My Friend, The Boot

Oh walking boot, oh walking boot, how I loathe thee oh walking boot (apparently it's been made famous by Tom Brady).  But, you have saved me many times from myself, that is for sure.  I told my sister two weeks ago, I was pretty sure that after my half marathon I would end up in the boot for a few weeks after the race one way or another. 

Sure enough - visited my orthopod on Tuesday and posterior tibilias tendonitis is the verdict.  I am severely pronated, so I have to use orthotics.  It must be time for new ones, but regardless this is why I started getting that intense pain in my inner ankle and lower left leg.  My doc diagnosed it pretty quickly and said I was lucky it didn't rupture because it is one of the tendons in our body that if we mess it up, it's very hard to get it back 100%.  Okey doke, then.  I guess I'm lucky and glad I scaled back as much as I did in the last few weeks of my training and sacrificed the speed and a little of my pride.

So, word to the wise, take care of that tendonitis.  This particular injury is in the area in our leg that is referred to the watershed area which is a place that gets little blood flow for healing.  I ordered this fancy heating unit from The Mend Me Shop right before the race, and I think it helped and continues to help.  So, although they aren't paying me to recommend them (and I can only vouch for myself), it's worth checking out for those of you out there who are looking for some good heating/cooling methods: http://www.mendmeshop.com/.

So, boot, here I come.  It's good I have one purchased already, so at least its not an added expense :).  I also have a couple of pair of crutches if it comes to that.  The perks of being stubborn.

Any good boot stories out there? 

I'm glad I did the race, but I'm not so glad to be having to use my friend again.  Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.