Ugly Toes

Okay, I am back. Nothing to report, really. The knee thing isn't exactly a knee-thing, as it was just below the knee. The doctor said that it was a good sign that the area never swelled. Basically, it was mostly a fluke thing. I wish I had brought a notepad with me, but he said that the ligaments in the area felt strong, and that if it were higher up we'd be concerned about the ITB. But basically I don't need to be worried about my knees, especially since I haven't had knee cap issues. He said if there is pain, but I can run through it not to worry, just ice it. I should come back in if I can't run or it swells.

As for the foot, I need to look up the exact term, but it's most likely a form of tendonitis. He said it wasn't a stress fracture, because the pains weren't in the front of my foot and because he was able to push on the bone without it hurting me. If it were a stress fracture, that would've hurt a lot. (I know this to be true because a guy on the cross country team had a stress fracture, and I remember after a race him screaming when someone touched on his foot in an attempt to figure out what was wrong). He said that ice works well, and I should just take it easy for awhile and rest/ice as needed. I can run, I just need to gradually increase the mileage, and I can also resume lower body weights. The doctor said I should focus on my quads, but not to do leg extensions. Luckily, I don't have a leg extension machine so that's not a problem. He suggested I do quarter squats, as opposed to lowering all the way, and that I be careful about lunges, as they can aggravate knee caps. So now I just need to figure out a good lower body routine.

Oh, according to their medical records I have shrunk. I like to say I'm 5'4", but I was measured as 5' 3.75" at my last physical, and they called me 5' 3.5" today. I don't want to be shorter!

One other thing. A few weeks ago, I was recommended Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning for my TCM training schedule. I checked to see if the library had a copy, but they didn't. My library lacks a lot of the running books I want. You can request books to be sent from other Minnesota libraries, but I put some books on request in February and they still have not come in, so I didn't have high hopes of seeing the book soon. I went over to Barnes & Noble, our only book store, to see if they had a copy, but they didn't. I know I can get it from Amazon, but I wanted to see if I thought the book was any good before actually buying it. Four Months to a Four Hour Marathon was recommended to me, and I hated it so I was glad I got it from the library first. (The author says that cotton is an okay clothing choice and cotton socks are perfectly fine for a marathon. I couldn't take anything he said seriously after that. Plus, I didn't like his schedules). Anyway ... I got back from the doctor's office and had a notice that the book had come in! Yay! Now I have something to read. I briefly thumbed through the book and it almost looks like I could jump into his marathon recovery cycle and then do the 12 week program. I'll have to read the book, see if I understand the training, and then plot stuff out on a calendar and compare it to the Higdon programs I was thinking about (Intermediate-II or Advanced-I). I'm so glad my foot felt better today, so I can be excited about planning a schedule.