Marathon, Maniac Level, Plantar Fasciitis OUCH

I kept meaning to blog and I kept getting caught up in other things. . . and then I was feeling sorry for myself with my Plantar Fasciitis, and that is how neglecting to post about marathons, plantar fasciitis, and becoming a Marathon Maniac/Double Agent happened. 
Marathon 1 of 2018: (7th Marathon)

This April I did a new marathon. I won't name it because I felt it was awful, not well marked, and more elevation change that I was expecting!  The road was open to traffic (not a big deal). We ran WITH traffic (big deal) since it meant that we were on the road and drivers were weaving in and out of us, or riding our heels).  Those are my views.  Yes, we all know that new races are hard. Yes, we all know that elevation is sometimes hard to gauge on info maps. Maybe I'm the only one that gets car sick watching some of those "we drove the course" videos. I was having some problems with my feet already. I didn't know that it was early Plantar Fasciitis. I had slipped out of my Birkenstocks as I backed up from the car earlier in April. My heel hit the ground and it felt like I had landed with the heel on the sharpest possible rock I could have found in a parking lot. I didn't realize then, but that is a classic PF sign. UGH!

Thank you litter runners, for guiding my way!

A few more aid stations, a slower pace with a hurt foot/sore heel, and I had to ****walk past my car in the parking lot*** to get to the finish line area around a couple curves. I actually stopped and stared and my car and asked myself if the last .75 miles was worth it, or if I should just throw in the towel.  I obviously chose to finish, but it was a hard choice to make.  This somehow surprised the people at the finish line when I mentioned it.

 
End of the worst race I’ve ever done. Not quite the worst on time, but the worst on emotions, morale, signage, etc. I got a golf cart ride back to my car, took off the bloody shoes from the heel blisters, stripped off the socks, re-bandaged the blisters, grabbed my Mexican Coca Cola and headed home.  I might come back to volunteer at this race, but I won't be running it again.  Everyone's opinions of a race are their own, but this is why I won't name this race. 

One on each foot, with another marathon in 7 days!

A few days later I was at the running store to buy one of those socks for PF, and to ask for help. The one guy had it last year and gave me several pointers. . . I just wasn’t going to go to the doctor before the next race, for fear of him saying “stop exercising!” No one wants to hear that when they have Marathon Maniacs on the line!  :P 

I also had to research how to cover up blisters to go again, because there was no way these were going to be healed in a week.  Enter Leuko Tape.   
I actually didn't have Leuko tape at home, and was trying to figure out how to order some (a huge roll is EXPENSIVE). I wondered who would have some, and I called on the place I did my wrist Physical Therapy at last year. They had a small roll left, and she gave me the roll for the trip. I didn't want to take the whole roll with me, so I wrapped some around an old gift card in several layers that I could peel off, cut, and use, and then returned the roll to the PT office.  This stuff worked! 

Marathon 2 of 2018 (8th Marathon):  The Flying Pig. Awesome race. I’d do this again. Okay, I would do the half again, not sure about doing another full ;-) 

The worst part of this was getting to the town/hotel room. Indiana: Drive interstate speed for one mile, slow down to fortyfive miles an hour for five miles, repeat across the entire width of the state. UGH. Hotel. High star hotel. I have my luggage, no carts available, so roller bag, food bag, purse, and small cooler. I tell the check in desk that I am checking in, my friend is already in the hotel. He verifies my name, checks my id and gives me room keys. I go up to the room, walk in and wonder when my friend got knew luggage. . .and why she has so many pink feather boas all over the room, and wonder why she has Krispy Kreme, because she flew so she won’t be able to easily take those to her husband. OH! He gave me a key to the wrong room!!!. Pick all my stuff up again, go downstairs, have another person help me—who asked “but was anyone in the room?” “No? Okay” “here’s your key”.
**reason to have your room completely locked down tight when you’re in your hotel room!**
**reason to never leave purses or wallets in a hotel room, even if you’re not in there!** 

YIKES!

Flying Pig expo was smaller than I was expecting, but it was awesome. Swag bag was awesome –this year with a picnic blanket with the logo on it, posters (with a box!) and technical shirts. If/when I come back for this race, I’ll do the ‘three way’, but this year I decided against the 1 mile Fri night, the 5k/10k on Saturday, with the half full on Sunday. When I signed up for the race I still wasn’t running much from the back pain/car collision of a couple years ago. Combined with the unexpected PF issue, I was glad I had not. However, I did go and cheer on my friend at the 5k/10k, and enjoyed the riverfront of Cincinnati. I highly recommend it! Beautiful with swings looking out to the river, a flying pig/play equipment, and a giant piano keyboard with the pipes being reclaimed/repurposed church chime bells!

The flying pig play equipment. It's wings move up and down! 

Race shirt, Swag blanket,  Purchased pig and glass, won the Route 66 neck gaiter thing,
and the Melanoma Know More magnet and suncreen

 Race day was energetic! Back up pair of shoes! Not those bloody ones from the last week, but the same style, same size, and same make. 

Leuko Tape with 2Toms SportShield over it, to prevent the sock from sticking. 

The first part of the race was exciting, and fun. Running across the bridge to Kentucky, and back to the Ohio:   The only reference I saw to the tv show WKRP in Cincinnati. 

It definitely kept one moving along, as well as the many other runners on the course as well! Then we made it up to the conservatory area, with a **Beautiful** look out over the Ohio River, if you went from the road to the sidewalk (obviously I did). 

Overlook, worth the run!

The next half of the race was okay. I was feeling okay, but then energy started to drain, and the Plantar Fasciitis was aching. I can remember the area perfectly where my run attempt was rejected with a “hell no” from my right foot!

I actually got to see a pig on the race course. He was heading home from his walk

Music on the corner. Beautiful music

It was also getting very hot, with no clouds for coverage. I was glad I had a package of sliced pickles with me, and the little bit of juice, but wished I had a couple of them! As I was on the highway, they were taking down the aid stations and I was shocked. I can’t remember how many miles we still had, but I was shocked they’d take down the tents while there were competitors still on the course! Maybe the people I was with were at the cut off point? Then I started worrying about race cutoffs! I walked past the wet towel station. I rejected one of those because I didn’t want to wash off my sunblock! There were a couple sunblock stations on this course, towards the last ten miles or so—this Melanoma Warrior was happy to see that! 

I was walking the course well, and met up with a woman whom I ended up finishing the race with. Either I came upon, or she came upon me, I do not recall. We were on the roadway, and directed to the sidewalk, and then the fire dept in a little golf cart came around with bags of ice for us because it was SO hot. They ran out for the people right behind us, so I took some and put it in my water bottle, and passed on half a bag of ice. A couple people told me not to do that, but I didn’t need a quart of ice! We picked up our pace and kept powerwalking, she told me that her husband finishes ahead of her, always, and that she knows he’s at the finish line for her. We actually saw him, as he came back along part of the way to find her. He directed us to turn at one point, where we would have gone straight because we saw barricades that way.

After finishing, I hobbled to the bus to get my checked bag, and stripped off those shoes and socks! I was DONE with this brand of shoe. They changed their sizing last year and these two pairs of shoes were my shoes after that size change. They were out! I put on my birkenstocks and hobbled back past the finish line to the “finish jacket line”. I chatted with the woman I finished with, and her husband. I was still there when I got a phone call from my friend, who was at the table behind me, having finished shortly after I did.  

My friend's story on the course is that the aid stations were taken down, but they weren’t directed off the course or anything. She took the money she always carries, gave it to a guy on the street, and asked him to go buy some water at the local corner store for other racers to make their day.

Since I finished both marathons in less than 16 days, I am qualified to become a Marathon Maniac, and thereby a Double Agent! 

WOO HOO!

We went back to the hotel to go to the pool and hot tub. .. ohhh, a hot tub feels great against sore muscles.  Imagine our shock when we arrived and it was a pool only. . .  and you could see the hot tub had recently been removed and another seating area was placed there with new tile/grout/ and placement that just didn't flow. 

With the race in the books, I headed home. Driving with flaring Plantar Fasciitis is hard as the flexing of the foot annoys the PF area. It was time, I took myself to the doctor and asked for help on my plantar fasciitis. 

The doctor gave me Ibuprofen cream, as I have contraindications for ingesting it, and exercises. I went to the running store and tried on SO many shoes, and fell in love with a Saucony style, and I have proceeded to rest my foot since then.

No extreme walking/ no competitive events, no running. Just resting, just doing my exercises, and just doing yoga.  In June I went to DC for Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Advocacy Day and I limited the walking I did because of my foot!  I had graduation for a family member to attend, and I were "sensible shoes". 

I just want to eat! Conference food & race

Last month I said to myself, "you need a new fighting cancer shirt".  The one I had was the basic gray with white lettering from RaygunShirts in Des Moines Iowa.   I asked them to make the print on a black shirt for me, me Melanoma color.  They said "Sure". 

The note they sent along was so wonderful. It made my eyes leak.  

 Stage 1a Acral Lentiginous Melanoma or my "toe cancer" as I called it. I'm at a higher risk to have regular sun melanoma as well.  As a result, I took advantage of the sale Athleta had last month and ordered more of the UPF swim shirts they have (Pacifica, long sleeve and short sleeve).  I wear these out mowing, and in the car on road trips, and for the pool/ocean too. The guy at the camping store said the UPF protection is usually good up to 50 washes.  

A fellow Melanomie shared that Rit Sun Guard can be used to put sun protection into clothing. However,  does say that it's works best on cotton and not synthetics.  j
I was excited for the conference, but also for the race on Sunday. It turned out that America's Finest City half marathon would be on the Sunday after the conference, so I stayed an extra day to run!  I haven't been doing running in training. It hurts to run on the treadmill, even though the pain doc said that the treadmill would be better than running on asphalt. Running on asphalt is slightly better than concrete. I've been working on keeping my head/chin in a tucked in position, so as to not extend my neck in a fashion that pains me post car collision.  I ran a 10K in mid July and was feeling good about it--I even biked to and from the race!  However, I still stuck with weights, yoga and walking for training of this race. I was using it as a guideline for how my body was feeling all over, and gauging if I could work towards running in training too.

I packed single packets of Sunbutter for breakfast on race day, as well as maybe the flight home.  I also had my Tanka bars, cheese sticks, and my 'granola' mix as I call it (sunflower & pumpkin seeds, Guittard chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and Trader Joe's dried coconut flakes).

The flight out was fairly boring.  There was so much cloud coverage for most of the flight, that I kept my window shade closed. I had a Mamma Chia drink before leaving the house in the morning, and then my packed snacks.  

After checking into the hotel and for the conference, I met up with some other folks and had a cheese appetizer. The bread went to someone else who could eat it, and I enjoyed the cheese, olives, and dates. Later I went out and enjoyed a raspberry Mojito, and a huge Paella dinner. I shared the lobster (too much) and the mussels (I don't care for them).   

Paella, SO GOOD!  

The conference started the next day and I was hungry.  I took a packet of Sunbutter down to breakfast with me, and some of my Canyon Bakehouse mountain bread. I had fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, and a Chobani yogurt. However, the bread, as usually in a catering event, was served on top of bread to absorb the grease.  **Always be on your toes at a conference!   Their sign said gluten free, obviously it wasn't.  When I said something to the staff, I was told "eh".  Different chain than we've been at before, and I can say the Marriott folks were very accommodating and said, "oh, I see, yes. Let me get you some fresh bacon."  NOT this place though.

There was a mid morning snack. I had the fruit. I have to wonder why they served fruit ninety minutes after breakfast that had fruit.

Lunch. Failure.  Complete failure.  I had a sticker on my name tag that was suppose to mean "go to the catering staff, show them, and ask for your gluten free and soy free meal".  In reality, when I did that, I was directed to the buffet. After standing in line for twenty minutes, I saw this dish and tag: 

Being a farmer's daughter, I knew that Farro was NOT gluten free. I pointed this out to the catering staff and was told "it is gluten free, we checked everything."  After I sat down with my lettuce and parm cheese, the catering staff gave me a gluten free meal from the kitchen. I was SO mad and upset that I could barely eat, but I needed to eat something, so I ate the chicken only.  

The afternoon snack was not much better. I was jealous because I thought everyone had donut holes, but it turned out they were pretzel balls with cheese for the side, and then packages of nuts (which had soy).  I guess I don't even know why nuts would be served as they are a major allergen for so many people.  I ran up to my room and grabbed a Tanka bar and cheese stick.  

Dinner that night was a mixer which was another buffet. I ate some plain rice and a piece of fish, literally was trying to not cry from being sooooo hungry. I stayed for a bit to socialize, and then left for the grocery store a few blocks away. Hormel ham slices, cheese, crackers, chocolate milk, avocado, and a few other things.

The next morning I found someone from the conference and let them know of the issues. They were shocked to hear this.  I know I am not the only celiac at the conference, and I know there are others who have more restrictive food needs than I have (some are gluten, dairy, and nightshade free, some are vegetarian, some are vegans, etc).  The person told me to know that I will have food for lunch and dinner, and that I can send in the receipt for reimbursement.

Knowing I only had two more Sunbutter packs left, I saved then for race day and travel home day, and had the eggs, fruit, and yogurt for breakfast.  Lunch was plain and I did not care. I had something to eat. I had salt and pepper to add some flavor to it.  

Veggies, beef, chicken.  Simple. Edible. Needed 

The afternoon snack was like the hotel didn't even try. I don't get why they had sandwiches only. 

NO thank you.
They kind of look good, but they also look like a whole lot of bread. 

I'll have my usual: 

Rice crackers, cheese, Tanka bar. 

Dinner was hilarious.  I let the catering staff at the table know I was gluten free. I didn't feel I was understood. I wrote on the back of the printed menu, "Gluten Free and Soy Free".
"My" meal was served.

Vegetarian is not gluten free. 

A table mate said, "that'd be gluten free". 

I hope they didn't serve it to someone else. I turned on my phone light and picked it apart. Beans, greens, and squash is not the gluten free meal when others have the meat and fish. 

Sigh.

Frustrated, I said, "I'm going up to the room to get my ham, cheese, crackers".  On the way out of the dinner room, I saw a head catering man. [He had a different jacket on than others]. I showed him the photo and he said, "I will get you your meal. That is not it."  I came back to this:

MUCH better!  Slightly different than every one else's. I was still a bit worried about eating it, but I needed food, I had a race in the morning, and I knew there'd be portapotties on course.  

I stayed for a little dancing, and then headed to the room. I had to be up around 3:30am to dress, get a Lyft, and head to the park for a shuttle to the start.  

Flat Quirky: 

Raygun printed design on my own running tank, and my new Sparkleskirts skort.

I knew the course had a hilly/downhill start and a hilly/uphill finish.
I knew some of the course, as I had run from the Cabrillo Monument back to the hotel two years ago.
I thought I remembered it.
I didn't.
The weather was also muggy/humid. For some reason we in the flyover states haven't had much of it. 

The start was a bit of an undulating road for the first couple of miles. We also didn't actually start at the monument/statue, but in the parking lot of the monument.  I loved the downhills. FLYING. I was FLYING.  The incredible feeling of flying.

Then we got to the Sheraton where the course was a turn right for a loop, and then go the other way for a loop.  With the humidity and sweating, my Glide had worn off. Thankfully there were running paramedics on the course and I asked a couple of them for some Vaseline or some such. 

I've never heard of 2Tom Sport Shield before, but I am a firm believer in them now. The paramedic unfurled it, and then said just to rub it all over. She was going to throw the package away, but I took it and the wipe and put it in my sparkleskirt skort pocket for use later if I needed it. That stuff stayed on and only came off with soap and water.  It was awesome.   

The wipe was still very 'slippery' after the race. I put it in a ziploc and am wondering if I can get another use out of it.  I put an order in for some from Amazon though.  

Race on. We had to get to the 10K by a certain point. I did it, with time to spare! More time than in my July 10K.  The downhills may have had something to do with that, but I was elated nonetheless.  

I had to stop and get a photo at the Cancer Survivor's Park.  The sculpture in the background (blocked off) depicts many entering treatment, but fewer exiting.  I am one of those who exited!

I took excitement and inspiration where I could, because I forgot how long running 13.1 can be.  Running a race with 7,000 friends is different than walking Williams Route 66, or Little Rock half when there are a lot of people around!  

Then the hills started. . .  gentle climbing, and I enjoyed seeing T-Rex for some laughs.   

and the hills just kept coming. A gradual one to start, and then we turned the corner and it continued to climb. We passed an intersection that reminded me of a San Francisco hill. Then we just continued on this long, so long, a climb. Up and up and up. I was hurting up the hill. I'm not sure I could have run that whole stretch even in my best shape! Up to Balboa Park.  Then we turned on a flat road. Such a beautiful flat road! (Except everyone kept trying to shove gluten pretzels at me).  We went past the Museum of Man.  Beautiful architecture, and I knew we were almost at the finish with all of that.  A turn here, a curve there, a straight away and the finish.  

The beautiful, beautiful finish line!   

I may have burned some calories.

You know I don't post my times, because my time is for me, not for anyone else. Knowing Quirky's time doesn't mean anything when we are racing against ourselves. I am not an elite runner!    

The beautiful disco ball 40th running medal.
It's so much fun to spin! 

After a Lyft ride back to the hotel and a quick clean up, I went to the pool and hot tub to relax and stretch the muscles.  I also had a fabulous Margarita and a bunless cheeseburger with fruit at the pool. Salt tasted fabulous!   I let the jets of the hot tub pound on my feet and thighs, and up my spine. I did lunges and bends in the hot tub and the heated pool. I thought I was feeling pretty good.

A group of us headed over to Coronado Beach and played in the surf. My blister on a blister was popped after the surf play. I usually try not to pop the blisters, but this one was right on the side at the base of the toes and rubbed against the Birkenstocks.  I couldn't travel like that the next day.  I just popped it, kept the skin there, and put a bandaid over it.

That night I wasn't too hungry, and had a cheese and meat tray at the hotel restaurant again. 

It was simple and I had salt :D
Cheese, cured meat, fresh olives, and dates. I didn't have the pickled onions or cauliflower. 

Monday flying home day was also the day of the solar eclipse in the USA. I thought we'd be in the air when the eclipse was happening, but it turns out it started as we were waiting in the airport.  I tried the hole in the paper part and it didn't work too well. A nice young woman had some eclipse glasses she let us use.  I got a nice photo through those glasses. Then the clouds covered the sun and moon, and I could see it with my Maui Jim sunglasses (not that I stared at it), and I tried to take a photo through my lenses.  I think it worked well for being a guessing photo.  

I was a little stiff when I woke up the day after the race, but I stretched and thought I was doing well. I thought wrong.  Even waiting at the airport for a couple hours wasn't bad.  I had a window seat on the plane. The folks next to me didn't get up at all, and one fell asleep. I didn't want to wake him up, and since I'm short, I was able to do some stretching in the chair. Arms up and forward. Legs down and under the seat. After getting off the plane in Chicago, I headed to the yoga room to stretch.  Afterwards I thought I was doing well.

Then our flight was delayed due to a computer glitch malfunction.  I improvised using my orange juice bottle to rub out the muscles like "The Stick". It worked.  I stretched some more and walked a bit. We were finally able to board, two plus hours later.  

I did some yoga on Tuesday and stretched. Wednesday resumed with yoga class and some light walking. Yesterday I signed up for the Williams Route 66 in Tulsa in November.

Run on.