Officially Injured

Well, it's official - I'm out of commission for awhile! It's funny (not so funny) how almost any part of my body can hurt and I know I can work my way through it. Then there are the stupid plantar fascia (the ligament that runs on the bottom of the foot). Whenever they act up I know I'm in trouble. When I was resting my knee, I felt these wonderful fibers tighten up. I slowly (sort of) worked up to thirteen miles and knew that my darn left heel was in trouble. I got my third cortisone shot in about thirteen months - which is not outside of the medical recommendation. Then a few days later I was running and felt something snap by my heel. I could then barely walk and had to hobble back to my car.

I worked with a physical therapist for a few weeks and with her encouragement gradually increased running mileage. I could do only a run-walk pattern but the running portions were gradually increasing. I ran-walked the 10K in Maine - a totally worth it experience. I celebrated July 4th with a 16 mile run-walk on the bridges and banks of the Ohio River - another totally worth it morning.

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It always hurt, though, and felt very tight - and just wrong. An MRI showed that I had partially torn my plantar fascia which really didn't surprise me. So now I am non-weight bearing for four weeks (which is technically less than a month if you are counting down the days.)

Though, obviously I am disappointed, it is not completely bad news. The surgical solution to stubborn plantar fasciitis is to partially cut the fascia. It then grows back longer and healthier. So basically I did the surgery to myself. (This is real medical information - from my doctor and can be confirmed through research - not simply my wishful thinking.) At the end of this process, my foot should feel better than it has in years. Now all I need to do is be compliant with doctors orders and patient. Yep, that's an enormous task but I am committed.

I am finding a lot of things to do to stay busy. I am being creative to find ways to stay physically active, because that's what I love. My friends are being great at inviting me to do things. My most honest thought right now is that it's weird how everything seems basically fine and life is moving on, but there is an underlying sadness if I pause for too long. Really, though, I am doing well.

I am working on a couple of fundraisers for the scholarship fund. That goal is bigger than my personal running. I am dreaming up ways to make next year's Flying Pig fundraiser even better. I want to include more West Clermont employees, enlist more West Clermont businesses and raise more money. Let me know if you know any business owners who want to get involved!! For the twenty or so people that participated last year, it was a special event. I'd like to grow that to impact both the participants and our scholarship recipients.

I will end with a shout out to West Clermont students. Right after I learned I had to be non-weight bearing for a month, I was able to check my AP Government students scores. So I sat in my car outside the doctor's office, looking them up on my phone. They did AWESOME! If you asked me to dream big and guess their scores, I would not have dreamed this big!! These kids crushed the national average!! I am so proud of them. There was so much to learn, memorize and understand. The workload was tough. I am excited that I can be a part (beginning in 2021) in sending some of them to college!!