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The inaugural Las Vegas marathon is one week from today.

I signed up for it a year ago.

I must accept the very real possibility that I may be unable to finish.

How did I get here?

I worked pretty hard from May through September this year to prepare.  Toward the end of summer I had begun to feel some persistent pain in my left heel. In mid-September I took a week and a half off to take my daughter to college, during which I walked a lot but did not run at all.  That inactivity left me well-rested upon my return, and I had a pretty good long run that Saturday.  However, succeeding Saturday morning long runs were characterized by decreasing performance.  This result came from running less to allow my heel to heal.  I was willing to accept being a little out of shape in exchange for pain-free feet, but surprisingly, the pain in my heel did not decrease.

I had long been planning to take a week off before the marathon, but having taken far more than just a week, I also found myself wondering and worrying a bit about the cause of the pain.  A quick web search indicated plantar fasciitis as the most likely culprit, but there are other possibilities, such as Achilles tendinitis.

Achilles. "Am I in danger of popping my Achilles during the race?" I wondered.  Maybe even during a training run.  Was I risking the Hyrox races in December and February?  The Hard Rock race in February? The Spartans in March (if I am able to run them)?  Time to go see an expert for some reassurance.  After the fiasco with my finger, I wanted to go straight to Desert Orthopedics (DOC).  Skipping my primary care physician was not an issue (in my mind) because they would just send me to urgent care or a specialist, and take a long time to see me to boot.  Skipping urgent care was not an issue either, so I went straight to DOC.  I was doubtful that they would be able to see me before race day, just a week and a half away, but I was pleasantly surprised that they had an opening that same week!

So on Friday (two days) ago, I visited the foot specialist at DOC.  They took a set of x-rays and then quickly diagnosed plantar fasciitis.  Treatment?  He offered to give me a steroid shot in my heel.  Now I had never had one of these shots before, but nearly everyone I've ever heard talk about them says the same thing:  they are quite painful!  Ironic, since we get them to reduce pain.  Anyway,  it would not make sense to turn it down, so I braced myself for excruciating pain . . . and found that it was nothing.  No more pain than a blood donation or a flu shot.  The pain from running disappeared immediately, not because the steroids had time to work, but because of the lidocaine mixed in with the shot.

Yesterday I skipped my last Saturday morning, the last chance for a long run before the marathon. Today I went to Hyrox and did a dress rehearsal of the actual race.  There is a lot of running in a Hyrox, 1000 meters at a time and intermingled with various exercises.  By the time I had accumulated 4 miles of running, the pain was back.  I skipped the rest of the running and thus received a DNF for the day, and finished the exercises.  I sat in a chair for a few minutes after finishing, and when I stood the pain was more severe than ever.  Even now, some 6 hours after leaving the gym, it still hurts pretty bad.

I'll go easy the rest of the week, allowing some exercise, but nothing too terribly strenuous and no running.  On Sunday, the plan remains the same--maintain an average pace of less than 15 minutes per mile, preferably 14 or less.

Stay tuned!