13 Weeks to go. It's Raining it's Pouring

I'm falling apart. I feel like nothing is working right. I sprained my ankle and I have "plantar fasciitis". I don't like whining so I don't think I ever wrote about it, but if I'm repeating myself, please excuse me.

The plantar fasciitis thing I've had for a few months now. The bottom of my right heel is very painful and feels like it's bruised. It took me a couple months to finally be convinced that it was not going away on its own and to make a podiatrist appointment. He gave me some inserts for my shoes that are supposed to help and also gave me some "anti-inflammatory" medication. I was hoping that it would go away without the medication and just with the inserts but after about a week with no change I tried the pills.

I hate taking any kind of medication and for good reason. It seems my body is super-duper sensitive. If there's a rare side effect... say... "stroke like symptoms" I'm the one that ends up in the emergency room with a stutter, can't talk, and my brain not working. Or let's say that doctors have never even heard of someone getting an "antibiotic caused stomach infection" (pseudomembranous colitis) from amoxicillin but yet there I am, 6 months pregnant and lucky I went into the ER when I did or it could have been too late. It happens often enough that I've become very... cautious, maybe even a little paranoid to pop any kind of pill no matter how innocent the medication might be.

Well, I took half the dose of the anti-inflammatory medication and it did make my foot feel better but even with half the dose I was out! I was like a walking zombie with no energy or life. After a few days of taking it and my foot finally felt better, I stopped. Everything was OK. My foot hurt a bit but at least I could be normal.

The ankle sprain... A couple of weeks ago I was running and saw some grape sized rocks up ahead. I was trying to aim my step so that I wouldn't land on one. I kicked one with my right foot and just before my left foot came down the rock landed under my foot. My left ankle rolled and hurt pretty smart. I stretched it for a minute, thought "Oh crap I just sprained my ankle." and kept running. As soon as I got home I massaged it a bit, iced it, wrapped it and repeated several times through the day. The next day I took the wrap off but kept icing it. It felt weak but I felt OK running on it, so I did.

After the training race last week with all the hills, I've been in pain. At first I just thought it would all go away and I just needed rest. All the muscle pain did go away. My ankle and my heel still kill. I'm scared to go to the podiatrist again because I'm afraid he'll tell me to stop running. I went to my "naturalist" Doctor or as Zach likes to call him..."My Voodoo Doctor". The Eastern Medicine techniques usually work where the Western Docs don't fill in but I didn't find any relief. I have another appointment with him on Tuesday, I'm thinking about another appointment with the podiatrist but I think I'll wait longer and see if it doesn't magically go away. Sucky.

So here I am. Feeling broken and scared. K- Enough of that.

I rested most of this week to try and help my ankle and foot (which didn't help) and today I was supposed to run 7 miles. As if 7 miles wasn't daunting enough I'm determined to add more hills. I marked the map out which... I've decided... although it's needed... to know where to go... all it does is freak me out. Everything seems SO FAR! I've heard that for this same reason you're not supposed to ever drive the course of your marathon. Anyway I had 2 really steep hills today in my run and I'm proud to say I ran the whole thing. Not very quickly but I did. In the rain. With wet shoes, socks and hair. Ladies & Gentlemen... I ran 7 miles today with hills! The longest I've ever ran! I feel like I might die now but I did it.

Next week I have the 2nd training race. It's a 10K (6.2 miles) and I hear it's all uphill. Again. I'm scared.