Road to Recovery Weeks 7 & 8 Recap

Welcome to October!  Fall weather is here and I’m seeing pumpkins and apples everywhere.  This is my favorite time of year!

It’s the start of a new week and while I am finally finished with physical therapy(!), my recovery from plantar fasciitis continues.  I’m still dedicated to getting rid of my heel pain for good!  Sharing these recaps of the recovery process helps keep me accountable, and it also keeps me motivated to keep blogging!  I hope you enjoy following my progress.

I’m linking up with HoHo and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap! I’m also linking up with Marcia, Patty, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run,  Debbie, Lora, and Rachel for the Running Coaches Corner and Annmarie and Nicole for Wild Workout Wednesday!

[bctt tweet=”Still working on recovery from plantar fasciitis! How was your week? #weeklywrap” username=”Janelle_RWNR”]

Weekly Wrap: Wrapping Up a Busy September

I am so happy that October is here!  September was an extremely busy and stressful month.  I was going to PT several days a week, not getting home until 7 pm or later most nights, and work has also been hectic (of course).  I also had several doctors and dental appointments that completely threw off my schedule…so glad that’s all over.  Now, the wedding is less than 30 days away…shit’s starting to get real!

With the wedding so close, I really want to focus my energy on making sure that everything is ready and in order.  Thankfully, I have family and friends that are ready to help as soon as I ask them – but I’m at the point where I don’t know what I need people to do yet!  We’re not having a wedding planner, though we have the day-of coordinator for the venue and the caterer.  I hope everything goes smoothly!  We will have quite a few DIY elements to the wedding, which should work out fine, but I just don’t want anything to fall through the cracks.  I’ll definitely have to use my project management skills to keep things in order, and delegate whenever possible!

One fun thing I did get to do was attend Science After Hours at the Franklin Institute. I joined their “Innovators” club which gives me free access to these events each month.  It’s a way for 21+ aged folks to get together, drink, and learn some science!  This month’s theme was the Speakeasy and people went all out, dressing to the nine’s in their flapper outfits!  My sister Jennifer was my date and I think she had a fun time!  The next two months will have a Wizards and Wands theme (aka Harry Potter – don’t sue me, Warner Bros.!).  We’ll definitely be there!

Workouts for the Past 2 Weeks:

Week 7 Workouts:

Monday 9/17:  One hour of yoga! We did lots of hip and thigh work throughout class.  In the evening, I had physical therapy.  The usual calf stretches, single leg squats (3×10), single leg deadlifts with a 7.5-pound kettlebell (3×10), calf raises on 40 pounds, clamshells (3×10), foot/ankle stretches with the blue Theraband (3×10), hamstring stretches, rolling foot with golf ball while standing (3 minutes each foot), toe stretch, and a couple of other things. A full session for sure!

Tuesday 9/18:  I was too busy at work so I couldn’t go to the Tuesday yoga class.  I had physical therapy after work:  I did just about all of the same exercises as the day before, but I also did some hops as I start to transition to a return to running program!  Of course, the hopping bothered my knees more than anything.  My physical therapist also tried to do the cupping method on my feet.  I don’t think it worked though, lol…they kept losing suction and falling off lol.

Wednesday 9/19:  I had no workouts.

Thursday 9/20:  Another session of PT – same stuff as earlier in the week, including the cupping therapy.

Friday 9/21:  And another session of PT!  This time I had Pat, the other physical therapist that I’ve worked with, and he focused on doing soft tissue work, which is always nice.  He also taped my feet, but this time it didn’t seem as effective.  Once I was taped up, I did some single leg deadlifts with the kettlebell and single leg squats before heading out.

Saturday 9/22:  Yoga class at my favorite local studio.  It’s a vigorous vinyasa-styled class so I didn’t have much time to rest or reflect, lol!  We did lots of hip work and balance…things that I always need.  It was a challenge for sure!

Sunday 9/23:  My hips were really feeling sore this day…not a surprise from everything I’ve been doing.  I took it easy, just doing some toe stretches.

Week 7 Report Card:

I’m really happy with how Week 7 went.  Getting to go to physical therapy 4 times in a week is challenging, so being able to do that was an accomplishment!  It’s always a pretty tiring experience but I work as hard as I can to get rid of this darn PF, so I have to give myself an A grade for effort!  Plus, it was great to be able to do yoga twice in a week.

Week 8 Workouts:

Monday 9/24:  Back to yoga, though I had a bit of a late start.  We did a lot of vinyasas and hip moves – here we go again.  The goal of the class was to transition to lotus pose.  Let me tell you, this is a pose that I can NOT do – I am just way too tight in my IT-band area to be able to get both feet up.  Oh well!  Once again I had to head to physical therapy.  I did the usual exercises stretching calves, doing single-leg balance, strengthening my calves, feet, hamstrings, and hips….and toes.

Tuesday 9/25:  I was finally able to make it to the Tuesday yoga class at work and stay for the full hour – it was a really nice class and I just like how different Megan’s class is from Amanda’s.  We did a lot of twisting and core work that was challenging, and there’s always some single-leg balance.  After work, I had physical therapy again – more of the same, but the single-leg deadlifts were almost impossible to balance.  I recently got rid of my old Adidas that I had been wearing and started wearing my old Mizunos to PT.  I don’t know if that’s what threw me off, but I’ve been pretty wobbly ever since I changed shoes.  This week I did a new type of hop – forward and backward.  I did 3 sets of 15…it was pretty awkward and by the end, my feet were DONE lol.

Wednesday 9/26:  My feet were really hurting on Wednesday…and they felt as bad as they felt at the very beginning of my physical therapy.  I couldn’t believe it.  I just hoped that I was sore from the previous day’s activities.  I actually had to roll my feet with ice for the first time in a LONG time, it was so painful.  After work, I had spin class (another class offered at work) but I ended up running late and started at about 4:15.  Since there were only 2 of us, Megan (the same Megan who teaches yoga) held the class a little longer for my sake and we finished at 5 (usually they cool down a bit earlier).  Man do I have to say her class is HARD, but it was fun!  I hadn’t taken spin a while – it was just what I needed.  Because of the foot pain, I wore both night splints to bed, once again, for the first time in a long time…perfect timing since my PT’s almost over, right?

Thursday 9/27:  My last day of PT.  I thought there’d be more of a grand conclusion, but I pretty much did the same exercises I always do and was sent on my merry way.  Now, my PT does want me to see another specialist, but I don’t even know if it’d be an option with my insurance.  I told her a couple of days prior that I felt 80% improved…this was before the horrible foot pain came back with a vengeance, sigh!  I told her that I didn’t continue any of the hopping routines because my feet were in too much pain.  She didn’t seem worried, but…

Friday 9/28:  First day of post-physical therapy.  My feet still hurt.  I didn’t do any workouts.

Saturday 9/29:  Another lazy day with no workouts, though I did try to stretch my calves on the steps for a bit – that’s still an area I need to keep working on!

Sunday 9/30:  Bret and I went for a walk – we started together, then he headed off to run while I had some time to myself.  I hadn’t been in the Wissahickon all summer (other than our engagement photo shoot).  It’s all very bittersweet because it’s a place that I love to be and that I highly associate with running, something that I’m still not ready to do.  Since he was going to be a while, I took advantage of exploring off the beaten path and really enjoyed being back in nature where I could clear my head.  I really need to walk more….no, it’s not the same as running, but it’s such a healthy activity!  I actually found myself standing on a dam after seeing a sign about watching out for snakes that aren’t poisonous, but still hurts if they bite you!  I saw no snakes thankfully!  We met up, then made the long trek back home…I think I ended up walking for about 2 hours!  My feet were beat by the end of the day!

Week 8 Report Card:

So this past week was a huge milestone with the conclusion of physical therapy, but I can’t believe that my feet had such a startling setback.  I’m trying to pinpoint what caused this pain, as I’m still feeling the effects.  Was it the change in shoes?  The intensity of the hops?  Whatever it was, I’m hoping that I can shake it and focus on recovery as I move forward.  I’m probably going to take it easy for another week – focus on yoga and stretching – and not even think about running.  Clearly, the road to recovery has a few bumps!  I’ll give Week 8 a B+ grade despite the late week drama!

How was your week of working out?  Is it looking like fall where you live or still hot and humid?