So as you saw from my last post, I completed a 10K a weekend or so ago. I did this with a nagging pain in my foot. However, thanks to the crowds and the excitement of the race-- I barely noticed the dull ache that now refuses to let go.
Like most people who are runners, I don't like to be told what I can and can't do and I definitely don't like being told that in order for this foot to heal, I NEED to REST! Several inches of snow have fallen in the last few days around my house and this is the weather that I most enjoy running in. I love the crunch of the snow, the brisk air that hits my face as I run and the sparkle from the ground that both blinds and exhilarates!
However, being sidelined with a foot that burns and aches is not something that any runner looks forward to. There is only one way to get rid of this ailment and that one way is REST. I've found myself going into running withdrawal (yes, it actually exists!) and getting more irritable. I can still do yoga and stretches, but they're not the same. I don't feel the way that I do after a session with yoga the way that I do after completing a three mile run in the chilly air with frost hanging on my hat and vest and sweating like pig underneath the layers.
I'm tempted to take a "ah to heck with it" and push through and just run, but because I've made an investment this time in healing this foot (yes, I reluctantly am seeing a chiropractor to help realign everything and be smart about it) I feel that I need to at least TRY to listen. I'm not supposed to do any impact exercises and I've also been told to try and modify my stride so I don't hit my forefoot when I run. Ha! Modify a stride that I've had for my whole life?! Are you kidding?!
However, I'll succumb to the advice-- at least, for now. I've become a wiz at stretching, icing, taking it easy. I look out the windows of my house and see the snow beckoning me, calling out "come run on me!" but I'll ignore it for now. The time that I haven't been able to be out running has allowed me to start planning for 2014's line up of new and exciting races.
Watch for reviews on a race in Lexington, KY in March with horses (you'll find that I absolutely have always LOVED horses), half marathon in Louisville in April to celebrate the Kentucky Derby, the nation's largest half marathon in May to promote the Indianapolis 500, a run with The King in August (Elvis Presley rules!), racing with the Air Force in September and finally ending with a race in my hometown- the Mill Race Marathon also in September. It's going to be an exciting year and this injury that I've been graced with is just allowing me to take a step back and re-strategize, renew and recuperate.
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