Man Down

I'm freaking out. It's been exactly 7 days since the race and I haven't run. Not one step. By Monday, most of my soreness had abated, but a nagging cramp started in my right foot. Just like after last year's race. I tried stretching it, eating bananas, followed all the instructions the internets could provide me. Nothing worked. I started thinking, hmmm, maybe this is worse than a cramp? With some more research, I self-diagnosed myself with plantar fasciitus. Even though my heels felt fine, some cases only affect the arch. Each morning I would wake up with the hope that all the pain would be gone. Nope. Some mornings it was so bad I had to hobble around while walking Miles. I started icing, rolling the tennis ball and golf ball under my foot, and made an appt. with the sports medicine doc.

Yesterday I went to the dr. and drove out of my parking lot with tears rolling down my face. Injury to the plantar fascia. He said it won't be fully healed by the marathon, but if I could run through the pain, do it. Um, okay. Now I'm home sitting here, when I should be driving home from my 12 mile run. Ugh, it's so hard skipping runs, especially this late in the game. These are supposed to be my glory taper days, when I can revel in these short, easy runs and daydream about the big day coming up.

I refuse to be negative, though. I still have two weeks to nurse my foot as close to recovery as possible. I've been living in my sneakers (even at work), icing regularly, popping advil, and stretching. I'm going to add in some light running early next week, then build up a bit if I can handle it. I'd like to do at least 1 8-miler before the race. I'm going to be as responsible as possible and get that 4:30 on marathon day!