Last Run: December 28, 2016 at 8:10 PM

I have not been running in almost two months. My left foot started to kill me after weeks of training on the dreadmill. I had hired Lisa in October-ish to help me get faster, stronger, thinner, and I was doing great until the foot pain. I told Lisa about it before I started my January training sessions and she told me to immediately stop training and see my doctor. I told her about it because I was concerned that I could not bend my toes on my left food, and I felt like I might have a broken toe or something (yeah, I’ve never had a broken bone in my body, but I equated the pain to something being broken).  Lisa told me I needed an x-ray and a good physical to make sure nothing was wrong. The x-rays showed an excellent left foot with no issues, including absolutely NO arthritis (ha!, to all you anti-running peoples!!).

Anyway, GP sent me to podiatry, podiatry gave me inserts, chiropractor wants me to get new inserts, massage therapist said stretch, rest and continue seeing her, but I’m going to see a Jeff/PT this coming Friday.  I’ll probably do a combo of everything just so I can get this healed. Anway: PT was prompted when I saw a #metatarsalgia dry-needling post on Instagram.

I asked around to see if anybody had had dry-needling in Anchorage but nobody I know has, so I Googled it. I sent a message to PT tonight and received a telephone call back right away! I’m going in Friday morning to get a full assessment and see what they can do to fix my painful left foot.

Metatarsalgia

Excess pressure on your forefoot can cause pain and inflammation in your metatarsals — the long bones in the front of your feet, just below your toes.

It’s not that I’ve hated being off running for the last two months, in fact, it’s quite the contrary, well, in a complicated way! Kind of in that love/hate running way that I subscribe to most days.

I’ve  enjoyed sitting around, watching movies, playing with my bullet journal, making lots of food (like way too much food), hanging out with my family and spending most of my time inside the house. My nights feel really long after work, especially since I’m not spending 1.5-2 hours in the woods, hot tub, cleaning up, running, etc. (um, duh!).

DOWNSIDE: there is the whole weight gain crap going on, lots of yucky urges to eat crap, never feeling full, always craving junk food, feeling sluggish all day long, and overall boredom. On top of all that yucky stuff, I’ve spent a lot of time watching movies … I’ve even watched some TV. OK, maybe one TV show, but that’s really bad considering I am not a TV watcher, and I have never been somebody who watches TV – but I can see why our culture is so fat, lazy, voted for Trump, and so boring.  TV is really the pits. It does nothing good for the brain (OK, PBS and documentaries do!).

UPSIDE: I’ve read a bunch of books so far, so it hasn’t all been bad. I’m not certain I’m actually reading less this year, though, so I cannot actually say that not running has made me read more. Part of this year’s goals is to read more thoroughly and deeply, too so I might not meet my goal of 70 books for 2017. We’ll see in a few more months though.

You have read 11 of 70 books in 2017.

• Your 2017 Challenge Books

Date Read
Rating

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Anyway, I need to get this metatarsalgia sorted out. I cannot continue sitting around. I need to train for the Sawtooth Relay. There’s only so much my fat tire bike can do for me, and it is not running. Plus, it really is not the same feeling I get as when I run.

Oh, and excitingly, I quit taking Prozac and I’m feeling pretty good. My last day was 2/9/2017 but I’m not feeling weird like in the past. I think I did a slow enough taper that I’m going to avoid antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, which really does suck when it happens, and it’s very scary – even as bad, or worse, than a panic attack. Anyway, for now, I’m done taking these meds. I’ve spent years in treatment (what SSRI haven’t I tried?), counseling, EMDR, and almost every psychotherapy treatment out there. I need to learn to deal with it, even if that means going back to EMDR therapy. If all else fails, there’s the non-psychogenic CBD oils and cannabis, which my psychiatrist and I discussed, and, shockingly he’s OK with it. Plus, it’s legal in AK and always has been.

I’m actually a bit surprised at myself for not quitting all these meds after reading Prozac Diary in 2011!

In 1988, at age 26, Lauren Slater lived alone in a basement apartment in Cambridge, depressed, suicidal, unemployed. Ten years later, she is a psychologist running her own clinic, an award-winning writer, and happily married. The transformation in her life was brought about by Prozac. Prozac Diary is Lauren Slater’s incisive account of a life restored to productivity, creativity, and love. When she wakes up one morning and finds that her demons no longer have a hold on her, Slater struggles with the strange state of being well after a lifetime of craziness. Yet this is no hymn to a miracle pharmaceutical. It is a frankly ambivalent quest for the truth of self behind an ongoing reliance on a drug. Slater also addresses Prozac’s notorious “poop-out” effect and its devastating attack on her libido. This is the first memoir to reflect on long-term Prozac use, and reviewers agree that no one has written about Prozac with such beauty, honesty, and insight.

Whoa! I’m getting way off topic now: fingers crossed for good PT outcomes and fast healing!