What A Great Day To Watch OTHER Runners!

   Doralyn and I had some groceries to buy today and when we were out we saw runners. Lots of them.
   I never used to pay too much attention to runners before I became one myself. These days, I pay a lot of attention---I look to see what kind of foot strike they use, what kind of hydration system they carry, what kind of shoes they're wearing, what their stride is like and, generally, if they look like they know what they're doing.

Heels...one on the right's pissin' me off!

   Lately, I've been extremely jealous of anyone who looks like they're out there and running pain-free. I've been trying to recover from this p-fash (plantar fasciitis) for so long that I'm starting to get worried that I might never recover. I've been through this before with other types of injuries and I know that my body has always been wonderfully recuperative and I suspect that some day I will be better. Until this actually happens, though, it's hard not to feel just a little panicky.
   I would so much rather be telling people how the prep is going for the next race or what new mileage I'm up to but the fact of the matter is there is no next race right at the moment and the mileage has remained stagnant. Not knowing how long I might be sidelined with the p-fash, I've really been unable to commit to any race any time in the near future. In my brief racing history I've run a 3k and a couple of 5k's and all of the sudden I was thinking that I might actually schedule a 10k somewhere down the road. I'd been running 5k about three times a week and once a week I'd been LSDing and upping that by a kilometer a week. I was all the way up to 9k when the p-fash hit.
   So, some day, I have a 10k training run in my future. I even have it mapped out and all ready to go. Just need to get healthy.
   I'm not exactly sure what healthy means anymore, there have been a couple of times when my heel has felt totally fine and I could feel no difference between it and the other one. Then, after a long walk, the pain is back! Not a long run, a long WALK !
   So I'm just not sure what approach to take anymore. I ran all winter here in Canada and was so looking forward to spring and not having to run on ice, through slush and over snow piles. Now that spring is here and the running weather is perfect, I can't run! I just get to watch all the other runners! (not to sound too bitter...)
   Well, having said all this, I'm headed out for another long walk. It irks me a touch to even be talking about the required recovery time between walks but this time I gave it an extra day and we'll see how it goes.
   In the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!