Electric Avenue

Today was my five week return visit to the podiatrist to check on the progress of my once upon a time ankle muffin. I had it all planned; "If you don't fix me I won't be able to run anymore and will spend my former athletic time drinking beer and watching NFL network; for the love of God woman, FIX ME!" It didn't quite go down that way.

I shared, somewhat sheepishly, that I had ran a half-marathon last weekend. With that, I also shared the continuing pain and swelling and she said all in all, she was pleased with my progress. After letting me identify the exact points of pain, she started talking about various tendons, pointing out where they ran and where the anchored to bone, and how they often got pissy (medically speaking, tendinitis) after an bad ankle sprain. Ultimately, she said if I was able to run a half-marathon, all the tendons "must be firing" correctly, so we just needed to keep me moving down the road to improvement.

She picked her words well. For some reason I liked the phrase "must be firing" correctly! That's right, my feet fire when I run! Yeah!! Piston-like, a whirling-dervish of kinetic energy, OH YEAH!

With my fears of some unknown, sinister ailment out the window, I also shared that my heel was hurting once again; she nodded her head as if she wasn't surprised, and agreed with my assessment that the plantar fascitis had returned. To address the swelling and tendinitis, she prescribed six sessions of foot electrocution; little pads running from a medieval device are affixed to my foot and a gentle current shocks the be-jesus out of my foot. I had my first session today, and it really wasn't that bad, though the nurse did ask "is that setting high enough for you"? How the hell do I know?!? Should we go until we smell flesh sizzling??!? At the point I could feel my achilles jumping around a bit, I today the brain-trust that it was indeed high enough.

For the plantar fascitis, and really for everything short of the sprain related damage, she decided to put me in orthotics (custom made shoe insoles). That last podiatrist I saw said I wasn't a good candidate for them, but the current podiatrist said that was only true of over the counter orthotics; I should be able to tolerate a custom made insole. The downside is they cost $250 and are not covered by my insurance (Thanks Aetna! assholes), but I was more than willing to pay a LOT more for them, as this is probably my last best chance to heal up permanently. Molds of my feet were taken, and the insoles will come back in a couple of weeks.

Until I get the insoles I don't plan to run. I figure the shock therapy will do the most good if my foot is otherwise resting, so only stationary biking, weight lifting, and swimming for a couple of weeks. After that, I think the protocol should be to SLOWLY transition into the world of orthotics. Walk in them, jog in them, run in them a little, and then start to increase mileage. Hopefully by the end of June or so, I'll be healthy and ready to train all out for the marathon. After all, my chances to break 4:30 are probably dwindling as the years tick by .....