So I've been MIA on the blog-o-sphere for a few months now, and I've had a lot of time to reflect on my running life. The Run for the Red Marathon in May really took its toll on me, and it took me a long time to recover. I didn't run for about two weeks. Not one step. I took several days off with no exercise whatsoever and it felt really good. I had some nagging heel pain (to be honest, it's been "nagging" for a few years, but you know how that goes) that I was hoping to get rid of once and for all. After a week off with no running and no improvement, I decided to see a specialist about my heel. I figured she'd tell me to lay off running for a few weeks, maybe see a PT who will give me some stretches and I'll be fixed. If there was ever a time to take some time off from running, now at the peak of my burnout, would be the perfect time.
I made an appointment and went in to see the foot/ankle specialist in my town. She examined my heel, which had an ever-growing bump on the back of it, and sent me for an x-ray. The x-ray showed a rather large bone spur on the backside of my heel with achilles tendon thickening and what looked to be partial tears. Since I had tight calf muscles, high arches, and feet and ankles that don't pronate at all, my achilles was constantly pulling on my calcaneus. My body, in an attempt to heal itself, laid down new bone at the site, creating what looked like a shark fin growing off the back of my foot. Pretty cool - IF I was looking at someone else's x-ray and not my own. See here. My doctor said I should take at least 4 weeks off from anything that could aggravate my heel (running, jumping, explosive movements, etc), stretch a bunch, ice often, and see where we were after that. If no improvement, I'd see a physical therapist for further treatment.
And, for once, I listened! I took an entire month off - no running, no jumping rope, no box jumps, NO IMPACT whatsoever! I stretched multiple times a day, iced twice a day, and said lots of prayers to the running injury gods. Still the pain persisted and the bump remained. After 4 weeks, I contacted my PT and got in to see her the next week. Since then I've been on a strict regimen of stretching, ice cupping, night splinting, and iontophoresis (see here). She told me I could run as long as the running didn't make the pain worse. And it didn't, so I did. And I was a happy girl! The bone spur has gone down in size considerably. I ice after every run, I wear a night splint at night, I'm working on a pair of orthotics, and I'm spending more time on soft ground. The pain isn't gone, but I've found a way to manage it. And for this, I'm amazingly grateful.
I spent the summer strength training. All my lifts (bench, squat, deadlift, OH press, TGU) went through the roof. Without running to zap my energy and waste my muscle, I was able to build and retain some significant strength. I'm counting on this strength to keep me injury free during my upcoming season. History shows I have a summer pattern of getting strong when I'm not running then losing it when my mileage picks back up. One of my goals for the next 8 months is to do enough strength training to sustain almost everything of what I have built. I'm hoping for a split of 4 days strength training and 4 days running (yes, the math doesn't work out, but I'm experimenting).
I've been planning my fall race calendar to reflect more trail running and long, slow, "fun" races. My first one is the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run with my family. It's a fun race, very low key, a 1.2 mile trail around a lake where you can run as far as you want. My dad's aiming for his age, 63 miles. I haven't finalized a goal yet, but it'll be fun running whatever mileage I end up with.
My second race is a part of the Trilogy. My brother, Matt, is going to do all three races, I'm planning on the 50k and half with my dad, while Michelle Adams runs her first 50 miler and two of my other girls will race the 50k. Mom's doing the half on Sunday also.
After this, I'm planning on my third trip to the Jacks 50k Trail Race in Flagler Beach. Maybe one or two between now and then end of the year, but this wraps up my financially committed calendar. All trails, all soft surface, all no-pressure, all fun. And I promise to keep up my icing, stretching, and therapy. Fingers crossed for a few more marathons checked off my list and good healthy bones with which to run them.
Run happy folks!
