Being a Healthy Bear

I had a doctors appointment today as a follow-up to some foot pain that I have been experiencing. I thought that I needed new running new shoes and that the pain would subside, but when it didn't I went to see my doctor a couple of weeks ago. It turns out the pain that I have been experiencing is plantar fasciitis. Apparently, this is something common among runners, I have never considered myself a runner but I have been training and doing more running, so I guess I am. From the Mayo Clinic website:

Most commonly, heel pain is caused by inflammation of the plantar fascia — the tissue along the bottom of your foot that connects your heel bone to your toes. The condition is called plantar fasciitis (PLAN-tur fas-e-I-tis).

Plantar fasciitis causes stabbing or burning pain that's usually worse in the morning because the fascia tightens (contracts) overnight. Once your foot limbers up, the pain of plantar fasciitis normally decreases, but it may return after long periods of standing or after getting up from a seated position.

In most cases, you can overcome the pain of plantar fasciitis without surgery or other invasive treatments. And you can take steps to prevent plantar fasciitis from recurring.

That totally describes the pain I experience, I only experience the pain in the mornings and then it goes away. Fortunately, I can continue to train for my triathlon and my regular physical activities. There are stretches that I can do to help treat it.



I also had blood work done and I am quite healthy. My cholesterol is healthy on all aspects, which is wonderful news for me. Both my parents have high cholesterol and my daddy has heart disease (neither of my parents are heavy people nor do they eat badly). So there is the hereditary component that I have to worry about, plus when I was in high school I had high cholesterol, which I lowered with a low sodium diet. So it has always been very important for me to watch my diet and exercise in order to keep my cholesterol down and my heart healthy since I have a history and genes working against me. Eating healthy and exercise has really paid off. Going over my results with my doctor, she went through all the numbers and told me what they mean and praised me for having such great numbers. I workout 5-6 days a week and I try to eat healthy, so it is nice to see some results from my efforts. On top of that I lost a few pounds from the last visit I had just a few weeks ago. That was a nice little bonus, even though I have not been focusing on losing weight.