- Have physical therapy. I've gone to one session, and I have three more appointments scheduled next week.
- Faithfully do all the exercises the physical therapist recommends. Check.
- Take two Aleve in the a.m., and two in the p.m. Check.
- Wear 1/4-inch heel pads in all my shoes. I'm gellin'.
- When attempting to exercise this week, walk only on padded, flat surfaces. So, I'm walking the track at the high school. Sooooo boring... And I'm only to walk short distances. Today I only did 2 miles, which, after doing 8, 13, 21, and 8 the last four weekends, in addition to my usual four miles daily, seems like nothing.
- Rub steroid cream into my heels twice daily. My sweet husband has volunteered for foot cream-rubbing duty. Thanks, honey!
- Pray. OK, the doctor didn't tell me to pray, but I am praying for relief from the pain, and that I will be able to finish the course next Sunday. You can pray, too, if you want.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Trying to cope with my injured body...
Well. Here we are, a week before the big marathon, and my body has decided to give out on me. Or, as my doctor gently put it, "You've probably over-trained." As our bodies age, there is apparently far less padding in the heels of our feet, where the Achilles tendon attaches, and when those same feet take many thousands of steps daily in training for the Portland Marathon, an extremely painful condition called Achilles tendinitis can be the result. And, in my case, that's what's happened. Oh, I had plenty of warning, plenty of chances to deal with the increasing pain I've been feeling since June, but I chose to ignore it, hoping it would just go away. And it didn't. So, I went to see the good doctor this week, and, to make a long story short, he thinks that I can still do the marathon (with probable major pain, but with hopefully no permanent damage), if I do the following:
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8 comments:
When the bottom of my heel (closest to my arch) hurt, it was planta fascitis and gel pads helped a lot. When my achilles tendon hurt (that spot at back of your foot a few inches above ground) I eventually learned that the height of my shoes collar was very important. I made a big difference by cutting a slit and inch or so down the back of my shoe from the top. Later I worked on buying shoes where that had a lower back and didn't aggravate my achilles tendon.
I hope all goes well. By the way, both the plantar fascitis and achilles tendonitits happens to young people too!
Hope you walk the good race :-)
You will make it across that finish line if I have to drag you by the veins in your neck.
Even with you injuries, your training has been better than mine the last two weeks. Life with a little one sure doesn't allow for long walks! See you soon!
that's really nice, sarah...
Oh no....that's so frustrating. See you soon!
Would wrapping your ankle/tendons help? As track manager back in the day, I could hook you up. Best of luck!
I think you should try hopping on one leg for the whole thing! Can't be that hard, right? :)
We can switch off giving piggy back rides to you...
Ouch...I can relate because I have achilles tendonitis as we speak! You have been training so hard it would be sad if you couldn't do the walk next weekend. I will be praying for you.
(if you need a good laugh go to my blog and go down a few posts. You will see a wedding picture of us! Not a normal wedding couple for sure)
I will be praying for all of you walkers!
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