It's not new information that I've been plagued with issues in my right leg/foot for some time now. In fact, I just hit the year anniversary of my Achilles going to shit. Post Boston my Achilles was feeling pretty good so I stopped going to physical therapy. That was good news. But even though my Achilles was feeling better, my plantar fasciitis was still acting up and the pain in the bottom of my heel kept getting progressively worse. Well, after the half on Sunday, I was in pretty bad pain. I could barely put any pressure on my foot and even when I was off my feet, the pain in my heel was still throbbing. When I woke up Monday barely able to walk, I emailed my doc. I got in to see him on Monday night and he confirmed my self diagnosis of PF. I winced in pain when he touched my foot and the pain remained even when he wasn't poking at my arch/heel. He also took some x-rays but didn't go into any great detail about a bone spur, which was my fear. He told me it didn't matter if I had one; we were going to treat the PF and gave me a few options. One, go back to PT and have it take several sessions/weeks to get this feeling better or two, get an injection in my foot. While the injection is suppose to be a quicker fix, there are some risks that go with it. Specifically, there is the small risk that the PF could tear in the days following the injection. But, if they have to surgically fix the PF they end up cutting it anyway. So I weighed my options and took the needle in the side of the foot like a big girl. I walked out feeling less pain than I had when I walked in, so I'm hopeful this does the trick. The heel pain is pretty much gone but I'm still having some PF discomfort, which is normal. I can bike/swim and return to running on Thursday. The doc suspects I'll feel like a million bucks. Here's hoping he's right!
Aside from that, I'm mid way through my first week of Tri training. The week started off with 3 workouts within 24 hours and me wondering how I'm going to get anything done between work, training, and sleeping. I asked my coach for a pretty aggressive schedule and looking at the next 4 weeks, that's what I got. I've been up every day between 4:40 - 4:45am and I'm hoping I can sustain this wake up time because it's the only way to get everything done that needs to be done. My schedule calls for 3 doubles a week, plus my brick workouts on Saturday. When I can, I'm going to try to do both workouts in the morning so I can free up my evenings to have some down time. That's what I did this morning; 45 minute swim then raced home and hoped on the trainer for 45 minutes. That was manageable but I think that will change as my workouts get longer, forcing me to split them up.
Effort is light for most workouts this week as I ease into everything. Swimming has been going better than I expected and I think the lesson I had and the drills I worked on made a big difference. I'm really concentrating on my form for now and can feel the difference when I exaggerate my rotation and really reach with each stroke. And the pool isn't as bad as I thought it would be...it doesn't hurt the hoo ha like the bike does and I even got hit on in the hot tub, goggle marks and all. :-) Biking is going well, too and I successfully rode outdoors with my coach this past Saturday. Aside from horrific fire crotch*, it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be but I really need to gain some confidence on the roads. I'll get there...
Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - swim :45 / bike :45 (light effort)
Tues - run :30 (race pace) -- biked for an hour instead due to foot
Wed - swim :45 / bike :45 (light effort)
Thurs - run :45 (light effort)
Fri - swim :45 / bike 1:30 (light effort)
Sat - run 1:30 (mod hard)
Sun - off
I'm going to post a GIVEAWAY by the end of this week, stayed tuned!!! I know you guys will like this one; you had a sneak peak at it before...
*worse crotch pain ever on Saturday and I'm still sore from that ride. Turns out, my new bike didn't fit me as it should and I ended up trading him in for a new one. Wasn't what I had hoped for since it involved shelling out more money, but at least I ended up with a much prettier bike. She's white and purple....*smiles*
13 comments:
Welcome to the swim/bike world!! I'm really, really hoping that foot gets better!!!!!!!
Yikes! I hope the shot helps and you won't have to do anything more serious than PT.
Good luck with Tri-training, I am always amazed at all that Tri-peeps do for training!
Hope it gets better for you. When my PF was really bad, rolling out my calves 24/7 helped a lot.
What was the shot, just out of curiosity? Cortizone? Is it supposed to be a permanent fix or just a pain reliever?
I still have been rolling mine on a tennis ball while I sit at my work desk, as well as immediately after every signle run. It's actually doing a lot better!
Cortisone shot? Hope it helps! (And hope your body responded to it okay - I had them in my shoulders when I tore my rotator cuffs, and got really sick. Reaction was immediate, though, so if you haven't had it, I'm sure you're fine - my body just wasn't a fan!).
PF can be a bear--sorry you are experiencing it. As someone who's had it twice, I can say that ever since switching to walking barefoot or in minimalist shoes, it's long gone. Just a thought for you!
I hate getting shot.
good luck with the training
seriously i am having trouble fitting it all in.. I haven't done the swim like I wanted this week, but I'm still getting in weights and core and yoga and biking.. HOLY CRAP it's crazy
Eek! Sorry to hear of ur latest foot trouble, hopefully it continues to improve.
Great job with the tri training!!
Yeah...it is good to have a bike that fits properly. But the crotch pain...get used to it girlfriend :)
As for the PF- I have been getting shots for 6 months. Suddenly, it seems they have stopped working. I am still having pain after runs more than 5 miles :( I think I am going to look into some PT as a next step.
EEK a shot in the foot doesn't sound pleasant but FINGERS CROSSED that it did the trick.
You are a workout machine. In time that 4:40 wake up should start to feel normal... hope you are able to get to bed early enough! Do you find that you're shutting the blinds while the neighborhood kids are still out and about? :P
Yuck. PF sucks. I had a minor episode two years ago and, ugh, what a pain. I roll my arches like crazy now.
Good luck.
ya for tri training! is the one you are doing a half iron? That's alot of biking, I wonder if I should be doing that too!
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