Subduing the tendons - 6 days till Grand Island

The mutinous mobs are gaining strength. My foot is markedly worse today even without running.

The pain did not go away after getting up and walking around a bit. It got steadily worse all day.

In addition to the pain I have in the arch, I have developed pain in my inner ankle and calf. Meaning this is not plantar fasciitis.

My best guess is that it's posterior tibial tendonitis, based upon the fact that I cannot stand on the ball of my foot and my lower calf hurts when pointing my toes. From my reading I understand that this injury and plantar fasciitis often go hand-in-hand.

So I've had to call in the reserves. I'll be seeing a podiatrist on Thursday morning. I am hopeful that the pain will be mostly gone by then with a strict regimen of tape, ice, rest, stretching, and ibuprofen (which I am not supposed to take due to some stomach bleeding caused by chronic use of naproxen several years ago, but this is an emergency).

Then, in a last stand using all the firepower I can muster, I hope to convince the doctor to shoot me full of cortisone.

Why is this marathon so important to me that I am willing to risk stomach bleeding and a ruptured tendon to complete it? I'm not sure. I know I hate the idea of going all the way out to Michigan without actually at least starting the race. I hate the idea that all of my training will be wasted.

But I think the most important thing is to live for today. I am signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October and could easily tell myself to save my feet for another day, but who knows where I'll be then? This tendonitis thing could still be plaguing me. I could have a different injury. Any number of things could happen. It's a lesson driven deep into me from my time spent waiting for the Iraq war to start, not knowing when DH would come home.

So yes, I may do serious damage to my tendon and force myself out of MCM in October and who knows how many races hence. But at least I'll have this: My first trail marathon, on an island in Lake Superior, feeling the clean lake breezes and pine needle bed underfoot, splashing through streams. If I only get a few miles of that, I think I would be fine with it. But at least I will have a few memories - better than none at all.

And if nothing else, Lake Superior will make a good ice bath.