A Saturday Run

My last real run was Monday and it was on my treadmill.  After I was done, I noticed both heels hurt a bit, and then I noticed they had odd bumps on the back.  The right one is especially bumpy.

Okay...so of course I went to Doctor Google.  Doesn't everyone?  If I am correct, I have something called Haglund's Deformity.  It happens when your Achilles tendon is tight or somewhat short.  Right where your Achilles tendon hits your heel, the back of your feet get irritated and you form a bump.  Normally this happens to women who wear heels.  I'm 5'9" tall.  I have NEVER been comfortable in heels.  I have been doing hill running though and that can exacerbate it.  Monday is my doctor's appointment. I shall see then.

I forced myself to slow down.  I walked with my husband and son Tuesday.  I jogged a little bit, but just a little bit.  Then I speed walked with a friend on Thursday.  Friday was weights and abs only.

By today I thought, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"  I'm good at resting if it's because I'm feeling lazy, but not good at resting if it's due to an injury.  That's right.  It has to be my idea.  As one can imagine, I was a total treat when I was a teenager.

Since I am training for an upcoming run, which is how I received the injury in the first place, I decided to add some mileage.  I went to a local park that has a small lake, about a mile around.  I was running on dirt and not pavement and it wasn't too hilly.  I tried to stretch my Achilles tendon well first.  Then around that lake I went.

I was not fast and it is funny how quickly a 55 degree day can feel ever so much hotter.  A cute little boy said hi to me.  I stopped and told him hi back.  He was adorable.  His Mom spent a lot of time out there with him today, just sitting and looking at the geese and the lake.  She's the kind of Mom I would like to be.  I am not nearly so patient.  With my kids, it would be ten minutes of goose gazing and then I would say, "Are we done yet?"  Alternately, I wouldn't mind reading a book while they goose gazed.  But that's not what kids really want.  They want you to look at them and answer their questions and listen to their observations.  So kudos to that Mom for really getting it and being there for her boy.  I should add I'm not the worst parent in the world, but I do not excel at the whole living in the moment thing.

Around the lake I was trotting.  My heel bump wasn't hurting too bad.  I wasn't breaking any speed records, but that is par for the course.  At mile three, I decided to see if I could set a new record for my mile time.  So I started pounding my feet and thinking in my head, "Fast, fast, fast, fast!"  Before a half mile was up, I was already checking my watch.  Was I done yet? Nope.  Fast, fast, huff, fast, puff.  My legs were feeling like lead but I pushed it.  When I was at .8, I was breathing like a locomotive.  Puff, fast, puff, fast, puff.  I pushed on to make it a whole mile, and I set a new speed record, for me.  Then I took time to be really glad nobody was right there at the end of my run to hear me laboring for air like I had just finished a marathon, not a measly mile.  After that, my times were much slower.  There was a lot more walking.  My back hurt and I had worn myself out.

At one point, a fellow jogger waved to me and smiled. I think he was smiling at my red sweaty face.  I don't blame him.  I did look pretty funny.

Finally, finally my six miles were finished.  I went home and took a Motrin because my butt cheeks hurt.  Yes, I said it and I'll say it again.  My butt cheeks hurt.  One day after a run, my daughter became upset with me for moaning, "Oh my ass."  So then I crept up on her and said, "Oh mi culo!"  Snicker.

My butt hurts no more but the back of my right heel is burning and stinging. It is most unhappy with me.  I look at it this way. It will be nice and swollen for my doctor's appointment Monday.

I posted my run to Strava and shared it in my Facebook diet group.  Then I typed, "When I win this contest, I will need to buy some new jogging shoes."  Smack talk is encouraged in the group.  We also post pictures of ice cream and doughnuts and talk about Sees chocolate.  We are masochists, all.

As far as weight loss goes, I am only down two pounds.  I'm trying but it is so much harder to gain it, than it is to lose it.  If it weren't for the money, I would have probably said, "screw it," by Wednesday.

I am glad to be done with the long run for the week.  Tomorrow I go with friends and it is a more manageable three miler.  They are also much better company then my mp3 player.