I am just the worst

I still intend to write about the marathon this year... yes, the marathon that was 4 months ago.  Let me just say, it was rough. Like, really rough in so many ways.

Let me get to a little bit of a spoiler and say that I haven't been able to run since Memorial Day weekend due to a whole bunch of bad things happening with my foot. Here's the deal with running long distances- things are going to hurt. They're going to hurt a lot. Often, they get better as you get stronger. So, I assumed some foot/toe pain was just my feet needing to be stronger (and, that is possibly what it was). I ran through it. Actually, I sought out advice on how to mentally deal with the pain and run through.  Training this year was tough for a lot of reasons (a fall early on resulting in PT, snow and ice, food poisoning...) and I'm guessing that I just didn't train as much as I should of and caused some bad foot trauma.

Right now, I'm dealing with plantar fasciitis, a heel spur, a torn tendon, a pulled muscle, a bone bruise, and a little arthritis.  I've not been able to teach or do any kind of activity with impact since the beginning of July.  Before that, we tried anti-inflammatories and a cortisone shot before finally getting an MRI and getting the full picture.  I'm missing teaching classes and running pretty badly.

My last run was the Run to Remember in May. I had just started going to the doctor and was told that I could still run, but I should avoid hills.  It was a flat enough course and I switched from the half marathon to the 5 mile course. It was not great. Lots of pain. But, running just the five miles gave me the chance to watch some friends finish their first half marathons!

So happy to be at the end! 

Bish killing it!

Andrew kicking ass!

But, I've been swimming and I love it!  My first few tries were pretty bad.  I was never a great swimmer. I could tread water and move pretty slowly, but I've never really used swimming as an exercise. I had to force myself to get through 15 minutes of "laps" and then 15 more of aqua jogging. My generous and wonderful friend, Lynne, offered a free lesson and it gave me things to work on!  She showed me how to breath correctly during freestyle and taught me proper technique for both freestyle and breast stroke.  I'm still not great, but I'm good enough to actually get a work out!  She also taught me how to pick out goggles and for the first time, I have some that fit.

I also bought this swimming cap. It keeps the hair out of my face and the added bonus is, given the choice, most swimmers would rather share a lane with someone not wearing this.

LANE TO MYSELF!