100 Days and Counting

I should be panicking, but I'm not - at least not a lot. The Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure is 100 days from today, and I still can't walk even a short distance without considerable pain in my left heel. It is discouraging and frustrating. I have raised nearly $6,000 for the walk. My sister Ann - my main honoree and inspiration for doing this walk - is deceased now. It is not like I want to say "Well, sorry everyone, but my foot hurts - a lot - and so I decided not to go through with my committment."

I am doing some small things. I am taking 7,000 to 12,000 steps a day according to my pedometer. I am just not walking any distance at a time, but at least I am getting some time on my feet. I am continuing to take the stairs at work, because the pressure when I climb stairs is on my forefoot, not my heel. I've put in some time on an exercise bike, and plan more of that. I had a doctor tell me that I am overstriding, based on shoe wear, and so I am trying to shorten my stride and get used to that so that when I can walk for effect, I will be ahead of the game in shortening my stride. And I am doing a lot of stretching, and using some other techniques in the last week, such as a foot log, which is painful but is supposed to help.

And this week, I got introduced to ART! Who is ART? Well, it is what, not who. More about that later. Suffice to say that I have faith that somehow in the next few weeks, I can start some short walks of a mile or two at least, and go from there. In just 100 days, I have to somehow be able to walk 60 miles in three days. That would be impossible right now. But I have to find a way.