Preface
Ok! Enough of this pity party with these “road to recovery” posts. 😉 The die has been cast, and I have officially registered for Run Rock n Roll Washington D.C. Half Marathon (RnR D.C. Half).
General Updates:
I have to admit that my motivation has been waning over the last week; however, I do not think it's running-related. I'm not sure if it's weather- or social-related. God, I cannot wait until Spring arrives. Then again, folks tend to have good and bad weeks when training for an upcoming event. Yike, my Rock n Roll DC half marathon is about 30 days away.
I have to say that I regained some of my running motivation during this weekend's Kemp Mill (C)hills 10K. Although I did not perform as well as I would have liked, this race lit a fire in my ever growing a** to get back on track (pun intended). While the race was this past Sunday, my legs quads and calves are still sore three days later from all of those hills.
Oh, I bit the bullet and joined the Montgomery County Road Runners Club (MCRRC). Since I hate wasting money, I hope this 'investment' will force me to run some of their upcoming low-key races and participate in some of their training runs.
Strength Training:
Bah, humbug. Last week, I hit the gym only once, but technically, I went twice. Lord, I'm such a mess. So what happened on the other day? I decided to walk ~3 miles to the gym as a way to warm up and get some fresh air. I arrived, changed into my workout clothes, and did three sets of bench presses. Hey! Something is better than nothing. Since I wasn't feeling it, I decided to hit up a local sushi spot. Well, lifting raw fish with two stick counts as a workout, right?
Dieting/Proper Eating:
Healthy eating was a bit of a bust this week, and I'm going to blame the Super Bowl AND the Puppy Bowl. I'll get back to eating decently next week because this week has been a little intense (holiday wise) with the Super Bowl, the Puppy Bowl (lol), Mardi Gras, and Valentine's Day all within days of each other.
Randomness:
So, I finally got my life together and made some health appointments to see a podiatrist and an internist. Why is it whenever I go to a podiatrist, I always receive different (and sometimes conflicting) information. As some may know, I have a heloma molle (aka a kissing corn) in between my 4th and 5th toes on my right foot.
Some information about these bad boys:
“Kissing corns are calluses or corns that develop between the toes, usually between the fourth and fifth (pinky) digits. The pain happens because the toe bones rub against each other creating little corns that “kiss.” They are also called soft corns or calluses....Because kissing corns are located between the toes, they are generally not as hard as other corns and calluses on the bottom or side of the foot due to the natural humidity in the area. These soft calluses can be whitish or yellowish and tend to look spongy....When the kissing corns are recurrent, there’s a small procedure that can be done in our offices in which we make a half-inch incision and shave down the bone slightly, so they stop their love affair' of rubbing against each other."
First podiatrist: He basically made it seem like I needed to get surgery ASAP to shave portions of bones in my 4th and 5th toes. Looking back, had I received this information during the pandemic, I probably would have done it. Recovery involves staying off of your foot for about a month, and most of the world (including myself) really wasn't doing anything during the pandemic.
Second podiatrist: Confirmed that it was a heloma molle, but he said that I really didn't need surgery unless the kissing corn prevented me from doing day-to-day activities. Considering that I've run 4-5 marathons and countless half marathons with these corns, he pretty much said that I didn't need surgery. Instead, he recommended wearing foot spacers and visiting him every 3-6 months to have the dead skin removed.
Third podiatrist (most recent): Didn't mention anything about the heloma molle, the misshapen bones in my foot, or surgery. She did indicate that there was a slight fungal infection deep in the corn. While she prescribed a topical antifungal cream, she said that it probably wouldn't work. Um, then why the hell are you prescribing it? She did recommend a few things:
Investing Therlo shocks or another brand of non-cotton socks. Damn, she was right because these Therlo socks are kind of expensive at $50 for three pairs.
Not wearing socks during my work from home days to reduce excess moisture accumulation in between my toes.
Purchasing an anti-fungal spray for my shoes to kill off the spores from the fungal infection and reduce the chances for reinfection. Actually, this is a great tip.
Goals for the week:
-Although I'm not super religious these days, I like to give up something during the season of Lent. For the next 40 days & nights, I'm going to lay off of the Devil's lettuce and reduce my idleness by doing something productive (non-work related) for at least 1.5 hrs a day. There a few things that I really need to start doing that include: figuring out my professional life in medical communications (e.g., making an individual development plan, connecting with other folks in the industry, figuring out my next career move); updating my social media accounts (e.g., primarily my professional website and LinkedIn); look into getting my project management professional certification; learn a new non work -related skill (e.g., relearn programming with Python and R).
