Triumphant Return to Arlington

October 16, 2005, made for one of my worst days in recent recollection. A couple of days prior to it, I had experienced excruciating pain in my left heel. I later learned Plantar Fasciitis caused the discomfort. This particular morning in October we were in Arlington, VA. In the early morning before we were to return home I went out for a run. My foot hurt so intensely I did something I had never done in the history of The Streak. After about twenty yards, without even leaving the hotel parking lot, I had to stop. I couldn’t take the pain.

As we traveled to Atlanta I spent the day fretting, not only about preserving The Streak, which was eight (8) years old at the time, but more importantly I feared permanent damage had occurred that would take the joy of running from my life. We returned home where I used a stationary bike for my daily exercise. After a couple of visits to physicians and orthopedic specialists I spent the remainder of the year engaging in only low impact exercise. The lack of running nearly drove me bonkers.

Thank goodness the Plantar Fasciitis did not end my running. As I have noted in an earlier blog posting, the heel stress did return in 2009, and I continue to struggle with it. Here’s the interesting thing. On January 16, 2011, we returned to Arlington, VA. In fact, we stayed in the very same hotel. The morning we planned to travel home I once again went out for a run. As is my custom, I lit out before the light of day. This time I made it out of the parking lot and enjoyed a tremendous four mile run. I meandered through neighborhoods and relished my return to the area, and most of all, the ability to run at all.

Listen to your body. Heal. Run again.

Tom