Every Run is a Great Run!

My soul (and sole) aches for you, Tom. I can feel your pain (literally, to a somewhat lesser degree, as I've been battling PF for months).

You've been training and running so well. I wonder what God expects you to learn from this trial. I guess our sport (and life) teaches us endurance in various ways. Hang in there, baby! (picture a kitten hanging on to a string)

... and buy some birkenstocks, they are not just for hippies anymore. Seriously Tom, since I started wearing them (just wear them as much as possible) my PF has been much much better.

Good luck, rest well.

Oh no! I hate to hear that. Are you going to see a specialist about it next week?

Although you're injured, you still ran a great race! 2nd in AG is awesome!

DANG DANG DANGET!! I was so looking forward to wooping you in Provo.

Good luck not going crazy.

Ouch! Big bummer....sorry to hear it. Dare I say perhaps after a couple of days it won't be nearly as bad as you might think? Hopefully??? I hope it was a whole lot of loud not much to worry about in the long term. Take care and heal quickly! Ice and massage, rinse and repeat.

Sorry to hear about your foot. I'm with Dale I hope that it is not as bad as it seems and you have a quick recovery.

Big bummer about the plantar fascia. I was wondering why you stopped all of the sudden. I was really trying to push Bill along there at the finish. I wish I would have hung around for the awards. Instead I took off and did another 6 miles, then had to hurry to my son's basketball game.

I hope the injury heals up quick. Glad you guys were able to come down and enjoy your condo. This is a great time of year to be down here.

Thanks everyone for support and suggestions. I've been reading a bit about plantar fasciitis that most runners know and love vs. the less common plantar fascia tear or worst case rupture. I'm pretty sure I don't have a full-blown rupture but probably a decent tear.

I'm also pretty sure I won't get lucky twice and find like I did with the calf and that all is well in a couple of days. But we can always hope for another small miracle.

Based on how things feel on Monday I may go see the specialist. Maybe I should check out those Birkenstocks as well. Terry you'll just have to wait another day to woop on me.

Oh Tom, I am so so so sorry. Your experience sounds so much like Rhett's Boston Marathon experience last year. I think they call that the "Poor Man's Surgery."

http://rhett.fastrunningblog.com/blog-04-20-2009.html

Hang in there.

Congrats on the fantastic race up to that point ... dang .2!!!!

That is terrible. I am so sorry that happened to you. I am glad to see you start the post with so many positives. Sounds like you are handling it well.

Thanks Teena, Andy. I read Rhett's experience. Also interesting to read his entries for the months following. Not all that encouraging as it looks like it has taken him months to recover, but very informative. I can see that I definitely don't want to jump the gun on getting back to training with this one. But then again I didn't run a whole marathon on a bad foot. Should be interesting to see how things play out.

Andy - check with me in a week or 2 (or 3 or 4?) and see how I'm handling it :)

I was reading Dieter Uchtdorf's recent talk "Continue in Patience" and thought of your situation. Perhaps a few quotes can provide some perspective, inspiration, and hope:

Full text: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1207-20,00.html

"Waiting can be hard. Children know it, and so do adults...Patience—the ability to put our desires on hold for a time—is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter."

"...patience is not passive resignation...Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"

"Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience...Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness."

"Patience means staying with something until the end...Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith...Patience is a process of perfection."

I've been reading that in human physiology it is stress and adaptation that makes our bodies stronger. I'm pretty sure the principle applies to our lives in general. No pain, no gain. Unfortunately, as you well know, the pain hurts. Be patient. Keep the faith, and hope. This too shall pass.

Paul thanks for reminding me of these words of wisdom from Pres Uchtdorf. This was one my favorite talks of the conference and interestingly while listening to it I was thinking of it in terms of running as well as of life and thinking that "Continue in Patience" or "Patient Perseverance" would make great blog titles. And you probably already had noticed my current blog title was taken from one of Elder Wirthlin's last addresses, albeit with a slight play on words.

BTW just to update on my injury after a night's rest. I guess I can say it's slightly better than yesterday. I'm not using the crutches anymore but walking or just standing is not very enjoyable, just tolerable for a few minutes then I want to sit or lay down.

I'll probably schedule an appt with the sports doc tomorrow and come up with the game plan. Right now I think the only possibility for cross training would be something in the pool, but I'm a terrible swimmer and at this point the idea of pool running doesn't sound very appealing. At this point I believe I am content to do something I truly don't know if I've ever done in the last 19 years for more than a few days. Do NOTHING for at least 2 weeks or until there is no foot pain (whichever comes later?) - no running, no cross-training, no anything. Just rest and relax. To the average Joe non-runner it sounds like the easiest, no-brainer choice, but I think to anyone reading here it sounds like torture, cruel & unusual punishment, etc...

Tom, good luck on the recovery, be dedicated for rehab, just like your running. 200 commando points for finishing. I would ask for a rain check on the races, what the heck, they may say yes.

Stay Kool, B of BS Rools out

Sorry to hear about the injury. Hope you have a quick recovery.