a grateful heart

This has been a challenging month. The first week, we lost our beloved dog of 12 years. He went in the sweetest way possible, he just walked out into the backyard on a beautiful morning and died under the big tree. He had shown no signs of decline or discomfort, so his death was a very unexpected shock. It's taken the better part of the month for us to get used to living without him. Every day gets a little better, but we miss him and will continue to love him forever. I really am grateful for the 12+ years of joy he brought to our lives - they weren't always perfect moments, and grief is no fun, but we had a multitude of good times, memories, love and companionship over the years, and I wouldn't trade any of it. I am so glad Marco was our doggie and we were his humans. 

So now we've been getting used to Solo Polo. Let me tell you what, she's a GREAT dog. We knew she was easier than Marco, but we had no idea how little we were all interacting with her, and vice versa - it seems we all let Marco do the communicating! Since he's been gone, it's been a joy to watch Polo really warm up to us and show her personality these past few weeks. We're still working on her greetings and interactions with other dogs, but overall, she's come such a long way since we got her. I'm really grateful she joined our family. 

I'm also super grateful I can run. Our friends came to visit for Thanksgiving and suggested doing the Turkey Trot, so we signed up for it last week. I haven't been training to run at all, but I'm happy I can pick up and do a 4-miler. At the start I thought "I'd like to finish this in under 40 minutes." Well, I came in at 39:59, and that included a poop stop for Polo! As we stopped, I decided it was more important to me to be with my family than to hit a time goal, so at the finish, I felt like it was a bonus I did both! I'm so glad we all shared this Turkey Trot experience. 

It sounds cheesy to list out these things I'm grateful for, but I can't help it. There's really a lot of uncertainty in our lives, and obviously none of us can control when or how our favorite souls will depart their earthly bodies - but I am so grateful for the time I get to spend with mine. It's hard to lose a loved one, but the gift of life goes on. Being thankful for who is around me helps me be present so I can better enjoy the gift. 

I hope you're having a healthy end to your November, and doing the best you can to take care of YOU. 

OUCH! Plantar fasciitis for the fall...

While I was in Philly the last week of September, my left foot was getting a little feisty. This went on intermittently for a couple weeks, and then there were two days straight that I really couldn't walk. Mr. Scandinavian Mullet told me I needed to go see someone. I knew he was right, but I texted my coach to get her thoughts and she confirmed it. So, I went to my doctor, who said it was most likely plantar fasciitis, but ordered an Xray to rule out a stress fracture. RATS. The good news is, no stress fracture. The bad news is, it is plantar fasciitis (PF) which can take a LONG TIME to heal. DOUBLE RATS.

I gave myself a day to wallow, and do whatever internet sleuthing I could (hey, we all play Dr. Google, whether or not we admit it). Injury is [obviously] no fun. Forced downtime, when you love to go go GO, is OK for 24 hours, or even 48, but after that, I miss my runs. Someone needs to go to the store, clean the house, walk the dogs - I don't like feeling as if I can't support my household! On the other hand... the universe is unfolding exactly as it should, and perhaps this was a nudge to sit down (I mean, my Garmin is definitely telling me that!) and take a breath, for just a minute. OK, fine, but while I'm sitting, I'm still gonna try figuring out a way out of, or around this ailment, right?!? RIGHT!

Back to Dr. Google. Suffice to say you should never do ANYTHING you find on the interwebs, before you confirm it with an actual medical professional. BUT an Actual Medical Professional had responded to a thread in an athlete group I follow, saying "If you ask 100 people with plantar fasciitis what worked for them, you will get 100 different answers. The key is to find what works for you." Many people (including some medical professionals) insisted that finding the root cause is key, and usually involves a lot of stretching the muscles associated with the root cause - not just the foot muscles and the plantar fascia - to remedy the problem. That, and intense massage (which my own doctor had suggested) seemed to offer the best results to the most people. 

In my search, I discovered several athletes had used a massage gun (similar to this one) and gotten relief. I have one of these, so I tried it. Lo and behold, three days of using it just before bed, plus doing the stretches I found explained in this video, and my PF was all but GONE. Pretty awesome outcome! Now I was free to go enjoy the rest of my fall. Seriously, I went to FL and had a great time running around and go-karting with my niece and nephew, helping my mom with house jobs, and never had a problem. I kept up the stretches while there, and it's been over 10 days that I'm still pain-free. I found what worked for me, wanted to share in case it might help you, too!

Injury is no fun. But the takeaway here is, don't ignore prolonged pain. Don't think it will get better or go away, don't try to push through it. If something has been bothering you for more than 10 days, don't risk it becoming a permanent handicap, or turning into something that will require surgery to fix. Get it checked out so you can face whatever it is, and fix it, and go back to having fun living your active life. Take care of you. 

--

Video explaining Plantar fasciitis and stretches to help: How to Fix Plantar Fasciitis - Athlean X

Video explaining using a massage gun for plantar fasciitis relief - note, I used the technique in this video, but with the ball attachment, it worked great for me: Relieve Plantar Fasciitis With a Massage Gun - Dr. Jin