Chris's Blog: Final Entry

This is my final blog post for the 2012 LSC Half Marathon and sadly I’m stepping away on a sad note. Actually, I’m not stepping away; instead I’m hobbling away…

Over the past month I’ve been slowly increasing my average mileage, building up to the longer distances that I’d be facing in the Chattanooga 4 Bridges Half Marathon on October 21st and the LSC Half Marathon on November 3rd. On October 6th I went for an evening run at Seneca park. The weather was absolutely ideal for me with clear skies and cool temperatures in the high 40’s – low 50’s. This is the weather that I LOVE to run in.

I set out thinking I would run 4 laps, or roughly 4.8 miles. Since there were only 3 or 4 other people out and the weather was ideal I decided to push a little further, deciding early on that I would do at least 5 laps for an even 6 miles. All was well until the time between miles 3 & 4. My left heel began to hurt. It had been sore off and on for the past few weeks but never painful. This was a bit more than just being sore though with some sharp pain here & there. I slowed my pace down to a fast walk and after a half mile or so the pain had subsided. I picked up the pace again and had a terrific run. Honestly I would have kept running past mile 6 but it was getting late and I was a little bored. In the end I clocked 6 miles with an average pace of 9:26.

A few hours later I was getting ready to leave my house to go pick up our baby from some family members that had been watching her for the evening. As I slipped my shoes on I was met with a strong pain in my left heel, much worse than what I pushed through when running. I needed to pick up our daughter so I ignored it (or tried to) and went on my way. By the time I was walking out of my cousin’s house with a baby seat in tow I could barely stand up. Driving home was painful as well thanks to having a manual transmission in my car. I successfully hobbled around without crutches on Sunday, hoping that the pain would ease on it’s own, but eventually had to go to urgent care on Monday.

The doctor at urgent care felt around my heel and found the painful spot quite quickly, dodging a kick to the chest in the process. After an x-ray he gave his diagnosis, calcaneal bursitis in conjunction with a heel spur. A prescription for prednisone and two intense pain killers along with instructions to keep my foot elevated and to use crutches. This was two weeks before the Chattanooga 4 Bridges Half Marathon, which I had registered for a week prior.

Fast forward to now, about two weeks later. I’ve been hobbling around on crutches well enough but now the rest of my body is achy and tired thanks to the added duty. In addition to the urgent care doctor I’ve also seen my regular doctor as well as a foot & ankle specialist. The foot specialist gave me the best news so far in that I will likely be able to start training again in late December / early January, with the possibility of running the local races in March & April as well as the NYC Half Marathon in March. I’ll be on crutches for another 3-4 weeks, using shoe inserts with heel wedges, stretching multiple times a day, icing my heel each night and going in for follow ups until then. All in all I think I’m coming away lucky. The foot specialist said that I’ll likely change shoes and have to work in some new stretching to my running routing but that I’d otherwise be ok. I fully intend to sit on the sidelines and over the next couple months do what it takes to get back into the pack come 2013.

So there you have it. I won’t be running alongside you all come November 3rd but I’ll still be out there cheering for everyone. This will be an opportunity to take some good running photos, something I usually have to miss because I’m running. A friend of mine has recently completed a couch to 5k program. Thanks to the timing I’ve passed my registration on to him. As much as I’d LOVE to be out there running I’ll be quite proud to see him come across the Pure Tap 5k finish line.

I’ve posted a photo of my heel spur x-ray at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fleur-design/sets/72157631813529352/ , check that link after the LSC Half Marathon as I’ll be uploading my photos there.

Miles run this week: 0

Best running song (not for the week, just in general!): “Barbara Streisand” by Duck Sauce … Seriously, go download it now and thank me later when it perks you up through those hard miles on November 3rd!