I love the job you did on that shirt! Very cute. Thanks for your support of the WW Kim!

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    1. I'm very grateful I made it to mile 11 without much issue....I probably could have gritted it out and ran the entire final two miles, but what would that accomplish? I don't need that "run the entire race" thing to satisfy my ego LOL

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  9. Glad you were able to race, and congrats on the course PR! I'm sorry you are having such issues--that just isn't fair! Keep me updated!

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    1. You have an email on the way....when I get a few minutes to get my thoughts composed ;-) I'm really not worried, I've been down this road and I know (mostly)what to do (and what NOT to do). Nothing has happened with my arch (yet), so that's all good ;-)

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  10. I'm with you, when I'm that close to a mileage goal I do my best to hit it. Congrats on getting to that 100 mile mark. I hope to be able to hit that kind of monthly mileage sometime soon.

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    1. A lot of runners like to try for 100 miles every month, but I'm not one of them. I had that half marathon on May 1, so that kind of gave me a jump start ;-) I'm usually anywhere between 60-80 miles, and I am completely fine with that.

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  11. No heel pain here- thank goodness! Nice job on the 100 mile mark, it would be hard to leave it at 98.5 for sure!Cute shirt! I will look forward to the race recap- have a great week and see you at the plank!!!

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  12. 100 miles! Get it! I'm sorry the heel has been giving you trouble, but I'm glad you were able to run the half! I hope it gets better!

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    1. Thanks! It's already feeling better, but I"m gonna play it low-key this week so I can do my 13.1 on Saturday...then I'll do some serious R&R and TLC next week ;-)

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  13. Congrats on the course PR! That's awesome!

    Yes, I have PF. It started two years ago in my left foot - I was able to rid myself of that, and then about a year later, it migrated to my right. I use ice, rolling my arm/heel/calf with a golf ball and roller. I also will alternate between putting my foot in scalding water and ice water, which gets the oxygenated blood flowing and helps repair some of the microtears in the fascia. It's annoying, but treatable if you're consistent with stretching, rolling, icing, etc. I hope you start to get some relief.

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    1. I might try the hot water/ice water! Last year was my first-ever experience with any kind of foot problems. And, I agree, it was very manageable (though not ideal) ;-)

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  14. Congrats on your race, and wow, another 13.1 coming up? Nice! It's so tough when you feel those initial pains and do as much preventative treatment as possible. I hope you feel better soon!

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    1. Thanks, Janelle ;-) I felt this coming on a couple weeks ago...so I have been taping it and using the compression already. It has not spread to my arch (yet), so I'm optimistic I can keep it at bay if I watch my mileage and OCD on the icing/stretching/massaging, etc.

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  15. Keep at the preventative care for your heel! Hopefully it calms down and you're healthy for all your upcoming races. I've never had PF but I've have had a host of other injuries. Nice work on the planks and push ups! I've started adding planking in my to my strength work and it really makes a difference!

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    1. Thanks ;-) Thankfully, it's "only" my heel affected right now...I don't feel it much when I'm running, but walking is a different story. Last year, it spread to my arch quickly because I didn't know what it was and didn't do anything preventative for it. I love planking!

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  16. Those nagging pains just suck the life out of running don't they! Why can't everything just work like it's supposed too. On the heel pain, is it on the bottom of your heel or where? Mine gets quirky on the very back and just feels like it's bruised but there is no discolor. Weird.
    I'm glad you made it to within only a couple of miles of being finished. Would not have been fun to deal with it the whole time!

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    1. the heel pain is on the bottom, about a half inch in from the outer edge. I feels like it's bruised, but no discoloration. I think it's a heel spur...which can lead to PF if not dealt with. It's not a big deal when I'm running due to my mid-foot strike (feels kind of like a subdued, dull ache), but walking (when I do heel strike) is NOT pleasant. Thankfully, it is feeling better...but YUCK.

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  17. Sorry to hear about your heel. Boo. I have this pesky leg thing, and am having an ultrasound tomorrow. Frustrating because I have 2 races this month and I absolutely want to start marathon training. Grrrr.

    LOVE your yellow tshirt. You are always so resourceful and creative !

    Keep up the planking and push ups !

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    1. I know...these pesky things have a way of showing up (usually unannounced) at very inopportune times. I hope you find out what's happening, and can "fix" it quickly ;-)

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  18. Great job on reaching the 100 mile mark in May. I would have a hard time stopping at 98.5 with just a mile and a half to go too. Congrats on another half! I love what you did with your shirt. That was sweet of you to wear it in memory of your friend.

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