The foot injury 'heard around the world'

My coworker came into the office yesterday after I’d posted the blog entry about my mysterious heel injury on my left foot that has been throwing off my game at the gym. He said, “The foot injury heard around the world. How’s that going for you?”

I don’t think he knew how right he was.

People came out of the woodwork, mostly with the same two messages, sometimes in ALL CAPS: “It sounds like plantar fasciitis,” and, “Get it checked out, but first tell your trainer.”

What seemed to disturb people the most is that I said I didn’t want to tell Jackie because I worried she would tone down our workouts, and I really need to perform at my best -- especially since we set new goals this week. (So, yes, I told her. And the look on her face was not good. Worried.)

This foot injury couldn’t come at a worse time. My goal is to be down a total of 32 pounds by March 1. It’s a lofty aspiration considering this month has been slow-going.

I haven’t weighed-in officially on the Iron Man scale, which is the only scale I trust. But I’ve been checking my weight on the scale in the women’s locker room at the Y, which always seems to have a different number for me. So I can only ballpark my estimate that, since Feb. 3, which was two weeks ago, I’ve only lost an additional three pounds.

That means I have 13 days, counting today, to lose 11 pounds. How can I possibly do that when I have to stay off my darn left foot?

With this thought in mind, after I did 20 minutes on the bike at the gym this morning, I decided to just try the elliptical. After 2 minutes I thought, “This ain’t so bad.” After 5 minutes: “Well, actually ... .” After 10 minutes: “OK, ow. I’m getting off this thing.”

I headed back to the weight room and put together a couple of circuits I remembered from training with Jackie. I did some ab work and knee lifts. And then I went back into the life center and did some strength-training on the machines.

Here’s the thing, though: Cardio burns fat. C-A-R-D-I-O. Yes, it’s important to build muscle through strength-training, but to lose weight, you’ve got to get your heartrate up and keep it up.

Bottom line: I need my feet. Gah! So frustrating.

Even more frustrating is the thought that everyone is right and my injury is plantar fasciitis: a painful inflammation of the thick, fibrous, connective tissue along the heel bone and sole of the foot, commonly associated with long periods of weight bearing. (Yet another “thanks a lot” to the sizable bottom I’ve been carrying around for years.)

Several people who informed me their wife/mother/sister/brother battled the injury also informed me that it’s something that only goes away with time and by staying off of it for a long while. So, I really hope that’s not what this is.
It’s more than a little ironic to me that my mind -- my will power, or lack thereof -- was what was keeping me from weight loss for so long. And now that my mind is all in, my body decides to crap out.

I guess all I can do is focus on the food side as much as possible and do what I can in the gym. (Insert frowny face here.)