The running was going - okay...just okay. No real heal pain while running, a little during the non-running time but no where close to before 10/19. Strength training, yoga was going well and I was planning a long ride on Saturday where I was going to video the National Du championship course for Sportsbackers but I ended up sick...again - after 5 hours of trail work on Saturday, followed by a 15 minute run and a little yard work.
Feeling just bad enough to just not be able to workout - but, at least I can work.
So, this has been going on for 4 weeks; my suspicion is pneumonia or mono - we'll see on Thursday as I have a doctor's appointment to figure this out...and figure it out we will.
Swannee's Return to Racing - From the Depths of Illness and Injury
After shoulder surgery, a strange illness, recalcitrant plantar fasciitis, heel surgery with complications, another bout with the flu - its time for me to get back in the training saddle - with a focus on XTERRA, enduro mountain biking then onto some fall AR, trail running races and more.
Day - whatever...
Bill Swann - Monday, November 09, 2009
Day 3
Bill Swann - Tuesday, November 03, 2009
I just finished my second 15 minute run - AWESOME. I can say that after my massage yesterday, that today my foot felt better than it has all year. I was actually shocked at how good it felt and was waiting for increased pain/soreness but it never came. Only after a period of inactivity did I feel increased soreness but that worked out very quickly.
The run was awesome - truly it felt like a different foot. I didn't even have to stop (I walked for a minute two days ago at the halfway point due to a little soreness that eventually worked out).
Today's run gave me cause to be the most optimistic I've been since surgery. I actually felt myself picking up the pace and had to force myself to run slower. I'm thinking that after two more 15 minute runs, I'll bump it up to :20 minutes and see how that feels.
I also did an hour of P90 strength training this morning (I know, two days in row - not good - but in order to be able to swim Friday night, I wanted to be sure I gave myself enough recovery time from my next workout, which would have been Friday morning but will now be on Thursday morning).
I've got another foot massage scheduled for Friday and I'm thinking that I may hold off after that to see how things go. If you are looking for a good, sports massage therapist - I highly recommend Monica Giddings. Monica works out of Keith Bell's Oriental Medicine just off Libbie at Monument. The phone number there is 804-358-7071.
The run was awesome - truly it felt like a different foot. I didn't even have to stop (I walked for a minute two days ago at the halfway point due to a little soreness that eventually worked out).
Today's run gave me cause to be the most optimistic I've been since surgery. I actually felt myself picking up the pace and had to force myself to run slower. I'm thinking that after two more 15 minute runs, I'll bump it up to :20 minutes and see how that feels.
I also did an hour of P90 strength training this morning (I know, two days in row - not good - but in order to be able to swim Friday night, I wanted to be sure I gave myself enough recovery time from my next workout, which would have been Friday morning but will now be on Thursday morning).
I've got another foot massage scheduled for Friday and I'm thinking that I may hold off after that to see how things go. If you are looking for a good, sports massage therapist - I highly recommend Monica Giddings. Monica works out of Keith Bell's Oriental Medicine just off Libbie at Monument. The phone number there is 804-358-7071.
Day 2
Bill Swann - Monday, November 02, 2009
Early morning P90 strength workout (1 hour); early evening P90 yoga session (very intense 1 hour) and I feel good...like I'm really coming back.
I was a bit concerned due to more foot soreness than I had anticipated. However, following my lunchtime massage session, my massage therapist - Monica Giddings - worked wonders on my foot. The rest of the day there was a significant improvement. During the massage, we both felt major areas of scarring that, once released (not a pleasant feeling) went a long way in decreasing the symptoms.
I am now even more optomistic that this is going to be a resolvable condition and that I will most likely be able to run my goal of a 50K...or a 2 day adventure race - sometime in the fall of 2010.
I was a bit concerned due to more foot soreness than I had anticipated. However, following my lunchtime massage session, my massage therapist - Monica Giddings - worked wonders on my foot. The rest of the day there was a significant improvement. During the massage, we both felt major areas of scarring that, once released (not a pleasant feeling) went a long way in decreasing the symptoms.
I am now even more optomistic that this is going to be a resolvable condition and that I will most likely be able to run my goal of a 50K...or a 2 day adventure race - sometime in the fall of 2010.
I Start Today!
Bill Swann - Sunday, November 01, 2009
Way back in December of 2008, I fully anticipated that I'd be totally involved in racing by this time - off road duathlon, adventure racing, orienteering and enduro mountain biking. I Knew I'd be out for a while following a schedule shoulder surgery on January 22 so I completely wrote off my beloved XTERRA season.
I wanted to take it slow and proceed according to how my shoulder was recovering. Well - that recovery went exceedingly well - completely beyond anything I expected. My surgeon, Dr. Chris Young discharged me at 11 weeks with instruction to call him if I needed him; my strength and ROM were WNL (within normal limits) following a Bankhart Reconstruction and a SLAP Tear.
Upon that recovery - it was time to start running BUT- I was to discover that somehow, during my shoulder recovery, I somehow exacerbated a mild case of plantar fasciitis in my left foot to the point I couldn't run more than :30 seconds - AT BEST.
So I visited my favorite foot orthopedic surgeon who, 12 years earlier had performed a plantar fascia release on my right foot with and incredibly awesome outcome. He first injected my heel (I've had this numerous times on my other heel prior to surgery - it is my firm belief this has been used in the past as a torture technique to learn the deepest, most secret of secrets).
As I had expected (but still held out hope) the heel pain returned very shortly afterward so we scheduled surgery. Based on my previous experience, I was very optimistic and looked forward to being back to running within 6 weeks - just like from my previous surgery. I was not so set on this time frame that I wasn't opposed to slowing it down should my foot require it.
Well, the surgery went well - I didn't want to make a big deal about it as it just didn't seem to me to be major surgery. In fact, a general anesthesia wasn't even used; they did a nerve block and used some pretty nice meds so I would be happy boy for a while. Following surgery, I only took a couple days off and returned to work pretty quickly with very little pain.
I started running about 3 weeks in with a run (2:00 minutes)/walk (1:00 minute) for about 16 minutes. Slowly, very slowly - I built up to 30 minutes by August 17 (surgery was on July 2). Then, on my last good run on August 17, I felt a very familiar and sudden pain in my heel (I felt this same sensation 13 years earlier - when Dr. Bowman went in to release the fascia, he found I had significant tear, hence the continual, sharp pain). This I felt HAD to be a tear - the sudden onset and the intensity meant to me, that I had tear or rupture in some of the tissue involved in the surgery. On one hand, I kicked myself for trying to come back too quickly - on the other hand, I really felt I was trying to be cautious and conservative with my return (ultimately, I really came to feel that I probably came back too soon).
Ever since that day, I had continuous pain in my heel - as long as I was walking - it was there. And it was quite painful. We tried another injection but that only decreased the pain for a few days then it returned without change.
THEN - very strange, on my first night in town (Monday) I went for a bike ride on business trip to Germantown, MD. I hit the trail at about 5:15 and had my lights as I intended to ride for a while because I really love this trail system.
During the ride, the temperature dropped more than I had expected and so I had not worn enough clothing and got a little chilled by halfway (about 1:30 into the 3:00 hour ride) into the ride. But, by the time I got back I was pretty toasty but my toes and feet were numb from the cold (I have a low level Reynaud's Syndrome).
The next day - there was NO PAIN anywhere in my foot - no heel pain - none! This was perplexing to a point but I figured that if I had in fact had some torn tissue - maybe this was a completion of that tear.
Although I was optimistic - I fully expected a return to the intense heel pain I had been living with - but it never returned. Funny thing, I had been sick for about a week and half prior to this day and had felt like my "flu-like symptons" had resolved the previous Wednesday and so I felt it was safe to return to training. Unfortnately, when I woke up Tuesday morning, I was sick again with "flu-like" symptoms. This may have been God's way of keeping me calm for a couple weeks while my heel healed.
The heel pain I had been feeling never returned. I'm still having a bit of a tough time as there is still some pain around the outside and back of the heel but I believe this is from scarring and with my awesome new massage therapist - this should be able to be resolved - with some "deep tissue" work.
My run today was encouraging. I had some mild heel discomfort early but after about four minutes it resolved. The bigger concern is that my entire foot felt fatigued. This is something I've struggled with the entire time. This isn't something I experienced the last time I had this surgery. The only thing I can imagine is that my foot is accomodating to the new biomechanics following the release of the fascia.
The bottom line is that the heel pain that was preventing me from running...even walking without pain - was gone.
Now its time to see where I can from here. I'll be hitting the bike alot, getting back in the water to start my swimming, praciticing some climbing technique in my new backyard climbing circuit that Scott Turner from our team sponsor RIVERSIDE OUTFITTERS helped me set up, strength training, yoga and just in general - getting back into shape and - YES - losing some weight...alot of weight!
I'll be posting here frequently as a testament to my travels over the last 10 months and where I hope to be a year from now!
Swannee
I wanted to take it slow and proceed according to how my shoulder was recovering. Well - that recovery went exceedingly well - completely beyond anything I expected. My surgeon, Dr. Chris Young discharged me at 11 weeks with instruction to call him if I needed him; my strength and ROM were WNL (within normal limits) following a Bankhart Reconstruction and a SLAP Tear.
Upon that recovery - it was time to start running BUT- I was to discover that somehow, during my shoulder recovery, I somehow exacerbated a mild case of plantar fasciitis in my left foot to the point I couldn't run more than :30 seconds - AT BEST.
So I visited my favorite foot orthopedic surgeon who, 12 years earlier had performed a plantar fascia release on my right foot with and incredibly awesome outcome. He first injected my heel (I've had this numerous times on my other heel prior to surgery - it is my firm belief this has been used in the past as a torture technique to learn the deepest, most secret of secrets).
As I had expected (but still held out hope) the heel pain returned very shortly afterward so we scheduled surgery. Based on my previous experience, I was very optimistic and looked forward to being back to running within 6 weeks - just like from my previous surgery. I was not so set on this time frame that I wasn't opposed to slowing it down should my foot require it.
Well, the surgery went well - I didn't want to make a big deal about it as it just didn't seem to me to be major surgery. In fact, a general anesthesia wasn't even used; they did a nerve block and used some pretty nice meds so I would be happy boy for a while. Following surgery, I only took a couple days off and returned to work pretty quickly with very little pain.
I started running about 3 weeks in with a run (2:00 minutes)/walk (1:00 minute) for about 16 minutes. Slowly, very slowly - I built up to 30 minutes by August 17 (surgery was on July 2). Then, on my last good run on August 17, I felt a very familiar and sudden pain in my heel (I felt this same sensation 13 years earlier - when Dr. Bowman went in to release the fascia, he found I had significant tear, hence the continual, sharp pain). This I felt HAD to be a tear - the sudden onset and the intensity meant to me, that I had tear or rupture in some of the tissue involved in the surgery. On one hand, I kicked myself for trying to come back too quickly - on the other hand, I really felt I was trying to be cautious and conservative with my return (ultimately, I really came to feel that I probably came back too soon).
Ever since that day, I had continuous pain in my heel - as long as I was walking - it was there. And it was quite painful. We tried another injection but that only decreased the pain for a few days then it returned without change.
THEN - very strange, on my first night in town (Monday) I went for a bike ride on business trip to Germantown, MD. I hit the trail at about 5:15 and had my lights as I intended to ride for a while because I really love this trail system.
During the ride, the temperature dropped more than I had expected and so I had not worn enough clothing and got a little chilled by halfway (about 1:30 into the 3:00 hour ride) into the ride. But, by the time I got back I was pretty toasty but my toes and feet were numb from the cold (I have a low level Reynaud's Syndrome).
The next day - there was NO PAIN anywhere in my foot - no heel pain - none! This was perplexing to a point but I figured that if I had in fact had some torn tissue - maybe this was a completion of that tear.
Although I was optimistic - I fully expected a return to the intense heel pain I had been living with - but it never returned. Funny thing, I had been sick for about a week and half prior to this day and had felt like my "flu-like symptons" had resolved the previous Wednesday and so I felt it was safe to return to training. Unfortnately, when I woke up Tuesday morning, I was sick again with "flu-like" symptoms. This may have been God's way of keeping me calm for a couple weeks while my heel healed.
The heel pain I had been feeling never returned. I'm still having a bit of a tough time as there is still some pain around the outside and back of the heel but I believe this is from scarring and with my awesome new massage therapist - this should be able to be resolved - with some "deep tissue" work.
My run today was encouraging. I had some mild heel discomfort early but after about four minutes it resolved. The bigger concern is that my entire foot felt fatigued. This is something I've struggled with the entire time. This isn't something I experienced the last time I had this surgery. The only thing I can imagine is that my foot is accomodating to the new biomechanics following the release of the fascia.
The bottom line is that the heel pain that was preventing me from running...even walking without pain - was gone.
Now its time to see where I can from here. I'll be hitting the bike alot, getting back in the water to start my swimming, praciticing some climbing technique in my new backyard climbing circuit that Scott Turner from our team sponsor RIVERSIDE OUTFITTERS helped me set up, strength training, yoga and just in general - getting back into shape and - YES - losing some weight...alot of weight!
I'll be posting here frequently as a testament to my travels over the last 10 months and where I hope to be a year from now!
Swannee
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