I’m building my fitness back up and since some of the exercise goals that I have for 2025 aren’t until later in the year I thought now would be a good time for a little update.

Also, after a stretch of intermittent exercising over the holidays, the past six weeks have been very consistent and I am feeling great right now.

For those of you who don’t know, after the New York City Marathon I saw a foot doctor and he said I had a touch of plantar fasciitis.

It actually, I think, dates back to last May. I think that was when I first felt it, during that unseasonably cold half marathon that I ran (great run, for what that’s worth) - but, without treating it, all of the training for New York and then the marathon itself kind of aggravated what I initially felt.

I was prescribed some anti-inflammatories and given some stretching ideas and improvement would kind of come and go.

But the big thing was - at that time, late November into December - I wasn’t really doing any exercise at all. (I did some stationary bike and strength workouts through December, but nothing terribly intense.)

Fast forward to 2025, and I’ve been building my fitness back up.

I’m running pretty consistently - sometimes longer runs outside, but moreso on the treadmill most days, building my mileage back up. And that’s been good - I’m messing around with which sneakers feel best for me on runs. I had one painful run outside and I think I know which sneakers are my best bet for the upcoming Chicago training this summer.

But the most important thing, I’ve found, is the strength.

When I do deadlifts and squats and lunges, my foot feels great.

I won’t get into the science of it all with you (because I don’t understand it all well enough to explain it anyway), but the plantar in my foot feels worse when it’s tightest.

Hey, it’s Captain America week so why not make a Captain America reference - there’s a scene in the first ‘Avengers’ movie where Steve Rogers asks Bruce Banner how he manages his anger so he doesn’t turn into the Hulk. Eventually, he’s about to turn into the Hulk and he says, “That’s my secret, Cap. I’m always angry.”

So, with my foot - that’s kind of the secret. Don’t let my foot get tight. Keep it loose at all times.

The tightness sets in overnight - that’s when it’s idle.

So I try to balance resting my foot during the day, making sure I do the assigned stretches every so often, and working it out consistently. And for the most part, I’ve been staying ahead of the tightness. Sometimes I’ll do some deadlifts when it starts to hurt, and it helps.

“That’s my secret Cap. It’s always loose.”

Speaking of - I mentioned this on Instagram but I don’t think I posted about it here at all - Peloton had a collection of classes called the Train Like A Superhero Challenge. It was a joint promotion with Marvel in anticipation of the new Captain America movie, and to be honest, I thought it would be better than it was.

It was just a curated group of strength workouts, and then they threw in a bike ride that Anthony Mackie did with one of the instructors.

I was hoping maybe it would be like a mock workout regimen that would make me an Avenger. I don’t know. There’s probably legal reasons they didn’t say “Do this and you can be a superhero” like when we were kids and our Superman pajamas came with a velcro cape and a warning that the cape wouldn’t make you fly.

Anyway, I completed the challenge and got that gold shield medal in my Peloton collection that you see pictured at the top of the page. So it wasn’t all bad. That thing is still very cool.

Also, maybe it’s a good thing every workout didn’t have Anthony Mackie - that bike ride kind of kicked my butt.

So, here we are. I’m happy with where I’m at with my fitness level heading into the February home stretch.

I have a 5k next month that I just signed up for, and then the BAA 5k in April.

I have plenty of time to keep building up for the Chicago training - that won’t be until July. But with these races on the horizon, it’ll be good to actually have events in which I can start putting that fitness to the test.

And to make sure I’m keeping that plantar from tightening up.