The Race That Was Not Meant To Be

I've had several people ask when I'm running Richmond. Alas, it was not to be. The race was actually run Saturday, sadly without me. The story of this tragedy is kind of like A Series of Unfortunate Events. However, I'm hoping for a happy ending. Things were going along just great in my training, until one day I came home with a stabbing pain in my heel. Now normally an ice pack is my best remedy. Unfortunately, the pain in my heel did not go away, and when you feel like someone is pushing a rusty knife in your heel day after day you tend to worry. Thus, I went to the podiatrist. I have to hand it to him, he didn't mince words. He had me walk down this long, cheerless hall as he scrutinized my every step and then proceeded to tell me I had a deformity, I collapse my arch each time I walk, and that if I wasn't careful I might rupture my achilles. Feeling full of joy I went with him to get my feet taped, x-rayed, and started my 9 a day Advil regimen. Then I emptied my piggy bank out for state of the art orthotics. However, these state of the art orthotics haven't been so state of the art for me, but we are tweaking them, trying to avoid surgery. It's been a tad discouraging, but I am optimistic that it will all get figured out, and I'll be back in action soon. In fact my friend and I are starting a new goal: 800 miles in 2008. That is the happy ending I'm looking for.