Yes, I have Plantar Fasciitis

I know, I know...the situation is dripping with irony.

Not hours after posting the previous article about recognizing the symptoms of plantar fasciitis did my own heel start to swell up making walking (and life) generally uncomfortable. It's one thing to be ignorant but seeing that I JUST wrote an article advocating rest, stretching and time off I was hardly in the position to be a hypocrite to my own advice...

So I took it...

I stretched.
I took time off.
I iced.
I drank beer.

Since it appeared, the pain has never really felt like PF - more of a burning sensation accompanied by some patchy redness, dry skin and swelling. I mean, who needs a doctor when you have WebMD.com?! According to my online diagnosis, it was a small case of athletes foot that would clear up in couple days...

The actual doctor would tell me otherwise unfortunately. X-rays would show a clear calcium spur on the bottom of my heel. And while the initial symptoms have subsided, the dull throb of aching muscles deep within my heel seem to be signaling that my online doctorate degree has failed me once again. If you've ever had PF, deep down you know when it strikes (again). You may not want to believe it, but that won't make it go away...

I'm no longer of the age where mental strength and wishful stupidity will get me through a grueling 100-mile race without causing long-term damage and threatening my training for TRT100 in July. However, being smart and knowing your priorities never makes these emails any easier...

Withdrawing from a race always hurts

So for now, I will lick my wounds, spend some time volunteering at SD100 and try not to think about all the money I've parted with in preparation for this race. Time for rehabilitation, rest and preparing for TRT100...

Summer fun

I am honestly ashamed that I have been completely absent from this blog over the last couple months. I think it's because my personal race schedule has been pretty low-key (up until now). I'm certain my level of blogging correlates with the number of races on my calendar. No races, no blogs.

Just to bring you up to speed however, it hasn't been a boring summer at all. Please stand by while I bend the space-time continuum and take you back through some of the highlights from the previous months.

June

• Paced GG at San Diego 100. His first hundo ever and he did a stellar job finishing in 30 hours. Night miles are the toughest miles and we learned that GG gets very sleepy at night and needs stories to keep him awake. He also gets grumpy doing 1% incline switchbacks up a mountain in the 80 degree sun.
• Got to spend some quality time on the trails back home in South Dakota. This included running with old friends and setting a PR at the Fat Tire 10k.
• Got to pace JK at the Black Hills 100. His second hundo attempt and I'll be damned if anyone DNF's on my watch. I picked him up at mile 50, ran him through the night and helped him earn that buckle. It was a beautiful night to run and he reached pretty deep to come back from some GI issues.
• 170 miles for the month

The Black Hills of SD

July

Not much to see here except an epic family road trip across 7 states (yes, I ran in every one of them!). 150 miles for the month.

August

• Not a lot going on except the weekly San Tan Trail runners group (Tuesday and Thursday) and the Cadence Running trail run on Saturday. Turnout has been growing and new folks are continuing to show up each week. This makes me happy.
• Got a weekend pass to head up to Payson and hang with JD - race director for the Mogollon Monster 100. I do love that area and the trails are some of the most awesome (and brutal) in all of Arizona.
• A pretty good month considering the heat - 240 miles

Running through the ferns on the MOG rim

September

• Going to be working pretty hard this month to get ready for the Bear Chase 100k in CO on the 27th. I expect some pretty tough weeks and lots of miles.
• Also trying to keep the mileage up in preparation for Javelina Jundred in November.

Above all, I'm on day 171 of my running streak...which I'm pretty proud of. It's been tough through all the races, pacing and vacations. A mile here, a mile there. Through allergies, humidity, hangovers and just plain "I don't wanna"...I've managed to gitt'er done.

I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures of course but about the time it starts to get cool, I'll probably complain that it's too chilly :)

Happy running friends!