It's been a long time since my first blog post. I had been planning to post about the ramp up to Boston and how well the training was going, blah, blah, blah. Then I hit a little snag that put my plans into question so I avoided posting about it. You know that saying, you don't miss something until it's gone? While I can assure you I don't take the ability to run and ride for granted, boy, do I ever miss it when it's gone. Such has been the case for the past two months. Here's the scoop.
I have a big year on the schedule with he Boston Marathon in April, Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June, and Ironman Arizona in November. To do all of that, I knew I needed to come into the year fit and healthy. I took much better care of myself through the winter this time instead of doing my usual hibernation cycle and packing on a bunch of weight. Well, I still put on weight, but not so much. Hey, it's progress.
By January, it was all paying off because I had built a great endurance base of slow, long miles and I was feeling confident to start ramping up a bit. I was loosely following the marathon training plan that had helped me qualify for Boston and all was well. I say loosely because it was never my intention to fully "race" Boston. My priority is Coeur d'Alene so I just wanted to have a solid training run in Boston, come out of it without an injury, and finish training strong for the ironman.
January 16 is when the reality of being a 47-year-old athlete smacked me right in the face. Oddly enough, it was January 26, 2011 when I blew out my ankle while training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene that year. Hmm, maybe the universe is trying to tell me something about that race. Or maybe I shouldn't run in January? Nah.
Anyway, I digress. The 16th was my first training run scheduled for marathon pace. That's a faster pace than a normal training run, but it's nothing crazy fast. The run went well and I felt great except for a tiny little "niggle" in my right Achilles' tendon. That's not unusual for me as I get little kinks here and there and they work themselves out with some post run stretching and foam rolling. However, by the time I got dressed for work, it was getting sore and tighter by the minute. So much so that I took a runner's trusted friend, a bag of frozen peas, to work so I could ice it during the day. I was confident this was just a little hiccup and it would resolve quickly with some TLC, just like these kind of things always had.
I decided to take a couple of days off then see how it felt. A half-mile into a slow run on the treadmill it started to hurt again so I shut it down. The general rule of thumb is, if something stops you from running, you're not sore, you're injured. Damn. "Injured" is a word no athlete wants to hear. Ok, time to accept I'll need some time before running again. Let's try biking. Nope, not much better. Another couple of days off, another run attempt. It was a bit better and I lasted longer before it hurt so that was encouraging process. Another couple of days, another bike attempt. Slight improvement, but not much so I shut it down.
After about a week, I could go about daily life without any discomfort at all. It didn't even hurt to press on it, massage it, stand on my toes, etc. so I knew I hadn't done any major damage to it. It was just when I would do anything that included repeatedly pushing off the toe. I figured out pretty quickly it was like when I had patellar tendinitis. In that case, I waited way too long to start treating it and it cost me six months of training. I was determined not to let that happen this time so I got very aggressive with treatment. If that didn't help very soon, it would be off to the doctor and physical therapy, but honestly, I wanted to avoid that.
While I had been down the tendinitis road before (at least that was my diagnosis) and knew how to deal with it, this is where discouragement and a bit of desperation also began to take hold. I was getting antsy and I needed to MOVE.
I could swim as long as I didn't push off the wall hard with the right leg so I began spending more time at the pool, but I needed something else. Hey, let's try the elliptical. Bingo! I could work on that baby with no discomfort and no ill effects after the workout. Yes! The elliptical became my best friend, especially the "open stride" one that is closer to a running motion. I never appreciated it before, but I sure do now.
Fast forward about three weeks. The Achilles was feeling better, but each promising test run ended less than a mile into it. I had hit a plateau so I decided to take almost two weeks off without any attempts at running or biking. Towards the end of that time, I also snagged some extra appointments with my wonderful LMP at
Human Body Works (Olympia area folks, check them out). I get a massage every two weeks anyway, but now it was time to focus on the lower leg. While she had been working it well, this time she pulled out "the tool." I had heard about this torture device from others, but hadn't had the, uh, pleasure of making its acquaintance. It's a small metal thing with all kinds of different angles for really digging into a troubled area. It lived up to its reputation, although in my case it wasn't as bad as it is for people with other injuries, but it was also like magic.
After a few of those appointments and the time off, there it was, the moment I had been waiting for. You know what I mean - storm clouds parting to reveal bright sunbeams, rainbows, angels singing in the air. It was glorious. It was 20 minutes on the treadmill at a pace I would normally be embarrassed by, but it was pain free and felt like a normal run. I could have kissed the treadmill, but that would be gross and would probably send me to the hospital from all of the germs. Why don't people wipe those down properly after they sweat all over them? At that moment though, I might not have cared. You know how you don't realize how far you've strayed away from your normal state until you suddenly feel good and hopeful again? Yeah, that. Walking on clouds and not a care in the world.
Since that day, I've been able to run every other day with no discomfort and no sensation of anything being wrong. I continue to make steady progress in time and distance with runs and rides. Last Sunday, I ran six miles on the treadmill and just about did a backflip when it was time to get off of it. Ok, I don't know how to do a backflip and would wind up in the ER, so we'll call it a virtual backflip. Then on Wednesday this week was another big milestone. The weather was gorgeous so I headed outside in 63 degree weather and ran for 45 smile-filled minutes. I acknowledge I ran gingerly and was constantly waiting for that twinge or tweak, but it never came. Ahhh ... what a day. The day beckoned and I was finally able to answer.
I continue to be very cautious. Runs are slow, I ice, massage, and monitor everything closely. When this first happened, I still had plenty of time to recover and prepare for the ironman, but my margin for error is gone now. While I've been following my ironman training plan as much as possible, I've had to do only percentages of distance and effort, except for swimming. That's the bright spot in all of this. My swimming has improved a great deal and now I actually look forward to it.
So what's next? Well, this week, so far, I've been able to do the full load of work on the ironman plan, except where I still substitute some elliptical for some running. I can bike as expected now. In fact, today is a four hour ride and I've spent the first two of it writing this post. This is where the versatility of an iPad comes in very handy, but please forgive any nasty spelling or punctuation errors. I'll edit and clean it up later, if necessary.
I still plan to go to Boston and run. Realistically, I probably won't be able to get in more than a 10-12 mile long run before then so my training will be lacking, but I'm ok with walking during the race. Whatever it takes to come out healthy. Since I won't be running for time, I plan to take my phone along and see if I can do a little live tweeting or posting of some kind to share the experience of what promises to be a very special Boston Marathon. That's a finish line I just have to touch.
I tried very hard not to let my injury affect of my life and my family, but try as I might, I know fell short of that and was extra crabby at times. My apologies to them. I tried not to talk about it much except for my venting and progress updates with the great folks in the
Spinervals Facebook group. Never have I been part of a more supportive and encouraging training group, online or otherwise. You are all exceptional.
Until next time, take care. Onward!
Just a very quick update to illustrate something I talked about in my original post. Today was a "brick" workout, which is a ride followed immediately by a run. This was the first real brick I've been able to do since the Achilles injury. It was a gorgeous day and a glorious run. I felt great while getting to run by fields full of 5-year-olds playing soccer. For those who haven't seen that in a while, that's the age when both teams move together as one giant amoeba engulfing the ball while the occasional child is off alone picking dandelions from the field. It's great fun.