November 1st, Wednesday

Today I spent 3 hours at Ocean County Park chasing around the Killer Bees as they ran in a freshman/ JV meet. All Killer Bees ran a personal best today and it was a great finish to the season. We will have one final 1600m time trial on Friday on the Jackson Liberty High School track.

This marks the third day in a row that I have been running.  Both my feet feel very good. There is no soreness in my Achilles or my plantar fascia. I have been rolling with an iced plastic soda container in my newly invented rolling device that keeps the bottle from squirting around, pictured above. I also use the golf ball for more intense specific rolling. Both seem to be helping to keep my feet from experiencing any difficulties. I may have to monetize this new invention.

Cross country season ends on Saturday which means I can get back to regular swimming , cycling, weight training and running in a sustained routine. I also plan to continue the rehab workout that the physical therapist designed.  I believe that routine will help me to maintain core balance which is an essential component of staying healthy as the years fly by.

Stats –

I-Mad and I-Mid = 1😊😊

Sleep =10 hours  😊😊

a.m.RH = 54BPM

Weight = #154

WORKOUT =  3 hours,walking, chasing with 10 minute sustained jog

October 30th,  Monday

Feeling better, not 100%  but on right track.  Actually I jogged 10 minutes on the track with no foot soreness.   One possible positive outcome of this week-long bout with illness could be the forced opportunity to totally rest my feet.  The effect seems to be that my foot issues have resolved.  I intend to make a very deliberate return to running in the next months with interludes of biking and swimming to avoid overuse.

Stats-

I-Mad and I-Mid –  1😊😊

Sleep – 7.5 hours

Weight – #154

a.m.HR – 54BPM

WORKOUT – 10 MINUTES  JOG.

October 26th,  Thursday

This has been a total week of resting and trying to recover from a sinus infection has knocked me for a loop. I thought I was recovering on Monday but haven’t been back to practice or out of the house since Monday night. Still having a hard time sleeping but getting a little better. I think I will recover in a few days, but it has taken its toll.

October 22nd,  Sunday

I have been struggling with a brutal sinus infection since Thursday.  I’ve gotten no exercise at all and barely making it through the night because I can’t breath or sleep.  Now, on Sunday afternoon I’m beginning to get a little relief. Not out of the woods yet and hoping to get a good night’s sleep to rebuild my strength. I’m constantly amazed that how a sinus infection can blow up my entire body.

October 19th, Thursday

Jackson Liberty cross country boys had a good day today at Ocean County Park at the Ocean County cross country championships. The Varsity finished fifth as a team with an average of 17:05, a new school record at Ocean County Park.

The Killer Bees finished third in the Freshman race.!!  They earned this plaque, displayed by Matt, and medals for the entire team.

Killer Bees rule!!

Pictures by Arlene

I did a solid rehab session this morning after bringing breakfast to the team and ran around Ocean County park for about 2 hours. My foot feels pretty good after all that.

October 18th, Wednesday

After practice today I went for a 5.59 mile bike ride.  I stopped halfway through the ride to run 4 times 120 yd. strides.  With my foot feeling basically painless, decided that this would be a test of some basic running on the grass. These straightaways still leave me quite breathless: an indication to me that I am not in strong aerobic shape. But my feet felt okay and I jumped back on the bike to complete the ride. Afterward I continued to treat my sore heel with rolling and golf ball pressure. As a result on Thursday  I felt minimal discomfort in the morning. This continues to be a positive development.

It was nice to be able to catch seventh-grader Ryan O’Rourke run his cross country meet down the road from Liberty High School at the middle school.  Ryan ran a respectable 33rd Place out of a total of 66 competitors.

Stats-

I-Mad and I-Mid are currently at a very happy one!!

I-Mhd = 3/4. Much better

Sleep= 7 hours

WEIGHT = #156. CREEPING UP!

WORKOUT = bike 5.59 miles with frequent 50 to 75 pump bursts, plus 4 x 120 yards strides.

October 15, Sunday

Well, I am happy to say that this will be a positive post, the first positive Post in quite a while concerning my feet. So after being told by everybody including two doctors that my foot pain is definitely the result plantar fasciitis  and reading everything I can find about plantar fasciitis, I came to my own conclusion.  I have decided upon and have been in progress of aggressively rolling my sore foot with a frozen plastic ginger ale container for 20 minutes three times a day. I’ve been doing this for about 4 days now and the results have been pretty startling. My foot no longer hurts when I walk at all and the discomfort in the morning and after sitting for a long period of time has decreased dramatically. I am at this time watching the Giants on the way to defeating Denver, which in itself is quite remarkable, and have been rolling my feet, both of them, for about 2 hours tonight. It hurts like hell when I roll it and I stand on the frozen bottle and roll with my complete wait on it.  I am telling myself it is exquisite torture. So as a result while walking on the boardwalk today with Arlene I decided to jog for a few minutes and test my feet. Now I am wearing new sneakers and new softer orthotic inserts. I was quite euphoric to note as I jogged that not only was I devoid of pain but my feet actually felt normal for the first time in many weeks.  So now I am going back to happy, painful ice rolling while  watching Denver mount a comeback in the 4th quarter: it is definitely going to be a long 10 minutes. Hang on G- MEN!!!

October 11th,  Wednesday

Rode 30 minutes on the bike today with frequent bursts.  Also, I committed to sustained, serious , hard core ice rolling for 30  minutes twice a day for the next two weeks.  It hurts quite a bit, but I need a break through to get rid of this heel soreness.

October 10, Tuesday

October 9th,  Monday

Today I had my appointment with podiatrist Dr. Fiorelli. I explained to him my heel issues and he immediately suggested that I have a cortisone shot followed by another cortisone shot in two or three weeks. I told him Doctor Stein’s statement that she would be fired if she gave me a cortisone shot and he looked on incredulously and said this is normal  practice for plantar fasciitis. Well, I refused anyway. So he did tell me that he thought my orthotics were too hard for someone who runs distance. He provided me with a softer orthotic pad for the basic price of $45! He also ordered an x-ray of my heel. And he prescribed a topical cream that is designed to reduce inflammation and reduce pain.  I will go with this for a few weeks and continue with non-impact activities.

My heel pain in the a.m. is still a very sore 8 or 9.

Throughout the day I have been busy doing a series of leg and foot exercises that are part of my therapy routine.

Humbug!   Humbug!  Humbug!??