Wednesday 25th February
Run #56
2.5k Round the Block Runch
In the grand scheme of
Universal cosmic debt and 'what goes up must come down' the first foot on the
floor out of bed this morning was like stepping on an upturned power plug.
Stiff ankles, tight calves and the return of the shooting heel pain and instep
ache are, it seems, the price I'm paying for not listening to the angel on my
shoulder about the ill-advised carefree sprinting yesterday. With a heavy heart
I have to admit that too much forefoot running of late on my inherently floppy fallen
arched hobbit feet is exacerbating the PF tha seems to not have come and gone as I'd hoped.
Typically for plantar
fasciitis is a peak of stiffness and pain first thing in the morning, as the
fascia has tightened overnight. Usually as everything gets more warmed up through the day the
discomfort eases, giving a false sense of security on a run as it feel better the further
you go and the warmer you get. So I was naturally wary as the morning at work went on and I was still
very aware of my right foot every time I got up from my desk.
Nevertheless, I headed
out for a runch, with an aim to keep it so slow and short that it would be as
close to resting as a run could get. It takes so much focus and discipline to go super slow I find. It takes constant mental remindings, as
my patterns slip back to my 'comfort pace', to hold it back. I tried for a
little loop across a pretty square in Belgravia with some galleries I love to
nosy in the window of, and then up past the Lister Hospital and back round to work.
Even keeping the pace
steady and running a nearly flat route I wasn't sure I was holding back enough. The focal spot of pain on the medial
edge of my heel and corresponding arch-ache dulled off as expected, but in
response was an unexpected congested feeling in both calves. Like all the blood
that was feeding those muscles was rushing there to deposit all the lovely
oxygen but then Just. Not. Leaving. Stopping to stretch this out was a no-no as
stopping gave an instant pain in both lower legs like the flood of feeling back
into an arm you'd fallen asleep on. Which forced me to walk off the run for a good
while before I could stretch.
All the conventional
wisdom says the cure for PF is REST. Honest to goodness just NOT running. But I
am not ready to throw in the towel on the Streak just yet. Which probably makes
me stupid. But I'm hopeful that I can listen to my body enough to know when
stupidity becomes f*ing idiocy and stop before then.
In the meantime I am
going to find out as much as I can about what I should be doing to minimise the
impact of continuing to run, albeit the bare minimum and rehabbing to recovery
at the same time.
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