The Fine Line...

...between valid concern and irrational worry. That's where I've been dwelling for the past 24 hours.

Last night, as I massaged my still-sore foot, feeling along the bones and pushing on various spots, I said to Husband: "I can't tell if it is just the regular over-sensitivity in my feet or real pain. What do you think?"

Husband: "I think that you are probably creating real pain by insisting on prodding your overly-sensitive feet in an attempt to find something that is not there."

Hm.

This morning when I got up, I was not 100% pain free. But, I decided that I can't spend the rest of my life coddling a foot that may or may not break any second for no apparent reason. So, I decided to head to the Y to get on the treadmill and see what happened. I thought the Y would be the best idea for a number of reasons:

1. If I broke, there'd be plenty of people around to come to my aid.
2. If it bothered me too much to run, I could jump on the bike and at least get some form of exercise.
3. If everything was fine, I could just run the 8 on the treadmill. Though not fun, I have done it before.

I started nice and easy on the treadmill, at a 9:00 pace. Though it wasn't screaming at me, I was aware of my foot discomfort. At 1 mile, I stopped the treadmill and did some stretching, then got back on. After another 1.25 miles, my foot was singing. So again, I stopped and did some foot stretches and balanced on the Bosu ball. Back to the treadmill to round up to 3 miles, and then I quit.

Things improved on the bike, where I pedaled for 30 boring minutes. While on the bike, I was reading the latest edition of Runner's World - ironically enough, it's the Injury Prevention Special. Inside is an article on Chi Running. I've heard about Chi Running before, I think from SUAR. That was before I got injured, and I remember thinking that it was kind of bogus.

But of course that was then. In my now, I read the article. From what I could understand from the short 2 pages, Chi Running embraces many of the things that I've already heard time and again from Steve: concentrating on soft footfalls, leading with the hips, striking mid foot, and keeping the cadence high.

When I finished my time on the bike, I was feeling a bit more confident and decided to get on a treadmill to test some of the tenants of Chi Running. Keeping my cadence high and steps short, I felt ok for about half a mile and then became aware of the foot again, so quit once I had clocked an additional mile.

So, I got in 4 miles of stop-and-go running and 7 miles on the bike.

Better than nothing, I guess.

Right now, my foot is still feeling odd. I can't exactly say that it is painful... it's just... weird. Uncomfortable. I'm acutely aware  of it.

I'm not sure which side of the fine line I'm sitting on at the moment. Last night, I was thinking that 90% of this is irrational worry. Irrational worry is, in fact, one of my specialties. But this evening, I think it's more like 50% valid concern, 50% irrational worry.

The plan is to swim tomorrow, rest on Tuesday, and attempt a run on the vita course on Wednesday.

If it is still weird  after that, then I think I need to return to my least favorite place... Dr. Cutter.

Le sigh.

I'm going to go eat some cookies now.