Although I believe running up hills is what caused my heel spur in the first place, I dug up the iPod and running shorts and hit the Hayward Hills for a jog yesterday. I was encouraged by playing basketball twice last week, in which my feet only hurt me after the games were over. It still wasn’t the ideal basketball I’d like to be playing; I’m out of shape compared to the early 20-somethings running around at Stanford and, since I’m afraid to plant my right foot, I can’t make any explosive movements…meaning no driving, no layups, no jumping for blocked shots. There are a couple of guys out there, in particular, who I know I used to be better than. I hope they know that this is a TEMPORARY shift, not a changing of the guard.
So, I bought some Dr. Scholl’s heel pads from the drugstore and inserted them into my Brooks Beasts over my existing heel pads. I doubled up on the socks in addition to the double heel pads, so even after I tightened the laces my feet were rising up out of the shoes with every step. It felt as if I were standing up on a platform but, I must say, it did feel pillow-soft. I wanted to take every precaution before doing real running instead of the constant start/stop of a basketball game.
That I made it through the first 20-30 steps pain-free was a very positive sign. Previously, when trying to do the hills, the sharp pain appeared the moment I switched from walking TO my starting point to actually running the route. I ran gingerly, consciously trying to run on the toes of my right foot instead of my heels. A few times, perhaps getting lost in the music, I did hit my heel pretty hard but the pain wasn’t enough to disrupt my run. The problem for this run was stamina–I ran while listening to “Pack Up“, “Conga” and “Missing The Light Of Day“, but I had to walk during “La Isla Bonita”. Ran for the rest of the songs, which I can’t remember, but by that time it was downhill. Still psyched! The foot is getting better and it’s just as well–after the holidays and not exercising steadily for, well…months…I have plenty of catching up to do.
