Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar taping.

Ah two words dreaded by the runner or anyone else who's had a bout with this difficult to live with and difficult to heal issue.

In my case, it was a relief to hear these words however. Why? it meant I didn't have anything else going on! woohoo!

I've been having ongoing ankle tendonitis and heel pain. I'd been doing some of the usual things that have worked for me when i've had a bout of PF/tendonitis in the past (on the other foot!) but this was still lingering. And I didn't quite have the same symptoms as last time. No, my foot/heel was not really sore when i first got out of bed. Running, in general, didn't particularly bother me as long as I wasn't running trails where the constant turns stressed the ankle.  I knew something was up though as suddenly my usual running shoe just did not feel right. My foot would get sore at work towards the end of the day and I have been getting some swelling along the ankle tendontiis.

Off to the podiatrist to figure out what is going on.  I know my calves are tight and I'd switched out an orthotic insert from my day to day shoes. After adding that back in, my foot did feel better but what about that swelling?

At least, the assistant was quick to remark as she was taking my history, that everything seems to have been going well. i'd last been to the podiatrist's office in 2009!

The doc (a runner himself) was quick to run me through some checks and quickly confirmed plantar fasciits (even without the typical symptoms) and nothing more than tendontis both caused by tight calves.  Of course I have tight calves because the way my foot/ankle joint is built inherently limits the ability to stretch. I've used a foam roller and a stick for years because of this. Time to up the game and massage the tight calves plus add in daily eccentric calf excercies. He showed me a way to tape my arch and basically laughed at me and my super high arches. Yeah, I know. I need something in my shoes to support my arches which will take the pressure off and let things settle down.

26th Ave E Stairs

Ah, such relief though. I know what I'm dealing with and as a runner he was in no way advocating stopping running which I'd been worried about. So cautious marathon training resumes. I'll switch some easy short run days to cycling and be agressive about countermeasures.

Such relief! Meanwhile it's been great to run knowing that the issue is just plantar fascitis. Since I still need to limit trails (boo!), the occasional stair is a great way to add in some strength.We ran on a usual run course and I was really surprised to see these stairs. I've never noticed them before and this is along one of my popular biking routes too. 

Rejuvenation

Steep! NW 85th Ave @ 32nd Ave NW

It's been just over a week since the Beat the Blerch Marathon. I was pretty disappointed with how the marathon went overall for me. No, it wasn't a PW (personal worst) but it was pretty close. There was no way I could've maintained anywhere close to a race pace for the distance. That really was the whole point of doing the marathon as a training run so this was pretty discouraging.

However, I don't ever discount that I did run a marathon and that is something to celebrate. Even better? Recovery from the long run seems to have gone well. I took three full days off from running. I did bike on the roller trainer that third day. I had no trouble at work walking around or walking up and down stairs so that was encouraging. The big indicator that I had run long? I brought lots of extra snacks to work but still was ever so hungry. That finally settled down Thursday.

I ran wednesday and thursday and importantly, I was looking forward to these run and enjoyed them. Saturday I figured out a new running course which incorporated some interesting stairs and short easy trails on a run course I've run for years. I've never been on those stairs or trails so that was really fun. The loop itself ended up being just a little long for what my tired legs wanted. At mile 9, i was having to make sure to pick my feet up carefully when running as I was afraid of tripping! I was able to cut it a bit shorter and enjoyed 10.5 miles. I'm having just a touch of heel pain (bursitis) and plan on working hard to manage that.

This coming week will still be a careful week. I plan on trying an easier workout and increasing miles. The last few miles of the marathon I grumbled to myself about pulling out of the longer distance events I'm planning on but recovery has put things sensibly into perspective. I'm still aiming for those goals that I have and I'm ready to engage in training again. I love the lifestyle and the feeling of working towards the distances.

New growth on the dead looking stalk.

Rejuvenation? Certainly. The recovery weeks are important. It's important to remind myself of why I do this. This weekend was also a chance to get back out into the garden. There are limited gardening hours left now. It's getting dark quickly after work and we've had some good preview Fall storms. Soon, it'll be too wet and cold to work in the yard.

I have some volunteer plants that have come up in the front yard which will be perfect for the backyard.  three weeks ago, we moved a flowering current that was a volunteer plant in the front yard. I had the perfect place for it in the back yard. Unfortunately when moving it, the main root got severed plus it had been hot. I figured it would die but kept it watered. And amazingly, it has come back and put out new growth!

You just never know how things will turn out. I keep reminding myself about this with races too. 

Long Run Fun

And it was fun. I've really slowed down my long run pace which means I run with a group (which included K) who is a bit slower than i am usually for speed work. It was fun running with a different group and very relaxing keeping the pace slower although I did notice that towards the end I was getting very stiff and it felt good to stride out. I've been thinking of the next stair loop and we were in the area where I'd like to do it. I did spot a staircase I've never noticed before even though I've run the route we did for years.  Haha! These are the Glenmont Stairs.

How many repeats again?

Monday morning track? Is there anything better to get you up and ready to go for the week? NO! My legs were a bit sore in the quads from the lovely stair loop of Saturday. Why yes, it is like a trail run, sneakily enough.

The workout this morning was long with many repeats. The trick to completing it? I was honest and probably conservative with the 5k paced repeats. And those recoveries were at a super slow recovery pace. Ok, the last repeat, I did uphill heading back home. I did that one for effort and it was challenging.

the last challenge of the workout was running up these stairs on the way back home.  Oof!

Leschi Stairs and cherry season

We debuted the next stair loop today at the group run. I'd first sat down with maps and books and mapped out the run in mid-May. I didn't get a chance to explore the route until a month later. I really wanted to go back to rerun the route but vacation, ragnar and marathon training didn't allow that. So I knew which route I was aiming for but wasn't quite sure of total distances nor was I sure I could find the correct trails through some of the parks.

This was totally successful and a lot of fun! The neighborhoods adjacent to Lake Washington have some really amazing features and I was really happy to get people exploring them. And oh yeah, 6.5 miles took almost two hours to mark the course! It was a tough one!

The dilemma was how to fit marking the stair loop of 6.5 miles with my need to get in an 18 mile long run. I decided to treat that 6.5 miles as a trail run and just run by time. So it took about 1h30-45 minutes to run the course and i needed another 1h30 minutes of running. After marking the course, i headed off trotting back towards our house. However, it is cherry season and I wanted to get some different cherries than the usual suspects (Bing and Rainier) that we can get at our local grocery store.

The University District Farmers' Market was the perfect ending point. K finished the group run and leisurely drove towards the market and parked while i roamed around a bit to get in time on my feet. And they had some great cherries! We got two pounds of a sweet cherry (Sweetheart) and a pound each of two different varieties of sour cherries (Montmorency and North Star).

What's planned? Sour cherry ice cream! boozy cherries! And yes, it's exciting.

Leschi Stairs

Frink Waterfall Bridge

The next stair run has been tentatively scheduled for next month. With upcoming travel coming soon, I have to fit in an exploratory run. I'm upping miles this week so an "easy" run exploring some new areas is an entertaining way to do this.  I planned a 7 mile loop but of course once out exploring not every trail or stair was quite what I was expecting. I ended up being out running for almost two hours and cut the planned route short because of time and less than spectacular stairs. Yes, i've become a stair snob. 

it sure was fun though! The best set of stairs? I can't remember where they are! It was early in the run and just north of Madrona Woods and probably the Newport Stairs. They are impressively slippy/sloppy/slidey. These are steep hillsides next to Lake Washington and obviously the hillside isn't completely stable. The houses tucked into these steep areas were impressive too. They've mostly been there for decades so I'm sure they are safe, right?

I've run along Lake Washington Blvd for years and years. There are common bike routes which cut through these neighborhoods and i've seen the trail access and been curious. I still have to go back and scope out some of the trails especially through Frink Park and Madrona Woods. There just are not very good, clear trail maps of these areas. The most impressive area? The Leschi Natural Area has been lovingly restored with new trails installed and there is a fabulous overlook. I was not expecting that and just laughed out loud in delight. the Leschi Natural area does not even show up on maps. 

I tried to find a cut through trail in the Madrona Woods and mostly found an unsafe mess but I was amused to find yet another long abandoned car.  How DID that get there?

Of course I wanted to get home in time to do a barre3 class. Oof. My legs are tired!

Another Stair Challenge

Stairs in the Volunteer Park Water Tower

Finally. After lots of planning and running this course twice, I ran and marked this course which roams through various stairs and trails in the Montlake, Eastlake and Capitol Hill areas of Seattle.  It's a really challenging course and the full loop is 11 miles long. I, of course, did a really good barre class yesterday and was aware my legs and glutes and abs and and and were tired from that AND i have a goal race in a week.  I was prudent and stopped at 9 miles especially once i realized I had run out of water.  yes, it was humid.  

And yes gardens and the arboretum were just beautiful. Everything seemed to be blooming! I've not had a chance to run all that much through the Seattle Arboretum (aka Washington Park Arboretum) and this morning we were able to find some completely different trails (and stairs) with the help of the maps they have posted in the grounds.  This map is different than the map that is posted online and it has stairs marked! 

Arboretum Map posted in the park. 

Playing hooky!

Well not really. The goal this summer is to get some trail runs in mid-week. I run best early morning and it is light very early now in the morning. I have a willing friend so we went off very early to get in a longer mid-week run. She then drops me off at work on the way home and i can shower in the new gym at work. I am a little late to work but that works just fine for summer and I clear it with my coworkers (it is also easier for me to be a little late than to leave early).

This mid-week trail break is like a mini-vacation and super fun. Trails today? Yes and no! We were finalizing the next stair run which also loops through trails in Interurban Park, Volunteer Park and the Arboretum. I'd wanted to add on a new little loop (to add miles) and we did find a closed stairway! Surprise!

E McGraw St Stairs at 19th Ave E - one big step!

They are everywhere!

Stairs! These were just up the street from the massage therapist at Warren Ave N & Valley St at the base of Queen Anne. Next time!

Still Laughing out Loud

Hidden Stairs

The next stair run is planned and today was the day to figure out the course. and it was even more fun that I was expecting! yes, i did chortle to myself at times as I just could not believe some of the cool hidden areas in Seattle.  Of course i got lost a bit, had to back track a bit and now have found some maps for some of the more confusing areas. That only means that i cannot wait to go back!

Interlaken Trail

My legs were pretty tired after a faster trail run late last week, an OUTSIDE bike ride with hills and plenty of gardening/yardwork. The first few miles of this course are really tough and I doubted I'd be able to finish the loop in time to get back home to shower and to head off to Easter Brunch.  The running got easier though and once through the more confusing parks, I made better time. 

The last couple miles follow the well known Seattle marathon course and so inspired, I picked up the last mile to half marathon pace just to prove i could.  That Easter Brunch hit the spot! 

Water Tower

Queen Anne Stairs!

Bhy Kracke Park overlook

Yay! I'd planned for this run way back in January but knee woes had to delay this group run until April. Stairs! JH and I were marking the course for the group run. I was a little nervous about the distance as i really wanted to do the entire loop (11 miles) but considering this is a hard 11 miles with all those stairs, i wasn't sure how the knee would hold up. 

Warren St - build 1904

I should not have worried! As I was also counting how many stairs there were with a counter, I could not run up the stairs without getting off count. Careful stair climbing combined with the nature of marking a course with a lot of turns (ie lots of starting and stopping) meant that this felt like a pretty easy run and i had no troubles. The only trouble was some steep downhill that did not have stairs. I didn't feel comfortable running those and chose to walk which felt better on my knee.  Still, I had to slow us down the last couple flat miles back to the car. This was a fun one and the group who had been well prepared for a "urban adventure run" had a blast which was great.

Finally I was able to detour the group to check out the oldest stair in the city.  I'd kept missing it when scouting and planning this run. These were build according to city records in 1904. Only 100 years young!  These are at Warren Ave N & Ward St. 

And just how many stairs were on this run? Keep in mind that i did count curbs as there are plenty of streets in these neighborhoods which do not have curb cutouts. Considering that there are approximately 25 stairs in one floor in most buildings and this number counts up and down stairs in this loop, that's a lot!  Take half the total and divide by 25 gives you 45 floors of stairs up and down.  OOF! 

Stairs!

Bwah hahaha!  It's one of the latest NEW set of stairs in Seattle and if you look south from these stairs, there is a good view. And I could actually run up them and I'll be trying to run tomorrow to which will be the first consecutive run.  Finally the last fencing is down at the new Maple Leaf Reservoir Park and these stairs are now accessible.  It was impressive to see the Rain Pond on the east side at work. Rain Pond is how the feature is labeled on the plans and I'm guessing it acts as a flood control/retention pond in times of heavy rain. Did I mention that we've had a lot of rain lately? Well this pond is now filled up and is very pretty in action. 

Rain Pond

Cheers!

A day off from work mid-week? Yes, I'll run 10 miles in daylight! K and I went and redid the most recent stair course. Pleasantly challenging with lots of great views and surprising turns to hidden stairs. The last run, KJS came up with the idea of a run needing a "feels like" app.  You know with weather, it can be 40 degrees but feels like 30 because of wind?  These stair runs feel like an in-city trail run.  I ran 10.2 and feels like 12.  It took that long too!  

Yay for a lovely Christmas Eve! Cheers!