Whew!

Because of the sudden onset and severity of the foot pain I was really worried that my foot injury would keep me from running Grandma’s marathon. Earlier this year, before I knew chemo would be successful, visions of running Grandma’s helped me forget about the dreadful possibilities I faced. Not to run Grandma’s would be a huge letdown. Yesterday I ran for 3.4 miles and today for 5.4 miles without any foot pain – whew! I still feel some discomfort in my left ankle, but it seems to be improving a little bit. I think my ankle will be ok as long as I’m very careful with my remaining training. One change I’ve made is that I’ve stopped running on pavement and now do all my running on a bike trail that was converted from a railroad. The bike trail is made of crushed limestone, which is much softer and easier on the joints than asphalt. Last year when I was training for the TC marathon I had a lot of problems with hip pain. I was able to make it go away without a break in running by making some small adjustments to how I trained. By staying off asphalt, running a little slower and shorter, I should be able to get to Grandma’s in good shape.