heel hurts; major mileage cutback

As I may have mentioned in prior posts, or maybe not, my left heel/bottom of foot has been hurting for a few months, primarily when walking, not running. Last week it hurt during my long run and the pain was more intense the next few days.  So my running coach and I decided to do a cut-back week to give my heel a chance to heal.

Monday:  Rest Day

Tuesday:  40 minutes/9.64 miles on the stationary bike at the gym.  My local gym closed and consolidated with a new gym 11 miles from my house. I have been meaning to cancel membership, but glad I haven't gotten around to it yet. It was a bit of a drive, but I was grateful to have a gym membership. The new gym is very nice, but not nice enough to entice me to drive 20 minutes to get there. Will start researching closer gyms in the near future.

Wednesday:  Easy 3.12-mile jog with the pups around the neighborhood. 1 mile with Tasha, 2 miles with Riley (pictured with my daughter watching for the school bus to arrive). Didn't look at Garmin during run, just focused on enjoying the morning. Heel is still tender, but it didn't hurt during the run. Mile splits:  12:07, 12:21, 12:15.

Thursday:  Coach Josh prescribed 45 minutes on the eliptical. After about 20-25 minutes, I started feeling a hot spot/blister.  So I decided to switch to the stationary bike after 30 minutes/2.43 miles.  Rode the stationary bike for 15 minutes/3.05 miles to finish the 45-minute workout.

Friday:  Rest Day

Saturday:  Coach Josh prescribed 14 long slow miles.  I had high hopes, but it just didn't happen. FAIL. Kyra had a basketball game this morning. Afterwards, I changed into running clothes, ate lunch and drove to Alexander Park.  I went there because I knew there was a 1+mile soft-surface trail which may be easier on my heel.  I started having stomach cramps almost immediately after I ate a Clif Shot at mile 4. I managed to keep running for another 2 miles and then had to make an emergency bathroom stop. Upset tummy. No fun...  While walking to and then away from bathroom, I realized that my heel was hurting again. (It stopped hurting mid-day yesterday and didn't hurt today until this point.) Decided to call it quits rather than risk further damage.

Sunday:  Was supposed to run 3 easy miles, but my heel hurts too bad. Decided to go to the gym and ride the stationary bike for 35 minutes instead (7.88 miles).

Weekly summary:

• Days exercised this week:  5
• Days run this week: 2
• Miles run this week: 9.37
• Highlight of the week: grateful for procrastination in canceling gym membership
• Goal for next week:  heal the heel