Running with plantar fasciitis

After not running for 2 weeks, and then taking it easy (read falling off the exercise wagon), my plantar fasciitis has decided not to go away, instead, it likes it's new home.

I've been researching how to heal PF and I get two differing ideas. The first is to give up running. Well, that's not going to happen if I want to get this weight off, so option two is to stretch, stretch, stretch.  Option two it is. 

Remember last time I said I made a commitment that will force (motivate?) me to run regularly?  Well, I've committed to running the Chicago 1/2 Marathon in May with my friend Jessica!

Jessica and I haven't seen each other in about 5 years.  We met each other when our husbands were both in the Army and in the same unit. I had decided to go back to school for a degree that would actually get me a job.  She was already a year into the program that I was starting. 

When I met her, it was at a unit meeting, and I thought she was shy. That couldn't have been farther from the truth. She was outgoing once she knew someone, and best of all...she was fun!  We ended up having a ton in common. We're both self professed nerds who love numbers and math, and have similar OCD tendencies. We also both had an enormous love for (read addiction) Starbucks!  As moms of toddlers, more than full time students (20+ credit hours!), whose husbands were deployed, Starbucks (and each other) were our lifeline. 

Five years ago when I would ask Jessica to run with me, she would always joke that she didn't run unless someone was chasing her. Something happened last year though. I don't know what it was, but she gave up smoking...and Starbucks...and she started the Couch 2 5K program!  She's done VERY well with the program...and she's FAST!  As a beginner, she's running close to a 10 min/mile. I can only imagine how fast she's going to be. 

In order to stay motivated to run through the winter, she's signed up for two 5Ks. One of her 5K's is the same day I'm running the Chicago Hot Chocolate run with my daughter, November 3rd.  She wanted to schedule a race every month during the winter, to motivate her to run through the winter months.  I suggested she run a Half Marathon with me.  One that was a destination, so we could travel to it, stay in a hotel, have a girl's weekend, get massages after the race, and eat GOOD sushi!  Jessica is the one that got me to like sushi, and I've been in love with it every since.

We both got on the computer and started looking at Half Marathons online.  We wanted one in the spring before it got too hot, and one that was relatively flat.  Both of us live in parts of the U.S. where there aren't hills to train on, so we didn't want to kill ourselves on race day; having not prepared for hills.  We decided on Chicago.  I wrote out a training plan, and we start training the week after our November 5k.  We're both very excited and hope that it will keep us running through the winter.