Racing News, Olympic News, Bad News, Good News

Hello all! Forgive me for not updating lately - it has been a very hectic past week. I should be in bed right now - I have to get up at 7 AM in order to catch 3 flights to Kelowna, Canada for the ITU Continental Cup this Sunday. But instead I've decided to blog to my loyal fans :) Training has been okay lately. I've encountered a bit of a roadblock but more on that soon. The bottom line is I'm feeling good and excited to race this weekend. Although I'm not looking forward to racing in the 96 degree heat which is in the forecast for Sunday.

Jarrod's Olympic prep in South Korea has been going great from what I hear. He's ready to have a big race! I'm so excited to watch the Olympic triathlon. The swimming has certainly been exciting lately, too. But anyway, here's photo of Jarrod in between two basketball players you may know ;)

Next, I received some bad news last week. I have a pretty bad case of plantar fasciitis in my left foot. I've been suffering with foot pain ever since my race in Turkey on June 29th, when I rode the whole bike leg with only one shoe strap tightened down. This caused an incredible strain on my arch. Racing on it the next 2 weekends in a row did not allow it anytime to heal, so it became increasingly unhappy. Even taking a week off after those races did not help it get better. I thought it was just chronic soreness in my arch, but I saw the podiatrist last week and he was positive I had aggravated my plantar fasca, a ligament that runs across the bottom of my foot. So that sucks. The thing about plantar fasciitis is that unless you spend a ton of time actively rehabbing it, it will not get better. Rest alone is not enough. Luckily I've been working with a chiropractor, massage therapist, physical therapist, and podiatrist to come up with a multi-factorial plan to get this to heal fast.

The Cure

Soooooo here's what I'm doing. I frequently get ultrasound, massage, and my arch taped in a favorable position at PT. I was also forced to purchase a pair of crocs that I am supposed to walk around in instead of going barefoot, so I wear them around the house all the time. I use a few implements to roll out the bottom of my foot hence loosening up my plantar fasca. And finally, I have a boot (look familiar Mikey O?) that I wear at night. Out of everything, the boot is working the best. I wore it all night for the first time last night and when I woke up my foot felt very happy. So I'm taking the boot with me to Canada. I hope boots are allowed there.

Here are some nice views I found while riding out in Harvard, MA. The weather has been so crazy here that it seems I'm racing to get back home due to unexpected thunderstorms everyday.

Can you see the rainbow?

I was riding 65 mph on my bike!