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...

Falling out of fit

It always amazes me the small amount of time it takes to fall out of shape. You work months and months to build up endurance and strength only to lose it within a matter of weeks.

We're now about a month out of completing the Leanhorse 100 and I feel like a big blob of crap. I've let myself rest (or at least, convinced myself it's rest under the guise of laziness...) and indulged in the things I stayed away from while training for 9 months.

This includes (but is not limited to):

• Beer
• Wine
• Cigars
• More beer
• Ice cream

At this moment, the idea of running 100 miles again feels like an impossible task. I'm sore from a 7-mile run I did on Sunday....how in heaven's name would I run 100?!? Funny how perspective changes with just a few pounds and less focus.

Believe me, I'm not worried about it...this happens every year once I achieve my "A-race" goal. I let myself go a bit until I figure out the next big thing. This one is just taking a little longer...

I'll continue to run and cycle a bit but the mileage is definitely not what it once was.

I'm signed up to volunteer at a couple races here in the next couple months - I'm looking forward to that change of pace and a little running karma. I still don't know what the future holds for me...

...but I'm enjoying trying to figure it out.

When motivation fails you

For some reason, I've had a motivation FAIL this week. Last Saturday, I had an awesome long run (pretty sure I PR'ed that 16 miles) and then followed that up with a great trail run with my buddy Andy (who was on his mountain bike).

Thank goodness Monday was a rest day - I needed it. (Although, I did ride my bike)

I'm feeling very healthy and strong but Tuesday seemed to hit me like a lead pipe. Tired and groggy...which is just like I felt when I was neck deep in my allergy treatments. I think that tiny exposure I've had resulted in being much more sensitive to the seasonal Arizona allergens. It's left me slightly unmotivated and a little more likely to sleeping in .

Something is blooming this week and my body doesn't like it.

I'll muscle through it. It's a relatively light week in terms of mileage. I'm still debating whether to go nutso on the mileage this weekend or take the chance that I'll get it done next weekend (I'll be travelling *all* next week and get back Friday evening). It's somewhat unlikely that after a week of being on the east coast, working with customers 14-hours a day, that I'm going to want to come home, get up at the crack of dawn to go run 21 miles on Saturday.

I already feel the odds stacking against me :)

It's hard to believe that the Black Hills 100(K) is just about a month away. Starting this weekend, my long runs are transitioning over to trail rather than road. It will take more time but I'm looking forward to being on the trails as well as this race - I feel much more prepared than I was last year. The only difference is the distance (it's just 12 more miles right!?)

Pain has a name

Over the last couple years, the dulled sensation in the upper right-side of my right thigh has gotten to be more - well - noticeable. It feels like your leg is falling asleep. Pins-and-needles. Tingles. And yet outwardly desensitized to the touch. Not a sharp focused pain but rather a muted dull numbness that runs from my hip down to the outer right side of my kneecap.

Upon reflection, it was 'there' in 2010 throughout my Ironman training but less annoying because I was religiously stretching and visiting the chiropractor. Since my 50-mile race in the Black Hills however, the sensation has turned from annoyingly-dull to persistent-and-disruptively-painful. Now, it is ever-present with more powerful, sharp "pinches" in my quad that pop my eyes open and illicit a 'damn, that hurt' response.

My own research and description of symptoms led me to think that I had some form of myalgia, maybe even restless legs syndrome. Turns out I'm I'm a better runner than I am doctor (go figure). After providing a brief description of my symptoms to my new primary physician, he diagnosed me with Meralgia Paresthetica, or Bernhardt-Roth syndrome.

Basically, there is a nerve (actually a set of nerves) that run from your spine, through your pelvis and down the outside of your thigh that become compressed due to swelling, injury or just plain overuse. Of course, a compressed nerve is not getting all the juice it needs to behave normally.

I'm excited that my pain now has a name but in the same breath, bummed by the possibility I may have to sit on my can and 'rest' throughout my treatment.

To begin with, treatment consists of physical therapy. Two times a week for 4-6 weeks. I anticipate the stretching and exercises will be things I can do at home so I will probably just take the PT guidance and then incorporate it into my routine.

So there you go...Meralgia Persthetica. Say that 5 times fast :)

Running, interrupted

One of the hardest things for an athlete to do sometimes is to stop. As in, stop everything...and take a break. In previous posts, I'd commented on how tired and lethargic I had been. To this day, I honestly don't know what it was. I had no energy. I felt weird in the head (yes, yes...let the jokes fly). It was even difficult to muster up the energy to just think about running let alone lace up the shoes and make it out the door.

So what was it? Who knows. Plenty of theories though.

#1: Fatigue - I'm tired plain and simple. I've been training for something for over a year now. It might be time to reassess the race calendar for 2011.

#2: Illness - The colder weather here in Arizona (yes, cold means below freezing!) may have brought about a slight head cold.

#3: Stress - The post-holiday let down crept up on me. Hosting family, trying to keep the mileage up and generally dealing with work may have contributed.

#4 Nutrition - Holiday and post-holiday saw a step back in nutrition (go figure). Processed foods and cookies are generally not the staples of all-stars.

Who knows. Perhaps it's all mental.

Thankfully, for whatever reason Sunday turned out to be a great new day and any feeling of fatigue and despair were gone. Perhaps it was not running for a week. Maybe even having a few beers and watching Jim Carrey do the Black Swan on SNL (HI-larious). Whatever happened, I was pleased to get out and have a nice run.

Who can say.

All I know is that I'm back to feeling good, not tired and looking to do the best I can this coming weekend in the PF Chang marathon. I'm not sure if my original goals will hold up due to the absence of any long distance runs but I'll give a shot and see how it turns out.

Next this week - product reviews!

Best laid plans

I'm a morning person - always have been. I've always felt that the day goes much more quickly when you're making the most use of as many hours as you can. Over the last couple years, it's proven to be one of the things that has allowed me train with a clear conscience, knowing that I wasn't impacting time with my wife or kids.

You can almost say that I have a sense of pride on my early hour activities. As a triathlete, we commonly do more before 9 am than most people do all day.

Something is different this week however and I have S-T-R-U-G-G-L-E-D to make my morning workouts. My clothes are laid out, bike is prepped and the Heed is mixed...I just can't pull myself out of bed. It's not for a lack of motivation, I'm just tired.

Many of you know that the body is an incredible machine - it has an amazing ability to 'speak' to you if you're listening. Over the years, I have become a very good listener...injury will make you acutely aware of even the slightest changes. So when I sleep through all 3 of my alarms - TWICE THIS WEEK - I know something is up. I'll blame it on the increased run mileage this week - though it's not much (9 miles total), I'm sure it's put me at the tipping point as I acclimate to all three disciplines (again).

I could be furious. I could even be bummed that I've overslept - but why? I easily substituted a bike ride for a 5K TT run (see below) and today, well, it was a good time to catch up on my blog and enjoy the solitude of the early morning...just me and my coffee.

So here's to sleeping in - it's not something I do often but when I do, but I have to believe it's for the best. I guess I just have to find a clock that has 4 alarms to make sure I get up in time for race day :)