My feet peas
Yesterday when I was out with some friends watching baseball, somehow the topic of my achilles injury has come up, and I mentioned that I have a couple of bags of frozen peas (one at work and one at home) that I use as regular icing devices to treat the achilles tendonitis that I developed before (and during) my half marathon in October... they retain their shape and evenly distribute the cold - they are wonderful! Yes, I in fact have a bag of ORGANIC peas that a friend gave me when I had my miniscus surgery that still serves as a therapy pack to this day. They are, as my friend mentioned: my "feet peas." I think I'm going to keep that saying.
I haven't run since my 1/2 marathon, and I have to tell you that it's driving me a little crazy. I don't really enjoy stationary workouts, and without running this hasn't made my cardio workouts as much fun (except for spin, but that's mainly because of the music). Unfortunately, achilles injuries are pesky little things... that tendon doesn't get a lot of blood flow, so the healing process is really slow. It was pretty knotted up after the LA Rock & Roll, and 6 months later I'm still not quite sure I need to be out on it yet. It's frustrating, especially because the best running months are going on right now.
This is an injury that is mostly a "rest and give it time" thing, but I did go see a foot doctor a few weeks ago to check it out and make sure that there's not something else going on. Praise God that it's "just tendonitis" - which means, rest and ice, rest and ice. Dr. Peebles was great. He told me to wear these heel lifts on my shoes, get a deep tissue massage once a week to get the blood flow going (which hurts like HECK!), stretch like a runner (and it doesn't hurt anymore! Yay!), and ice about 5 times a day (with my feet peas).
That visit to "Dr. Peebs" gave me confidence that things were going to get better and I need to trust the process. It means that I just need to be patient... and patience is not my thing but God keeps drilling that lesson into me anyways :). And... it's kept the feet peas in my freezer... trust me, they will never get served at a dinner event. That's just gross.
I'm pretty active though... achilles tendonitis didn't really slow that down, it just kept me from running. And with spring in play I've really wanted to wear my sandals and walk barefoot more, and have until about 3 days ago. I felt like, when I'd get up and about in my condo that after a while of walking barefoot my ankle would get sore. Last Friday I went to this worship event at a friend's studio and had to walk barefoot at this pilates studio the event was being held at, and in my frustration found the padded part of the room to walk in and felt a lot better. Somehow in that moment, I thought to myself, "perhaps this advice that Dr. Peebles gave me to use the heel lifts wasn't just for when I was wearing my shoes, perhaps it was for always."
So from then on I've stopped going barefoot, and started wearing my running shoes with the heel lifts in them... in fact, I put them on when I am walking to and from the freezer to get my feet peas. And you know what, I've felt like I've been moving forward... sure it's inconvenient to have to find my shoes whenever I want to walk inside my own house, but I am somehow now convinced that if I trust the doctor and do what he says then I will reap the benefits of the advice that I (and my insurance) am paying him to provide. And you know what, it's working.
Come to think of it, if we trust God with our lives and believe Jesus holds the key to eternal and "right now" life (as I wholeheartedly do), why would I not do the same thing with the commands he gives us? It's been cool to listen to Andy & Jeff talk about these "Life Apps" over the last couple of weeks at Buckhead Church, and think to myself that "Yes, by being obedient to God in these things, my life would be so much better" - much as my achilles will be much better if I ice them with my feet peas. If the feet peas stay in the freezer, they are not doing me much good. If the heel lifts never go into my shoes, they aren't doing me much good. If I don't put the shoes with the heel lifts on my feet when I walk, they aren't doing me much good. Likewise, if I read God's word and don't do what it says, it's not really doing me any good.
So, will I treat God's commands like my feet peas and let it work out in my life? My achilles is getting better. I think my life could perhaps use a few spiritual feet peas of its own.
I haven't run since my 1/2 marathon, and I have to tell you that it's driving me a little crazy. I don't really enjoy stationary workouts, and without running this hasn't made my cardio workouts as much fun (except for spin, but that's mainly because of the music). Unfortunately, achilles injuries are pesky little things... that tendon doesn't get a lot of blood flow, so the healing process is really slow. It was pretty knotted up after the LA Rock & Roll, and 6 months later I'm still not quite sure I need to be out on it yet. It's frustrating, especially because the best running months are going on right now.
This is an injury that is mostly a "rest and give it time" thing, but I did go see a foot doctor a few weeks ago to check it out and make sure that there's not something else going on. Praise God that it's "just tendonitis" - which means, rest and ice, rest and ice. Dr. Peebles was great. He told me to wear these heel lifts on my shoes, get a deep tissue massage once a week to get the blood flow going (which hurts like HECK!), stretch like a runner (and it doesn't hurt anymore! Yay!), and ice about 5 times a day (with my feet peas).
That visit to "Dr. Peebs" gave me confidence that things were going to get better and I need to trust the process. It means that I just need to be patient... and patience is not my thing but God keeps drilling that lesson into me anyways :). And... it's kept the feet peas in my freezer... trust me, they will never get served at a dinner event. That's just gross.
I'm pretty active though... achilles tendonitis didn't really slow that down, it just kept me from running. And with spring in play I've really wanted to wear my sandals and walk barefoot more, and have until about 3 days ago. I felt like, when I'd get up and about in my condo that after a while of walking barefoot my ankle would get sore. Last Friday I went to this worship event at a friend's studio and had to walk barefoot at this pilates studio the event was being held at, and in my frustration found the padded part of the room to walk in and felt a lot better. Somehow in that moment, I thought to myself, "perhaps this advice that Dr. Peebles gave me to use the heel lifts wasn't just for when I was wearing my shoes, perhaps it was for always."
So from then on I've stopped going barefoot, and started wearing my running shoes with the heel lifts in them... in fact, I put them on when I am walking to and from the freezer to get my feet peas. And you know what, I've felt like I've been moving forward... sure it's inconvenient to have to find my shoes whenever I want to walk inside my own house, but I am somehow now convinced that if I trust the doctor and do what he says then I will reap the benefits of the advice that I (and my insurance) am paying him to provide. And you know what, it's working.
Come to think of it, if we trust God with our lives and believe Jesus holds the key to eternal and "right now" life (as I wholeheartedly do), why would I not do the same thing with the commands he gives us? It's been cool to listen to Andy & Jeff talk about these "Life Apps" over the last couple of weeks at Buckhead Church, and think to myself that "Yes, by being obedient to God in these things, my life would be so much better" - much as my achilles will be much better if I ice them with my feet peas. If the feet peas stay in the freezer, they are not doing me much good. If the heel lifts never go into my shoes, they aren't doing me much good. If I don't put the shoes with the heel lifts on my feet when I walk, they aren't doing me much good. Likewise, if I read God's word and don't do what it says, it's not really doing me any good.
So, will I treat God's commands like my feet peas and let it work out in my life? My achilles is getting better. I think my life could perhaps use a few spiritual feet peas of its own.
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