Going Wild (Drssgchic) page 42

[Finnegans Wake]

I'm pretty sure it's plantar fasciitis, which comes from over-exertion, especially if you're carrying some extra weight. So after a few failed attempts to get running, I did pretty well last year and got into a groove. With the mild winter, I was out jogging in January and February at lunch time during work hours. Mrs. FW and I were signed up for our very first 5K at the end of March, and about a month ago I went out running with her to help her increase her distance -- I'd gotten up to 7 miles last summer, but she still hadn't pushed past about 2, 2 1/2 miles. She gets done with her run and I keep going, do another 3 miles. Then another 3 miles. Yay! I think, my best distance ever! Not that I want to overdo it consistently, but I have this idea of running a half marathon before I'm 50.

But after the 9-miler, my right arch started hurting off and on. It'd feel better, so I'd go out and run a few miles at lunch time. Never properly rested it. So the week before the 5K, I decided not to jog at all, but I did go on trail runs with the dog a few times and re-tweaked it. Woke up the day of the race (cold, rainy) and decided to gut it out. So, fine. Started out pretty far back, not worried about my time, just wanted to get a 5K done, but soon found myself impatient to be with the slowpokes, and soon enough the competitive juices were flowing. Started threading my way through the pack of non-pros, and all was well. At the 2 mile mark, throbbing pain. People I'd passed were passing me. Soldiered on, not stopping, end of the race was two killer hills. Crossed the finish line (110th, 30:10, not great but I did it), and couldn't walk, immediately limping. Next day or two, couldn't even put weight on the foot. Limped for a week. Ice, elevation, Aleve, stretching (rolling arches over golf balls), etc. So almost two weeks later, still some pain, and not ready to start running again, but eyeing a 5K in May.

Funny thing is, running was torture for a while, something I thought of as necessary to get in shape, but without being able to run I have a real jones for it. Even was dreaming about it the other night. Hope to get some good sprints in and better my time by a few minutes. Maybe do the 13.1 in the fall.

[drssgchic]

Gah- yeah, I've known a couple of people with that and it just looked miserable. Good luck with the healing! And, aghm, LET it heal There are times to cowboy up and there are times to rest, right?

I've never been a runner. Basically, running for the sake of running was about as awful as something could get. But after I'd been on the PB for a while, I got a pair of VFFs and found myself spontaniously running through the woods. I'm still much more of a walker than a runner, but I do get a craving for it once in a while, which is wierd for me.

What shoes do you run in? I thought I'd read somewhere on here that being more barefoot, once you got used to it, helped with stuff like that?

[aboutsaffron]

Aw, thanks so much for the kind words on my journal!! It's so weird to think how far I'd fallen - this week & the last have been so simple & I've felt so much better. It's almost amusing being back, watching everyone trying to figure out all the details - if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you have to do this the simple way. Just focus on real food, movement, & staying happy - then it all falls into place. Try & approach it with some sort of obsession to figure it all out, & I think we all start to fall off the wagon, so to speak.

But I wish you luck on your reboot as well!

[Finnegans Wake]

I think I was just in some macho denial, I'll just tough it out and pain? What pain?, that sort of thing. Until the 5K. Then I realized it was better to heal fully.

Running through the woods is fun, that's what I do on the trail runs. It's a whole different pace, a different feel. You aren't just landing on a flat surface, it's got all these tilty planes and gnarled roots and stumps and rocks, and you have to adjust on the fly. I really enjoy it, think it subtly strengthens a lot of foot and leg muscles.

I do run minimalist, although my one attempt at running barefoot ended in bloody toes. So $10 Speedo water shoes it is. No problems whatsoever, and this setback aside, I can tell my feet have really gotten stronger. I can hang upside-down from trees by my feet, peel a banana, and eat it, all the while playing Stairway to Heaven on the Guitar. All right, I kid. I actually play Ramones songs because they're much quicker and easier.

[drssgchic]

AboutSaffron- I've had a lot of people cheering me on for my restart- and it helps! You're right. The simpler it is, the better it works with this WOL. It's kinda hard to stick with that when everything is "Tweak this, don't eat that, look at this miracle pill! Spend more time at the gym!" Somehow "Eat good food and live well!" just doesn't have the same flash . . .

FW- Yeah, that manly man thing can get in the way sometimes

I discovered that even with a pack, my feet like walking off-road better than on. I think it has to do with the fact that my feet are being used as FEET instead of being slapped onto the same smooth, unvarying surface for ages. I'm actually getting really excited about moving in with a friend later this summer. I have walking paths, paved, accessable from my apartment, but she's five minutes from a huge park with actual paths.

I like Stairway to Heaven, but let's be honest. The Ramones are better

[Finnegans Wake]

FW - do you have a journal?

I don't. I'd been about 80% Primal for a while and read PB a couple of months ago, worth it for the tweaks to what I'd been doing. But I don't have the discipline to journal, and frankly, I'm boring as shit!

[winencandy]

The Ramones are better

Absolutely!

I don't. I'd been about 80% Primal for a while and read PB a couple of months ago, worth it for the tweaks to what I'd been doing. But I don't have the discipline to journal, and frankly, I'm boring as shit!

Everyone thinks they are boring. I think I'm boring. I'm surprised anyone reads my journal.


As far as running and calf pains, I don't know if it's lack of practice, wearing "barefoot shoes", lack of potassium, etc...
or all of the above.

[Mud Flinger]

So that's what plantar faciitis is - I think I've got it! When I wear the wrong shoes and over exert a a bit in them, I get pain in the arch of my foot - like a cramp that feels much better when rubbed but takes a day or two to go away - really sucks!

Sounds like today is a better day! Now, lets hope for some real rain tomorrow! Gotta get that green stuff growing!

[drssgchic]

Hey, I got a spambot! And it actually added a pertinent reminder to the conversation! (I think it's quoting you, Winencandy)

After work I spent a couple of hours at the barn. I was going to observe a class, but I ended up slogging through the sand ring for about half the class. It was good exercise.

D- ground beef and cheese, italian soda (heavy cream, vanilla, sparkling water)

I was in bed by 9:15 and between the exercise and no wine, I was out like a light and pretty much stayed out. When my alarm went off I bemoaned the fact that it was Monday. Then I realized it was Wednesday. I still didn't get out of bed on time. Getting up before the crack of dawn (alarm goes off at 5:30) is hard enough. On an overcast day it's dang near impossible.

Colorado Springs is a freaky little weather bubble. I was 20 miles east of the city and we had a brief thunderstorm (let me just say, theraputic horses are the coolest cats ever) but when I got back in town, it didn't look like there had been any rain at all. But it was misting this morning and the current cloud cover is pretty serious. *fingers crossed* for a soaking rain- not a flooding one!

B- tea/cream/CO/D, greek yogurt and blackberries

FW- I'm increasingly convinced that an interesting journal has as much to do with who you attract to it as what the journal owner has to say. So feel free to stick around and keep mine entertaining

[namelesswonder]

Waking up has been tough for me this week. I think it was not having 5-HTP at first, then adding it back in (never seems to go well the first night or two).

When's the last time you had your D levels checked? I know you supplement, but I wonder how well you are absorbing it, especially if you still feel so affected by overcast days. I am not really bothered by them since supplementing with Vitamin D, but maybe I am super-special-awesome. Could be a gut issue?

Yay Wednesday! That's two more days till Pay Day!