Week 9 - I'm cancelling the pity party

Hello again everyone and thanks for reading along as I work towards my goal of running the NYC marathon and trying to raise $6,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Training update first (then fundraising)

Well it would appear that my recent foot troubles may be related to the equivalent of a "blow out" on one of my running shoes.  If you don't know, running shoes last usually about 300 miles, after that the cushioning starts to degrade.  I keep a log of how many miles I run on a particular pair of shoes, and after about 250 miles or so I get a new pair and start to break them in.

The current model shoe I wear is the Brooks Ghost.  I like it, it's worked well for me.  I've actually bought 4 pairs of them over the last 12 months, as I've run about 1,200 miles in that time.

However the latest pair I bought I have just never liked.  I had no idea why, as they are basically supposed to be all identical.

So this past week I took them to my local running store, I was there to see about some cushioned insoles as recommended by my podiatrist - more on that in a bit.  When the salesman looked at the shoes he turned them over an noticed that the seal on the right foot over the hole that they inject the cushioning gel into was torn.  He told me that when that happens the gel inside gets exposed to air and hardens, no longer cushioning the foot.  I hadn't yet told him about which foot hurt or where, so when he said this I believed him.

I'm no longer going to use that pair, even thou it only got 100 miles on it.  Instead I've called the previous pair into active duty for a bit.  They have 300 miles on them, but they will do for a couple weeks until I decide if I want to try a new style or just get another pair of Ghosts.  Some of that will depend on my upcoming therapy sessions - again more on that soon.

In the meantime it's nice to know what the potential reason was for why I was having the pain in my right foot.  Mentally that was a big relief.

What the doctor said last week:

"Have I told you that you have almost no fat on your feet?"

Yeah, having no fat sounds like a compliment, but when I heard that from my podiatrist my heart sank a bit.  I was actually pretty bummed.  See running is great, but it is hard on your body.  Especially your feet.  Having no fat on the bottoms of my feet means my body is subject to more of the forces when I run.  I had a stress fracture on my left foot a couple years ago.  As I just mentioned above when my shoe blew out, my right foot started feeling it.  It's possible that other runners may never have even felt that, but me - it sidelined me for a couple of weeks.

I looked it up on the internet to find out more.  NEVER DO THAT.  The internet is full of haters.  Turns out the medical term is "something something ATROPHY"

Great I'm thinking...ARTROPHY.  My body is wearing out I'm thinking.  It pissed me off.  I started thinking that running for me was over.  It made me think about that expression how youth is wasted on the young - and if only I knew in my 20s how lucky I was to still have some fat in my feet.

But then I went for a run.

I think the best part of running is how motivating it can be.  I was running along a popular trail and there were lots of runners out, some of whom were senior citizens and a couple were disabled.  It got me to thinking about how many aches and pains they must have, and how they'd probably look at me and if they heard me complain about not having enough fat under my toes they'd laugh.

As if that should be the worst thing in the world.

Even my own mother who went through a knee replacement surgery earlier this year would probably tell me to quit complaining.  Don't worry Mom, I know you still love me :-)

Anyway, it was enough to snap me out of my funk and rethink things.  Sure, I'm not getting any younger and things are going to get harder as my body ages, but that doesn't mean I give up.  I thought about all the disabled athletes in the world, especially the runners missing their feet or legs.   They still find a way to keep going.  Maybe it's hubris on my part, but while I may not be as fast or strong as some I don't think anyone is tougher than I am.  So if these other people are able to find a way to keep going, than so can I.

Back to what the doctor said and what's next:

So after my doctor mentioned the lack of fat, she did say I was okay to run and that I should consider some more Physical Therapy.  I have always enjoyed my PT, so I thought it was a good idea. I went back to the therapist I saw for my runners knee in May/June and she is going to try to work on my chronic tightness in my calves, hamstrings, and quads.  I can tell right now I'm pretty tight in my legs, so I really hope it helps my running.  She mentioned a treatment called ASTYM to try and break down the muscles a bit and try and improve the flexibility.  I'm kind of excited about it.  Stay tuned for more on that.

Here's a graph of the last 12 months of my running.  The 81 miles was in the month of April, which was the Illinois Marathon.  That was when my latest pain cycle started, of the runners knee then followed by the foot pain.  Now that I'm feeling pretty good I'm looking to ramp the mileage back up.  I've got 15 miles in August so far, and I'm ready for more.

FUNDRAISING UPDATE

Again, I'm so thankful to everyone who's been donating to my campaign.  Honestly, seeing those donations come in is the best part of my day and I get SUPER excited.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again - knowing I have all the support of my friends and family just pushes me to try harder.  For example this morning I woke up at 4:30am so I could go out and run for 5 miles, get home in time to help the kids get ready for school, then go to the pool at 7am and get in another 45 minutes of swimming before heading to work.

Its tough, but I know the hills and bridges along the NYC marathon course aren't too easy.  Everyone that has donated to me now feels like we are a team, and I'm gonna do everything I can not to let this team down.

Also, I heard on the news the other day about some exciting new research into cancer that's happening now.  I'm not able to understand all the medicine and science behind the research, but they reported that in 20 years the treatments we are using today - specifically chemo - could be a thing of the past.  That would be WONDERFUL.  It made me think about how people used to use leeches to cure their ailments.  Maybe one day people will look back at what "state of the art" medicine is like today and they will think about how far things have come.  I can only hope that the money we are raising now helps fund the research that will make that dream a reality.

 Weekly fundraising total

So here's where I am today.  After 9 weeks I've raised $2,175 and that is awesome!!  Below is a chart of my weekly fundraising progress, along with a trend line.  I'm really hoping to make it to $6,000, and the trendline shows I'm close.

But I need your help to keep going.

So please, if you are able, consider making a donation.  Anything and everything will help!  It will mean the world to me and to those who are affected by this terrible disease.

Thank you!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE