Pushing it.

What I'm thinking:

 When we went on our vacation at the beginning of June, my then-13-year-old son ziplined across the Royal Gorge.

Yes. I put my baby boy's life in the hands of random strangers running a ride and paid them for the privilege.

While we were waiting for him to get all strapped in, his dad asked, "Are you scared at all?"

And my son looked at us and said, "YOLO, right?"


So I've been thinking about this whole Houston Marathon thing. About my goals and about what it will take to get there.

And I've decided YOLO. Why stop at a goal of 4 hours and 30 minutes, when I can push and do less than 4?

I was always, always, always told that if I was going to do something, I might as well as do the best I can. I tell my kids this all the time.

I can do better than my last marathon time of 5:28:whatever. I can do better than my previous time of 4:58:whatever. I can do better than 4:30.

So why not do it?

There it is. I've made it Internet-official: I am going to work toward a sub-4-hour marathon.

Will I get it? That's a different story. If "want-to" is any indicator, then absolutely!

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How I'm feeling:

Plantar fascitis update: It still hurts sometimes. Not bad enough for me to give up my high heels or my running, though.

I do four exercises every night, and then wear the splint all night and while I sleep. I ordered a Strassburg sock, but I didn't like it. It put too much pressure on my ankle, it felt like, and when I loosened the strap, it felt like the stretch on my foot wasn't as good.

I'm used to the splint now. I've even found a pair of socks that fit right underneath it, which is key since I'm always freezing in my house.

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What I'm watching:

Somehow, some way, I got mixed up in watching videos on YouTube of Ironman finishers.

(Not that I'm thinking of doing one of those. No. Way. Zero. Zip. Zilch.)

So, mixed among the triumphant videos of people crossing the finish lines, hands held up in victory and relief, are videos of people whose bodies shut completely down with a mile or less left.

Y'all. It is painful to watch. There's one that I saw of two women -- and these are people who prepared and trained and are in great shape -- who literally kept falling down. They'd get up, stumble three steps and fall right back down. Near the end, they were both crawling to the finish line.

It was horrifying.

I can't stop watching it.

(Ugh. What does that say about me?)

Shopping spree.

So this weekend, I bought...

Some of these...

 Some of these...

And one of these...

Yep, I have plantar fascitis. A week or so ago, I felt some bruising on the side of my left heel. I thought that's what it was...a bruise. When I didn't see anything and it didn't go away, I started doing some research. My sister-in-law, who is a physical therapist, was in town this past weekend, and I talked to her about it.

Yep. Pretty much textbook.

The culprit? Well, I'm sure pounding the pavement seven days a week doesn't help. But also? I ran in the same pair of shoes for almost 500 miles. I didn't mean to, and the crazy thing is that I had a new pair of running shoes just waiting for me in my closet. But I've been busy, and since I didn't run much that week we were on vacation, I didn't think I'd be close to 500 miles.

Luckily, the treatment for plantar fascitis isn't too difficult. I Googled and found some exercises I can do (picking up marbles with my toes is one; rolling a tennis ball on the bottom of my foot is another). I also bought a splint to wear at night while I'm sleeping. It keeps my foot in a slight upward position to stretch out that ligament on the bottom of my foot. I slept OK with it on for most of last night, although around 4 a.m., I took it off because it was bothering me too much.

Another thing you're supposed to do when suffering with plantar fascitis is rest. You all know how I feel about that, so that will be my last-ditch effort if it doesn't improve.