What I've learned since having Plantar Fasciitis

If you love to run like I do, plantar fasciitis is your worst enemy. I’ve been icing, resting, swimming, stretching, biking, researching, and wearing a night splint to try to heal my foot quicker. This is a slow process, but I’m optimistic that I’ll be back on the trail before too long. I hope to be more cautious in the future and try to incorporate more cross training into my routine. I love trail running more than road running and think that staying off the hard surfaces may help me prevent this in the future.

Here are a few things that have come to light since I haven’t been running for a month.

Snow Day

What to do on a snow day when you can’t run? Well, the doctor said I could walk, so that is what I shall do this morning. We have had unusually cold weather for 3-4 days here in the desert southwest and a little bit of snow. The snow isn’t what prompted the snow days, but a shortage of electricity. Our power plants have frozen over and can’t produce enough electricity so schools and businesses have taken a few days off to conserve energy.

Twenty more years

It seems that 20 years of pounding my feet has finally taken its toll. I don’t know why, because I know people who run a lot more than I do. I haven’t really run that much have I? To warrant foot pain that has temporarily stopped me from running? I’ve only ran 20 races of 26 miles or more and I’ve never run a 100 mile week unless you count the one time that I ran 100 consecutive miles through the Sierra Nevada.

The race that started it all.