The Green Girl's Floppy Foot and Camera Woes

Now that the Green Girl has finally worked out the shoe situation and is ready to start ramping up the mileage, she decided to visit her doctor to get her foot checked out this weekend.

He started me off with some transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy and ultrasound on my right foot.

He compared my leg lengths. He lifted my ankles and shook my feet.

He commented that my right foot is much looser than the other and diagnosed me with a 'floppy foot'. He explained floppy feet are very loose-jointed, overly mobile, and have a tendancy to overpronate.

He examined my 1012's and agreed that a stable, supportive shoe is what I need.

He recommended I start doing isometric exercises on a daily basis. These static strength training exercises are performed by contracting a muscle against resistance, without joint movement.

I'm just relieved the isometric exercises can be done in conjunction with the posterior tibial tendonitis exercises.

In other Green Girl news, my beloved Canon SD700IS has seen better days. It struggles to focus and I keep ending up with blurred images. The pictures are also either too dark or so bright that the colors are washed out.

I was trying to hold out for the Canon PowerShot SD4000IS coming out at the end of this month but the initial reviews are not impressive.

Now, I'm seriously considering getting a Canon PowerShot S90.

As long as the camera takes incredible pictures and fits in my hydration belt pocket, I should be a happy Green Girl.

The Green Girl's Ultimate Workout Log

The Green Girl's friend, Snowboarding Buddy, took her out to her favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Compadres, for a belated birthday dinner last night.

She surprised me with a Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown DVD and The Ultimate Workout Log: An Exercise Diary for Everyone.

After my falling out with yoga, I was really excited to receive the video from Jillian Michaels. I'm a huge fan and I'm anxious to see her take on yoga - especially because I know flexibility is not her forté.

As we waited for our food to arrive, I flipped through the workout log book. When I realized it was a 24 week I marveled at the fortuitousness - if I start journaling next Monday, it's exactly 24 weeks until the Athens Marathon.

The book starts off with some basic guidelines and suggestions for using the log. It also includes inspirational quotes, fitness trivia, and other tidbits of information.

When I got home last night, I started off with my goal identification for the next six months:

1. Stay healthy
2. Strengthen right foot
3. Complete Athens Marathon

I skipped the 'Cardio Exercise Goals' section because I am not concerned about that. My goals are to do the exercises for posterior tibial tendonitis at least three times per week, consume at least 30% of my diet in protein each day, and decrease my acidity.

Once I set my goals, I started marking the date ranges for each week. Week 24 ends on October 31st - the day of the Athens Marathon.

I'm really looking forward to recording my marathon training. I believe this journal will really help me extrapolate from my training exactly what I will need to finish strong in Athens.

The Green Girl's Exercises For Posterior Tibial Tendonitis

After the Green Girl was diagnosed with posterior tibial tendonitis, she made an appointment at Medcessity for some physical therapy.

I had worked with another therapist at Medcessity a couple of years ago when I injured my right wrist and ended up with a bad case of tendonitis. After working with him for a couple of months, I was thrilled with the results - I was able to punch bags right after my last session. I was instructed by the orthopedic surgeron to always duct tape the wrist to prevent re-injury so I religiously tape my wrist over my wraps when I kickbox.

Here are the exercises the physical therapist recommended for my posterior tibial tendonitis:

1. Ankle/Foot Gastroc Stretch
   
   
   
   
2. Gluteal Planks
   
   
   
   
   This one doubles as a core builder so you can work on your six-pack while you strengthen your posterior tibial tendon.
   
   
3. Pronation/Supination Exercise
   
   
   
   
   This was the hardest one for me. He had me twist my upper body back and forth and then he told me to mimic that movement that the arches of my feet makes when I twist but without the twist.
   
   
4. Dynamic Balance Exercise
   
   
   

He also recommended going on a treadmill backwards for 2-3 minutes at a time and also 'grapevining'. The grapevining was difficult for me because I'm really uncoordinated and I kept kicking my other foot. Since I also suffer from plantar fasciitis, he recommended I do self plantar fascia massage. I do that on a regular basis using the Foot Wheel that Rad Runner Girl gave me for Christmas.

My plantar fasciitis manifests itself as an intense, burning pain in my arches. The problem with this is that it's hard for me to differentiate the plantar fascia pain from the posterior tibial tendon pain.

The Green Girl Dreams of Running

The Green Girl had the best dream the other night. I was running and running. Really fast. I could feel the wind blowing through my hair. I felt so free.

The best part of all was that my ankle didn't hurt at all.

I ran across some strengthening exercises I can do while I'm sitting in my cubicle at work. I hope they help. My calves are really tight lately. I keep stretching them but it doesn't seem to help.