September already??

My mother keeps calling me and asking me "Are you still running???", which I have translated as "you sure don't update your blog very often!". So, here I am. It's September and the last few months have flown by! So much has been going on, both personally (sick baby - including 2 trips to the hospital, brother living at my house, job interview, etc.) and with respect to the training (raised over $500 in jewelry sales!!!, many trips to the podiatrist, etc.). To say I feel overwhelmed is a gross understatement.

I have to admit that I've been a little down lately. Before I transferred my jewelry money over my LLS account, I was significantly under the half way mark. In fact, at the half way mark in my training, when I promised Team In Training that I would go through with this come hell or high water, I had less then 25%! The deal is that if I haven't raised the minimum $6700, I have to cover the remaining balance. Gulp. That's many thousands of dollars that I just don't have! Now I'm up to almost 70% and feeling MUCH better about the monetary aspect.

Enter the physical aspect. Four weeks ago my podiatrist essentially put me on 'bed rest' to heal my plantar fasciitis. He said "don't do any long runs". I said "what do you consider a long run?". He said "oh, you know, like 7 or 8 miles.". HA! That is a SHORT RUN! My long runs are around 16 miles. In fact, we have our 21-miler coming up in just a few weeks. What am I supposed to do about that, smarty pants doctor?? He gave me a cortisone shot in the tendon (less painful than childbirth, but not pleasant) and made me do physical therapy. I *might* be feeling a little better. But for the time and effort, I can't say that I'm impressed.

Last Thursday I went to a massage therapist/reflexologist for shoulder pain. (stress, anyone??) He worked on my foot using a circulation technique, which actually helped me more than anything else has. So I'm hopeful! He's ordered me to "eat no meat" and see him three times for healing. I go back tonight. Wish me luck.

I ran 8 miles on Saturday, which is the most I've done in weeks, but it felt really good. I'm going to try to quickly up my mileage in the coming weeks to get back on track, but continue to cross train during the week. I think I'll also try to incorporate some yoga in my workouts. That stuff is amazing. Plus, I feel the need for a little Zen/meditation right now. And by little I mean a whole lot.

Off to the gym on this lovely Labor Day!!