I'm sitting at the kitchen table with my feet on a bag of frozen green beans (we were out of peas). I ran 17 miles this week in three days (not each day--9.0, 4.1 and 4.3.) This is an achievement. I have been struggling all summer with swollen painful feet that I'm assuming are caused by plantar fasciitis.
I've tried a lot of cures, from digging/rubbing a golf ball into the afflicted area to buying more padded running shoes to Dr. Scholls gel pads. Nothing really helped. But recently, someone made a casual comment about arch supports and a light went off. I had flat feet as a child and wore corrective shoes. Sage wore over the counter shoe inserts for foot pain last basketball season. Maybe my problem had something to do with fallen arches. So I put her "Superfeet" inserts into my running shoes, and my feet started to feel better.
My current running protocol starts like this: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, up at 5:15 a.m. I've cleverly put on clean running clothes to sleep in, so I'm already dressed. Dry-swallow 750 mg of ibuprofen, put on running shoes with inserts tucked inside, and head out for 45-50 minutes of jogging. When I get home, I ice my dogs before climbing into the shower and getting ready for work.
Crazy, I know. Why am I so obsessed that I risk injury and sleep deprivation just to get a run in? Well, it's like this. As I've written about here before, the odds of keeping lost weight off for five years are not good. Only about 17 percent of people keep a 10 percent weight loss off for a year. I know that I have trouble restricting my eating, so I need to be very active to maintain my 40 pound weight loss.
As most everybody who knows me knows, lately I've been freaking out because of my desk job. I love my work (at a corporate wellness company) and I love my co-workers. But I hate sitting all day every day. I have made some modifications (stability ball as a chair, creating a part-time stand-up desk). But I know that if I don't get at least four hours of cardio in per week, I'm a goner. Hence the 5:30 a.m. jogs on broke-ass feet.
I'm not sure what will happen this winter when it starts to rain. But I've decided to just relax into my current workout and take it a week at a time.
are you a slut?
1 day ago
5 comments:
Sleeping in your running outfit is oh so brilliant. I worry about when the rain starts too. I think if I just keep up my walk/run commute and the weather changes gradually I'll adapt, but I thought that last year too.
Your dedication is admirable. Why can't you swallow the ibuprofen with water?
You're right Sarah. Except for my hatred of drinking water, there is no reason to dry swallow the Advil. And it's 350 mg, not 750.
Great blog! Thanks for sharing all of this. I have a bad habit of gaining and losing the same twenty pounds, even though my overall goal is actually forty. This is so inspiring, thank you!
Thanks JoAnna. I did some weight cycling myself. You'll get the losing done--just keep exercising!
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