OFFICIAL Eat Right & Get Fit Challenge

[Sabo]

Put as simply as possible, the back of my ankle, above my heel, hurts. It’s worse if I try to bend the front of my foot up than bend it down.

I, unfortunately, have been dealing with this for about a year. More when I have some time to write it all up. Nothing torn but inflammation and scar tissue. Had a non surgical procedure which helped but may have to have it done again.

Getting old is bullshit guys

Better than the alternative.

[phxgators]

Put as simply as possible, the back of my ankle, above my heel, hurts. It’s worse if I try to bend the front of my foot up than bend it down.

I, unfortunately, have been dealing with this for about a year. More when I have some time to write it all up. Nothing torn but inflammation and scar tissue. Had a non surgical procedure which helped but may have to have it done again.

Getting old is bullshit guys

Truth.

So back in the late summer of '23, I started having some pain in the outside of my right calf. I tried to power through it, until one day on the treadmill I took the first couple of steps and just said nope. I had been trying to stretch out my calf over a couple of weeks with no success, and had noticed some... hard to describe... crinkling pain on the back of my heel at the base of my achilles when I did calf stretches. Or when I pulled the fornt my my foot back. So off to the the doc.

He did some ultrasounding and found that what had likely happened is that I sprained my ATFL (ligament that goes under the ankle bone on the outside of the foot) probably stepping of a curb funny, then I unknowingly compensated which caused another injury (I forgot which tendon/ligament), then started affecting my achilles. The scar tissue/pain there started causing tightness in my calf.

So I did PT and wore a brace to stabilize my ankle for months, minimally helpful. Finally did end up doing a needle fenestration/PRP therapy. This was... frankly a 0/10 experience, but I would recommend it and may go through it again. The doc took a tiny needle, broke up the scar tissue in the achilles. Then injected my previously harvested platelets into the gaps where the scar tissue was to help speed up the healing. None of this was pleasant. He recommended bringing headphones and blasting music to get through it. The PA kept checking to make sure I hadn't passed out. Easily the most pain I've ever experienced going the the multiple injections.

Recovery was 1 week with a walker (seriously), another week in a boot. Then 4 weeks of PT where I didn't do anything other than get worked on. Another 4 weeks of rebuilding strength, then I could do light/minimal walking exercise. Another 4 weeks of strength building, then I was cleared to very gradually start running again.

I kept doing PT a little longer, and it was about this time I realized I had numbness on the back of my foot. About where all this fun had been going on. Did a nerve test, found it was just surface numbness so nothing too serious. Doc took another look and found that I still have inflammation and scar tissue around my ATFL (which he thinks is pressing on a nerve) and recommended going through all this again but on my ATFL this time.. In the meantime he said I could run but should wear my brace. But I wouldn't be able to avoid problems eventually.

I kept working with PT, he put my in light arch support and eventually cleared me to run without the brace.

Things were going great. I slowed way down on the treadmill, but I have never run for competition, it's something I toyed with later in life and started taking more seriously when I quit drinking a few years ago. So rather than push myself with speed, I started looking more at distance. I used to run 5mi/3mi/5/3/5 during the week before all this. I gradually got to 6/4/6/4/6, then worked my way to 6/6/6/6/6. And a couple miles each weekend day. Then started doing longer distances, getting to ~9 before our Christmas vacation and had loosely set a goal for a half marathon on the treadmill on MLK day.

But then late last year I started having some foot pain that I'm nearly certain is my ATFL being angry. Braced up and kept going. Started getting pain on the inside of my calf this time. Took a 2 week break for our vacation (though did 6-8 miles of walking most days). Came back, braced up again and tried running and made it about a week before giving up.

Since then, I've been walking up to 5 miles a morning at a pretty decent pace and the pain has pretty much gone away. I'm going to give a couple more weeks and maybe try to slowly add a little running in. I don't have my hopes up though. For various reasons, it's not a good time to voluntarily go through 2 weeks+ of being pretty much homebound then go through the 2x weekly PT appts for a while. So I may be stuck with walking for a while.

I really, really want to be able to run again. I lost over 50 pounds dating back to the summer of 2020 through running and diet change. I'd never felt in better shape. And my cholesterol has come down to the green zone which, given stress at work and my family history, is something I am incredibly grateful for. But it's more than that, it has helped me mentally more than I ever realized.

I talked to my regular doc last visit about my suspected ADHD. She said we could get it diagnosed, but didn't want to have me go on stimulants given my family history. And exercise would be the best. I laughed, because one of the examples she specifically mentioned as something that might be caused by ADHD was leaving the garage door open when coming home at night. I laughed, because I realized I had done that repeatedly, driving my wife nuts, and it was when I wasn't able to run.

Looooong story, sorry. I went through all that, it sucked, but will likely do it again at some point to try to finally put this all behind me.

Hope your journey is better/faster.

[rass]

Aw fuck PHX. I hope this works out for you, and as quickly as possible.

Pretty sure I was a little more mentally reliant on the routine of running back in 2020/21 than I am now, but I think I understand how you feel.

[EdRomero]

That's awful but great job sticking with it and adjusting. I would have retired to the couch . Hell, getting every head cold in the world this winter is destroying my motivation.

[mister d]

That sounds awful and I'm going to be thinking about the needles all day.

[The Sybian]

That's awful but great job sticking with it and adjusting. I would have retired to the couch . Hell, getting every head cold in the world this winter is destroying my motivation.

Yeah, reading that I kept thinking it vindicated my refusal to run. I do run on a treadmill, but road running hurts my knees, ankles and now hips. Hope it all works out PHX, must be incredibly frustrating.

[govmentchedda]

Good luck, bud.

[phxgators]

Thanks all. It’ll be fine. It is funny how my attitude towards running has changed over time from “I don’t like running but like having run” to where I look forward to it. Probably, as cheesy as it sounds, having to give it up for injury and then being able to come back made me appreciate it more.

All in all my issues could be far worse, so can’t complain too much.

[sancarlos]

Damn, phx. Just read this. Good luck.

[garyclark]

Thanks for sharing, phx. That's rough.

I hope walking can help your mental state. It did for me.

[govmentchedda]

High fived Meb Keflezghi today at mile 12 of the Gasparilla half marathon. *Post-COVID PR for ya boi, 1:53:56.

[garyclark]

High fived Meb Keflezghi today at mile 12 of the Gasparilla half marathon. *Post-COVID PR for ya boi, 1:53:56.

Wow. Nice time!

[govmentchedda]

High fived Meb Keflezghi today at mile 12 of the Gasparilla half marathon. *Post-COVID PR for ya boi, 1:53:56.

Wow. Nice time!

Thanks! I'm fucking exhausted.

[rass]

Yeah man you were truckin’ great work

[govmentchedda]

Gorgeous day for it. A lot of my crew PR'ed. That distance is such a beast. I can't imagine what a full is like. I've resigned myself to the fact that 13.1 is very likely the longest I'm ever going.

[phxgators]

Gorgeous day for it. A lot of my crew PR'ed. That distance is such a beast. I can't imagine what a full is like. I've resigned myself to the fact that 13.1 is very likely the longest I'm ever going.

Wow, I can’t imagine that pace for that long. Congrats!

[sancarlos]

Great job, Chedds.

I managed to lose about 8 pounds in a week. All I had to do was get covid/flu! But that’s over now, so now the challenge will be keeping it off. Going to see my parents on Tuesday and running their gauntlet of butter, sugar and fat.

[tennbengal]

Holy shit, chedda, congrats.

[govmentchedda]

Holy shit, chedda, congrats.

Thanks, bud.

[Giff]

Gorgeous day for it. A lot of my crew PR'ed. That distance is such a beast. I can't imagine what a full is like. I've resigned myself to the fact that 13.1 is very likely the longest I'm ever going.

That’s great man!

[govmentchedda]

Gorgeous day for it. A lot of my crew PR'ed. That distance is such a beast. I can't imagine what a full is like. I've resigned myself to the fact that 13.1 is very likely the longest I'm ever going.

That’s great man!

Thanks!

[EdRomero]

Sunday I did a really tough 30k. It's a Boston Marathon warmup apparantly for really good runners because I was one of the slowest runners. Next, I need to find a 5k with a lot of first time runners.

Then last night on a recovery run, I took my worst spill, landing hard on the sidewalk. Bruised knee and right side, bad scratches on palms, and I broke my headlamp (not during the fall). Supposed to do a 19k on Saturday that ends at brewery; might skip the first part. Second fall in 9 months; I gotta figure out how to stop doing that.

So I tried this run again and it was a total disaster.Stomach cramps starting at mile 9, which I never had before, and it hurt to run even downhill after. I did an 18 mile run the week before which was probably a mistake but it was so long since I did a long run and I wanted to make sure I could do it. It was supposed to be cloudy and raining but turned out to be in the low 60s and very sunny --I focused on nutrition rather than hydration, which, surprise surprise was a mistake. So now I'm drinking too much gin and don't know what's next.

The last Stu's race. Been a shitty few months for running and improving fitness, but this years it was 40 degrees cooler (and too windy!) and I ran a smarter race.

[govmentchedda]

Nice!

[Steve of phpBB]

That's great!

[garyclark]

Reading Outlive right now. Anyone familiar with it or have opinions?

[rass]

Nice job romero.

[garyclark]

Nice job romero.

Seriously. Just thinking about running that long makes me tired.

[govmentchedda]

Reading Outlive right now. Anyone familiar with it or have opinions?

Peter Attia, Mark Hyman, Andrew Huberman, James Clear, Rich Roll and the like all seem to be similar to me. I fear they're all one or two moves away from really going full Russell Brand or Joe Rogan. There's so much cross-pollination of their "content", and such a need to feed the content beast to stay relevant, I keep waiting for a shoe to drop with each of them like it has with RB and JR.



*why is it pollination and not pollenation? We're talking about pollen.

[garyclark]

Reading Outlive right now. Anyone familiar with it or have opinions?

Peter Attia, Mark Hyman, Andrew Huberman, James Clear, Rich Roll and the like all seem to be similar to me. I fear they're all one or two moves away from really going full Russell Brand or Joe Rogan. There's so much cross-pollination of their "content", and such a need to feed the content beast to stay relevant, I keep waiting for a shoe to drop with each of them like it has with RB and JR.



*why is it pollination and not pollenation? We're talking about pollen.

I'm only 1/3 of the way through, but I do not understand this correlation at all. So far, Peter Attia seems about as similar to Joe Rogan as he does to Mike Trout or Chance the Rapper or my second cousin or any other random human

[The Sybian]

Reading Outlive right now. Anyone familiar with it or have opinions?

Peter Attia, Mark Hyman, Andrew Huberman, James Clear, Rich Roll and the like all seem to be similar to me. I fear they're all one or two moves away from really going full Russell Brand or Joe Rogan. There's so much cross-pollination of their "content", and such a need to feed the content beast to stay relevant, I keep waiting for a shoe to drop with each of them like it has with RB and JR.



*why is it pollination and not pollenation? We're talking about pollen.

I'm only 1/3 of the way through, but I do not understand this correlation at all. So far, Peter Attia seems about as similar to Joe Rogan as he does to Mike Trout or Chance the Rapper or my second cousin or any other random human

Rogan loves Peter Attia. Had him in a bunch of times and quoted him a lot.

[govmentchedda]

Reading Outlive right now. Anyone familiar with it or have opinions?

Peter Attia, Mark Hyman, Andrew Huberman, James Clear, Rich Roll and the like all seem to be similar to me. I fear they're all one or two moves away from really going full Russell Brand or Joe Rogan. There's so much cross-pollination of their "content", and such a need to feed the content beast to stay relevant, I keep waiting for a shoe to drop with each of them like it has with RB and JR.



*why is it pollination and not pollenation? We're talking about pollen.

I'm only 1/3 of the way through, but I do not understand this correlation at all. So far, Peter Attia seems about as similar to Joe Rogan as he does to Mike Trout or Chance the Rapper or my second cousin or any other random human

Rogan loves Peter Attia. Had him in a bunch of times and quoted him a lot.

Hadn't realized he'd been on Rogan, but this is what I mean. He's part of the class of influencers who have made it big on scientific prowess. I know really nothing of Attia other than the name and general idea that he can be lumped into the group of names I mentioned above. I worry that members of that group could quickly go from "the science says therapy is good for you, to the science says you should kill your children" (or whatever, I couldn't come up with a great example there). I love the White Oak Farms dude and his thoughts on regenerative farming, but that old redneck has been on Rogan A LOT.

[garyclark]

I mean, I don't like Rogan. But Bill Burr was on his show, and he's my favorite comedian. Many other people I like have gone on as well.

The main thing I like about the book so far is his advocacy to not accept the general medical advice of waiting until something is too late to fix. And in mentally thinking about healthspan in addition to lifespan. This is something my current doctor (the best one I've ever had) also advocates.

In terms of actual recommendations, he has basically advised why it's important to exercise more often and in different ways. And in being more aggressive about asking for some tests, and actually understanding what they mean, before the medical establishment recommends them. If he starts telling me not to get vaccinated and wear a tinfoil hat to cure cancer, I'll put the book down.

Is he an advocate for something kooky I'm unaware of.

[govmentchedda]

I mean, I don't like Rogan. But Bill Burr was on his show, and he's my favorite comedian. Many other people I like have gone on as well.

The main thing I like about the book so far is his advocacy to not accept the general medical advice of waiting until something is too late to fix. And in mentally thinking about healthspan in addition to lifespan. This is something my current doctor (the best one I've ever had) also advocates.

In terms of actual recommendations, he has basically advised why it's important to exercise more often and in different ways. And in being more aggressive about asking for some tests, and actually understanding what they mean, before the medical establishment recommends them. If he starts telling me not to get vaccinated and wear a tinfoil hat to cure cancer, I'll put the book down.

Is he an advocate for something kooky I'm unaware of.

I'm not slagging Attia or this book so much as saying he's on a spectrum that includes some folks that have gone a step or two too far. Like Syb, I'm an aspiring member of the GC book club, so if you like it, I may read it.

In fact, I've seen a functional medicine practitioner (Dr. Hyman is kind of the godfather of this field) to try and help me optimize my health. My general practitioner sucks and I felt like I needed a different perspective on a few things.

I've always had high bad cholesterol (hereditary) and have always been very wary of starting statins. My functional medicine practitioner saw some lab work and sent me right to a local cardiologist. I completed their full panel of tests recently, and while I have no calcification, they really want my LDL numbers down so I've started Crestor and Repatha.

[garyclark]

I mean, I don't like Rogan. But Bill Burr was on his show, and he's my favorite comedian. Many other people I like have gone on as well.

The main thing I like about the book so far is his advocacy to not accept the general medical advice of waiting until something is too late to fix. And in mentally thinking about healthspan in addition to lifespan. This is something my current doctor (the best one I've ever had) also advocates.

In terms of actual recommendations, he has basically advised why it's important to exercise more often and in different ways. And in being more aggressive about asking for some tests, and actually understanding what they mean, before the medical establishment recommends them. If he starts telling me not to get vaccinated and wear a tinfoil hat to cure cancer, I'll put the book down.

Is he an advocate for something kooky I'm unaware of.

I'm not slagging Attia or this book so much as saying he's on a spectrum that includes some folks that have gone a step or two too far. Like Syb, I'm an aspiring member of the GC book club, so if you like it, I may read it.

In fact, I've seen a functional medicine practitioner (Dr. Hyman is kind of the godfather of this field) to try and help me optimize my health. My general practitioner sucks and I felt like I needed a different perspective on a few things.

I've always had high bad cholesterol (hereditary) and have always been very wary of starting statins. My functional medicine practitioner saw some lab work and sent me right to a local cardiologist. I completed their full panel of tests recently, and while I have no calcification, they really want my LDL numbers down so I've started Crestor and Repatha.

Super helpful. context. Thanks.

[garyclark]

Question for runners: do you use the MAF method to monitor your heart rate? If so, how strict are you to it? I had never heard of it, but my mother referred to it as she is doing Couch to 5K at age 73 (go Mom!).

This is the definition. I think it's pretty standard:

MAF heart" refers to your "Maximum Aerobic Function" heart rate, which is a specific training zone based on the idea that exercising at a low-intensity heart rate can improve your aerobic capacity and promote fat burning by training your body to use fat as primary fuel; essentially, it's the optimal heart rate for building endurance while minimizing injury risk, typically calculated by subtracting your age from 180

By that definition, I should keep my heart rate below 130. The problem I find is that when I am jogging slowly, not out of breath and barely breaking a sweat, my heart rate is generally at 135-145. Now maybe my heart rate is just that unhealthy, and I shouldn't be running that fast.

But I did some light "internet research" and a lot of running sites seem to swear by it.

[govmentchedda]

Question for runners: do you use the MAF method to monitor your heart rate? If so, how strict are you to it? I had never heard of it, but my mother referred to it as she is doing Couch to 5K at age 73 (go Mom!).

This is the definition. I think it's pretty standard:

MAF heart" refers to your "Maximum Aerobic Function" heart rate, which is a specific training zone based on the idea that exercising at a low-intensity heart rate can improve your aerobic capacity and promote fat burning by training your body to use fat as primary fuel; essentially, it's the optimal heart rate for building endurance while minimizing injury risk, typically calculated by subtracting your age from 180

By that definition, I should keep my heart rate below 130. The problem I find is that when I am jogging slowly, not out of breath and barely breaking a sweat, my heart rate is generally at 135-145. Now maybe my heart rate is just that unhealthy, and I shouldn't be running that fast.

But I did some light "internet research" and a lot of running sites seem to swear by it.

I haven't heard of MAF method, but I do hear runners talking about Zone 2 a decent amount. It sounds similar. I haven't attempted to stay in Zone 2, but I've certainly noticed after the fact that my non-workout runs have stayed in Zone 2, (usually my easy or long runs, where I'm not doing any speedwork).

Anecdotally, 165 bpm or so is about my red line where I feel I need to slow down to get my HR under control, while my wife and other runners can be fine in the 180s. The 180 minus my age would have that at just over 130 for me. Just went and looked and my average heart rate on last weekend's long run (8 miles) was 135. My Garmin said that had a 3.9 aerobic training effect and a 0.2 anaerobic training effect.

[sancarlos]

I've always had high bad cholesterol (hereditary) and have always been very wary of starting statins. My functional medicine practitioner saw some lab work and sent me right to a local cardiologist. I completed their full panel of tests recently, and while I have no calcification, they really want my LDL numbers down so I've started Crestor and Repatha.

Just to clarify I’m understanding you correctly, I assume you know that Crestor is a statin (it’s the brand name for Rosuvastatin).

I pay attention to statins, because after my heart attack in 2018, my cardiologist put me on 80mg/day of Atorvastatin (Lipitor) to keep my (hereditary) cholesterol in line. It is like Drano for my arteries. Luckily I haven’t had side effects.

[govmentchedda]

I've always had high bad cholesterol (hereditary) and have always been very wary of starting statins. My functional medicine practitioner saw some lab work and sent me right to a local cardiologist. I completed their full panel of tests recently, and while I have no calcification, they really want my LDL numbers down so I've started Crestor and Repatha.

Just to clarify I’m understanding you correctly, I assume you know that Crestor is a statin (it’s the brand name for Rosuvastatin).

I pay attention to statins, because after my heart attack in 2018, my cardiologist put me on 80mg/day of Atorvastatin (Lipitor) to keep my (hereditary) cholesterol in line. It is like Drano for my arteries. Luckily I haven’t had side effects.

Yeah, I'm on Crestor now after finally coming around on (i.e. overcoming my fears of) starting a statin. I didn't really trust my GP, but the nudge from the functional medicine practitioner and the discussions with the cardiologist after testing that it's necessary for me was enough to change my ways. Both of my grandfathers ultimately passed away due to cardiovascular issues and my bad cholesterol had always been somewhat elevated. When the cardiologist said to me after looking at my LDL numbers, "This isn't your diet, you could eat just lettuce and your bad cholesterol would still be this high" it finally sunk in that I should do this for my healthspan, fear of unknown side effects of a statin be damned. Happy to report that I've had no side effects.

[Giff]

I've been on Rosuvastatin for a few years and haven't experienced any side effects. My cholesterol has been improved, but I don't stick to any good eating habits for too long. I'm due for another physical in June, so I'm going to try again (for the 80th time) to see what happens if I drastically limit alcohol, fried foods, etc. after my March Madness trip to Lake Charles. With that and spring break next week, no way I'll stick to anything in the meantime.

[Steve of phpBB]

I've been on Rosuvastatin for a few years and haven't experienced any side effects. My cholesterol has been improved, but I don't stick to any good eating habits for too long. I'm due for another physical in June, so I'm going to try again (for the 80th time) to see what happens if I drastically limit alcohol, fried foods, etc. after my March Madness trip to Lake Charles. With that and spring break next week, no way I'll stick to anything in the meantime.

I've been taking Atorvastatin for a few years too. Basically the same story - my cholesterol improved and has stayed in the good range even though my eating habits are terrible.