Running. Part 2?

So here is the update on the running situation. I ended up signing up for the 5k in the Mankato Marathon. I've been running about half as much as I was before my foot started bothering me. I have plantar faciitis. It's a lot better than it was when it first starting hurting, but I still can't run as much as I'd like. I ran 3.5 miles and at the very end my foot started to hurt. A couple days later I ran 5.5 and it was fine the whole time. A couple days after that I ran 3.5 and it hurt again. Then I ran 2.5 and it really hurt. Today I ran 3.5 and it was basically ok. I haven't figured out exactly if there is something in particular that makes it hurt during the run. I've run different routes with different shoes at different times with different amounts of rest time between the runs. I can't find any correlation, so I think I just need to keep doing the stretches the doc told me to do and take it easy. But I figured since I can run the distance, I might as well sign up for the 5k. Come cheer me on if you want. I don't anticipate finishing with any impressive time. I'm just doing it for fun. But a cheer squad would be neat.

In other news, my motorcycle is presenting me with another opportunity to learn how to fix something. A couple days ago my odometer and speedometer stopped working. I've done a little research, but haven't been able to pinpoint exactly what I will need to fix/replace to make it work again. In the meantime I don't really want to ride it because I want to keep the mileage on the odometer accurate. I'm not too worried about the speed limit stuff since I could just follow traffic and use the tachometer as a reference, but I'd really prefer to keep the mileage accurate for when I sell the bike and don't want to feel like I'm lying about how many miles are on it. Hopefully I can figure it out how to fix it without too much hassle or cost.

Food and Running

Recently I've been on a kick where I have actually been making my self some real meals. I kind of got lazy when I moved into my new place and didn't have a kitchen for a couple weeks. I had to make microwavable meals and sandwiches for a couple weeks and I just sort of stayed there. This past week I started making big kids meals. It's been kind of nice, but except for the part where I eat the same things for three days because I haven't figured out how to cook for one yet.

I started with and Asian cashew chicken sort of meal. Basically I just cooked some chicken, added garlic, cashews, carrots, broccoli, green pepper, soy sauce, and teryaki sauce. Add some rice and an egg roll on the side. I made this a week later for a couple friends because it was so yummy.

Then I made something along the lines of a Sante Fe chicken pasta. I got this lawry's marinade which is where the Santa Fe part comes in. Pasta sauce, tomatoes, penne noodles, garlic, crushed red peppers, and Parmesan cheese.

Then I made some goulash which I think is relatively self explainable.  Today I made some corn pancakes. I got the recipe for this from a cooking magazine (the rest were all just random stuff I threw together myself). It basically consisted of flour, corn, corn meal, milk, and eggs. They were a little weird, but not bad. The original recipe called for salmon to go on top, but I didn't want to pay that much and I don't like sea food. They could have done with some sort of meat though. Just plain corn pancakes were a little boring.... also, I'm not sure why this stupid picture won't face the right direction.

In other news, I was thinking about signing up to run either the 5k or the 10k OR BOTH for the Mankato Marathon weekend thing. Unfortunately my foot is being ridiculous and stupid and painful, so I'm not sure what my running abilities will be like this next few days/weeks/(god forbid) months. I'm hoping it's a fluke thing that will magically feel better tomorrow, but I'm not super optimist about it. I bought some gel inserts and have been taking ibuprofen for anti-inflammatory purposes, and have been icing and massaging it a lot. The past month or so I've been pretty consistently running 3.5 miles 5-6 times a week. I ran 5 miles yesterday and never had any problems with my foot/heel hurting. Then I got up after watching some TV several hours after the run and my heel throbbed with every step. Hopefully a couple more days of rest, icing, and massage will cure it. Because dammit, I want to run those races.