This summer...

Guys, great news! I PASSED MY NATIONAL PTA EXAM!! Okay now that is out of the way...

This means I will shortly be a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant and can begin working as soon as that license is active! Woo! I'm a grown up!

Of course life is never perfect and so here is my dilemma...

I have flat feet. Like, feet so flat that my entire arch touches the ground. The inside of my ankles are almost touching the ground. I have worn custom orthotics in my shoes since I was 17. They have worked fine for me since then; I have ran 2 marathons, 5 half marathons and 3 relay races in the 4 years since I have began running. Sure, my feet hurt after all of those races, but I figured it was normal.

Well, since clinicals started in January, I have been on my feet for 9+ hours a day, every week day. And slowly but surely, my feet have become worse and worse. At first my feet were just uncomfortable. I could still run after work but often I would get shin splints less than a mile in. So then I decided I would only run on my short work days and on Saturdays. That worked for a while. No pain, and I was able to kind of train for Ragnar in February. It was during that relay that I knew my feet were quickly becoming a serious problem. Each of my running legs was torture, especially the last one. I had to fight back tears in those last miles, my feet hurt so bad. Ragnar was a fun experience, minus the running part! The front of my shins would burn and burn as each mile went on. My back would hurt from misalignment. My arches, oh my arches! They felt like they were being overly stretched and yet rock hard at the same time.

Following Ragnar, I began my longer hours at the hospital. I was on my feet for even more time each day. And sure enough, I no longer could run on my off days. No more Saturday long runs. No more evening runs in the gorgeous Arizona spring weather. The pain was too much. At one point I came home so frustrated after a short, hobbling 2 mile run that I tried to do some intense self-massage on my shins with the straight side of a butter knife. All it left me was more pain and some gnarly bruising. Note to all: do not try to perform ASTYM on yourself.

Basically, for the last two months I haven't been able to run. I was/am devastated. The pain is just too much. It effects everything from my ankles to my back. Then in a moment of inspiration I remembered my podiatrist mentioned something to me about surgery the last time I was in to see him (when I got my newest pair of orthotics in 2011). I researched it, decided it was the right thing for me and something I really wanted. After an appointment with my podiatrist last week I am now 99% certain that I am getting surgery on my feet this summer. The first one will be late May, the second 6 weeks later in early July.

I mostly made this decision because I want to be a good PTA but I also want to be a good runner. I've realized, with my feet in this condition, that I cannot have both. Being a part of the physical therapy field brings me great joy and is truly my passion in life. However, having throbbing, awful foot pain before lunch time even rolls around tends to take away some of that happiness. I've been a runner since 2009. I've had my ups and downs, mostly ups. I've always been training for one race or another. I've had people ask me lately "What's your next race?" and it's heart breaking and totally strange to have to say that I don't have a race planned because I will be having surgery.

So anyway, that will be my life for the next three months or so. My last two days of clinicals are this week, and then I officially graduate on May 11th. I will get my license but I most likely will not get a job until July, when I can work pain-free. I think these surgeries will be a huge blessing in my life and although I don't look forward to the actual surgery and recovery very much, I know the outcome will be worth it.

If you're wondering what the surgery actually entails, visit this website. Also, besides the HyProCure procedure I will also have my bunions removed.....I know, it's nasty but my doctor thinks it's a good idea to have them both done at the same time! Recovery will be two weeks in a walking boot, then regular shoes! I can't run until two months after my second foot is done, so about mid-August. Perfect time to start training for my comeback race, the Phoenix Marathon! March 2014 :)

ps: I plan on writing a post about the awful things that happened at the Boston Marathon. I'm still trying to process all my feelings about it...

pss: Little brother comes home TUESDAY!!!

Penny boards are of the devil

Scene: the other night. My kitchen. Me and Chic (the 15 year old sister who is basically my clone) are talking and I had the genius idea to try her penny board.

The penny board. It's basically a smaller version of a skateboard. My sister rides it all over the neighborhood and throughout the house with perfect ease. So I think, how hard could it be?

I step on the board, placed in the kitchen hallway, as Chic is trying to tell me the correct way to ride it. I'm not really listening to her though. I step on the board, thinking that it'll be similar to a longboard, which I can kind of ride without any difficulty.

IT IS NOT LIKE A LONGBOARD.

I didn't even make it three feet. The board slid out from under me so fast that I was flat on my back in about 0.00005 seconds. I fell down so fast, I didn't have time to put out my hands behind me or anything! I landed kind of on my left side and mostly my head. My only reaction was to laugh hysterically. I'm on my back, not entirely sure of how I got there, and I roll over and see Chic snorting because she's laughing so hard.

I ended up getting a bruise on my head, hand, elbow and knee and somehow I got severe whiplash in my neck. Yesterday wasn't so bad, today was a whole different story. I can't turn my head to the left or tip my head back. Ouch!!! Even turning corners while I'm driving is painful! I expect it won't last very long, hopefully! Sleeping last night was not fun! Haha.

Anyway, moral of the story is that if I've never ridden a skateboard, I really shouldn't just jump on one, especially on a slick wood floor! Chic was laughing for probably 20 minutes after it happened.

I now have to glare at that stupid penny board every time I see it laying there so innocently. It is evil.