Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s what’s causing me to sit here, propped up in bed, with an ice pack on my left foot. 🙁
About 4pm Friday, I was walking back to my desk at work after a conversation with my boss, and suddenly, my left foot was hurting. I mean, hurting. Every step hurt, and it was challenging just to get back to my desk. We have casual Fridays at my office, so it’s not like I was wearing my usual 2 inch heels. I actually wear my running shoes as regular shoes most of the time, and that’s what I was wearing on Friday. I have no idea what happened, but wow, it hit with a vengeance.
I’d like to say I spent Friday night resting, but my nephew had his first home game as a freshman member of his high school band, and since he attends my alma mater, I couldn’t not go. (And take pictures.) I limped around the stadium, and by the time I got home around 9pm, my foot was really hurting.
When I woke up at 7am Saturday morning, it was raining. When I first put my feet on the floor, I felt a painful twinge in my left foot, and by the time I got to the bathroom, I was miserable. That and the rain made me decide to skip my normal Saturday morning long run. Back to bed I went, not waking up again until almost 9am.
When I woke up a second time, I limped downstairs and did laundry, all the while lamenting my lack of running. I always run on Saturday mornings, and to not run just felt wrong. Finally, about 10am, I couldn’t stand it anymore; I decided I would try for a one mile run and see how it felt. By the time I got the laundry finished, one mile had become two in my head, and then four. {blush} I’m nothing if not competive, I guess, even when my only opponent is myself.
I headed out to a local Metropark, a new one that I hadn’t been to before. By the time I got there, I’d convinced myself I could do 5 miles. When I started out, I could feel the pain in my foot with every step. It felt like the pain was revererbating through my entire being every time my left foot pounded the asphalt path. Ouch.
Eventually, it occured to me that maybe the grass next to the path might be easier, and I tried running on that for a while. It did seem to help, since it didn’t feel like I was pounding a nail into my foot with every step at that point. The footing on the grass was tough, though, and sometimes there wasn’t enough room, so I alternated grass and asphalt the entire way.
For some reason, I just couldn’t make myself stop until I’d finished all five miles, and it was definitely the most painful run I’ve ever done. Still, when it was over, though I was barely able to walk, I was glad I’d done it. I know I would have fretted about it all day if I hadn’t.
My timing was pretty bad, but I still managed to keep it under an 11-minute pace, suprisingly.
I saw the oddest thing at the Metropark…the picnic table at which I sat was covered with words!
I have no idea what all that means, but it was fascinating to look at!
It was a pretty run, though not as exciting as some other Metroparks…just lots of wide open spaces and fields. It was a beautiful day, and when I was done, I still had enough energy to get some nice pics.
After the run, I went home and sat on the couch for pretty much the rest of the day. My foot was still pained on Sunday when I woke up, but I didn’t have the luxury of rest, what with church, the church picnic, and then a hockey team gathering for DS#2. When I finally got home around 5pm, I took some time to ice my foot while DS#1 did his 1.5 mile run.
He actually ran more than 1.75 miles, poor kid, because he forgot to turn on the Garmin for the first 1/4 mile, and then figured he had to run a full 1.5 miles so that the Garmin would reflect it. 😉
He is doing so well. I’m so proud of him. As much as it kills me, tomorrow I’m going to rest and not run at all, because my total focus right now is running with him on Sunday at his first 5k. If I have to limp through all 3.1 miles, I will, but I’m hopeful that if I take the next several days off, I’ll heal up and be better for Sunday. Please pray for me/wish me luck, as I will definitely need it!
Thanks for reading!!
I suffered from something similar a couple summers ago. I had just started running in May and a a couple months later on Canada day I spent a few hours walking in flip flips. The next day, I headed to the mall and when i got out of the car I felt a sharp pain in the side of my foot (near my ankle, top of my foot area). By the time I left the mall I was limping pretty badly. This went on for a couple weeks until I went to the doctors and he told me it was tendonitus. I had to rest it for a few weeks and I found wearing a foot brace helped SO much. I would rest it for a few days and hopefully it’s back to normal soon 🙂
Thanks, Bailey! I’m hoping that rest and some of these exercises that have been suggested to me will do the trick. Thanks for the tips!!
Ouch I have dealt with PF many times as a runner and as a nurse in an ortho office…its pretty typical for it to stop hurting after you get going…you might take a tennis ball and roll it around under your foot, like with the ball on the floor and your foot on top to help loosen your foot up in the mornings. There is also kineseology (sp?) tape that you can tape your foot up with… Good luck! On a side note super impressed with your DS running 1.75! WTG~!
Thank you so much, Christie! I had DS#1 go out and get a tennis ball from the barn…of course, it’s a busted tennis ball, but I figure it’s better than nothing. 😉 I’m hopeful it will help in the morning–I appreciate your help and expertise so much!!
I’m thinking that all the time you were on your feet doing tomatoes probably contributed to your plantar fasciitis. Standing is the worst thing. Mine is worse right now and I think it’s from standing so long watching friends participate in Tough Mudder on Sat. All I can say is rest and ice it. Also a few days on an NSAID, taken regularly, might help.
I didn’t even think about all that time on my feet last weekend–good point! I have been resting as much as I can, and Motrin has been my little friend this week. :p Thanks for stopping by and offering help! It’s much appreciated!