I may very well be falling apart.

How old am I? Some days I feel like my body has it in for me and some of those days I think, “ok, you win”. Who wins and who am I talking to?

This last year has taken a toll on my body. I am only talking about the external, internal is a treat. I’ve had bunions on both my feet, something I inherited from my mom and grandfather, thanks! Most of the time I can deal with it, but it has hampered my ability to purchase some really cute shoes that might dig into them, I bought some ballet flats and said “the hell with it” and sometimes it’s a good day and sometimes it’s a bad day. There are times that they hurt after a long day, standing for a long time or just for being there, I have even woken up screaming from the pain.

When I went to see Dr Julian for something else, we talked about surgery, he said bunion surgery was his favorite, when I asked why, he told me because it was easy for him, and he didn’t have to deal with the recovery, gee thanks! I’ve considered it off and on for years, but, I found out, it’s 2-4 weeks off your feet completely then about 3 (maybe 6, I could be completely wrong here) months full recovery. That means no walking, no races, what? Nope!

The reason I went to see Dr Julian, and by the way, amazing podiatrist in Atlanta! Was my feet were hurting after I walked a few miles and when I did the Atlanta Women’s 2 Day, 30 miles in 2 days, I had blisters that had blisters, ouch. He told me I had heel spurs, thank goodness I wasn’t the hypochondriac I thought I might be turning into! He gave me some Smart Feet and recommended the sneakers I needed and exercises that I have to do. The Smart Feet are great, I just picked up some new ones, (they need to be replaced every 8 months) I wore them to my last mud run, so now I need new clean ones and a pair of new clean sneakers. I vowed never to run any kind of race without the proper foot-ware and Smart Feet, I learned my lesson, that which I am still paying for over a month later. (I do my exercises most of the time, I really try.)

The next fun thing to happen…I wrenched my knee! I was coming downhill, through the woods, in the mud, at a race and something snapped, great! Oh my word, I don’t know if I’ve been in that kind of pain before, well, maybe kidney stones, but it kept waking me up! Now I am very careful when I run, especially downhill. Luckily, each time it has happened, it was close to the end of a race. Yes, I said each time, I never claimed to be that smart! I saw someone after a race, he wrapped it with Rock Tape http://rocktape.com/products/tape/. I was rockin! And it helped! He told me what the issue was and I would love to tell you, if I could remember! One thing he told me to do was lunges, let me know how that worked out for you! I know, need to make an appointment with an orthopedist and I will, I promise! It’s hard to remember to make an appointment when nothing feels wrong, you know?

Now…I think I have carpel tunnel, really? I know it comes from a lot of typing and using your wrists, well, I have all the symptoms and when I spoke to a pharmacist, he said it sounded like carpel tunnel. So, it wakes me up at night, but when my hand falls asleep while I am asleep, then I don’t feel it, kind of ironic, isn’t it? I am wearing a wrist brace and making an appointment, when it happened the last time, I an to cancel the appointment. I didn’t think anything of it when it first happened, it only lasted a few days, these last few times have been for weeks a a time. I know, I know, make an appointment. I will, tomorrow! What I’m afraid of with the carpel tunnel, they’ll do an X-ray, tell me to take Tylenol and wear a wrist brace, thanks and here’s your copay.

I can tell you that as much pain as I am in, it has not stopped me and I just keep going, but wait, I’m not done. When my feet hurt too much to walk, I do take it easy and don’t do my morning run/walks, like today and yesterday, so there. I am sort of taking care of myself.

How old am I? Some days my body feels ancient, but I am stubborn like a 3year old, I won’t stop moving! Somebody stop me! (Wish me luck in the race tomorrow!)