The Good And The Bad

I heard back from the doctor's office this morning.  The x-rays showed a bone spur on the bottom of my heel.  I am happy that there wasn't a fracture, so I can put that out of my mind.  I also feel vindicated because I don't think anyone really believed me when I kept saying that there was still something wrong with my foot.  My doctor and podiatrist kept trying to tell me that I had plantar fasciitis, but I never thought I did.  I never had the painful first steps in the morning or any other common symptoms except for pain where the plantar fascia ligament attaches to the heel bone.  The podiatrist made his diagnosis of plantars bursitis by pushing directly upwards on my heel.  The reason for the pain was that he was pushing against the bone spur.  The treatment for bone spurs is the same as that for plantar fasciitis--rest, ice, stretching, and inflammatories--all of which I've been doing.  The bad news is that, with every step, I now imagine a jagged piece of bone tearing up my plantar fascia ligament.

I had a pretty good run today.  My legs still feel heavy, which is one of the markers for how I gauge my fitness.  The other is how quickly I can catch my breath and breathe at a comfortable rate while running.  The left insert still doesn't feel right, but it was better than the last time.  I used a liberal amount of Body Glide on my right arch to prevent the rubbing feeling I experienced last time.  It worked.  I could still feel that something was going on, but it didn't bother me.  I tried to shorten my stride to keep from heel striking.  I'm not fast enough yet for my stride to really open up like it used to.  I took my Ibuprofen and iced as soon as I got home.  So far, the feet feel good.  If they are going to have any problems, they probably won't manifest until later tonight or tomorrow morning. 

As far as the 5k race on Saturday goes, I think the best case scenario would be a 25 minute finish.  I just hope I don't get hurt.