Injuries Suck

All that really needs to be noted is that after my PB at the Prince Edward County Marathon a year ago tomorrow I've suffered through a foot injury, sustained in the race, until resuming running in mid-July. Once that happened I slowly built up my weekly mileage from less than 20km to a little over 40km/week before hitting another hurdle: left foot pain that is suspiciously a lot like plantar fasciitis...

So, one lesson learned from that experience is: don't try to streak when you haven't streaked successfully before. In fact, do NOT try to streak coming off of an injury. I ran almost every single day in August... Second lesson is do not ignore tight hamstrings. I think the knot I felt in my left hammy ended up radiating down to the left foot and ultimately caused the pain that stopped me from running in early September.

Anyway, yesterday I went with my older son for a walk/jog in the trails to test the foot as it has stagnated in its recovery and I think was due for some stimulation and it felt great. Why? Because I left the Garmin at home. I walked a minute, jogged a minute, walked, then jogged two, walked, then jogged three, and then back down the pyramid. I was only conscious of how I was feeling and used that as feedback while ignoring pace, cadence, distance, and any other metric that has gotten me in trouble in the past. I can for 23m30s and, after plugging the route into Gmaps Pedometer, managed 3.5km. Shitty by all accounts except the one that ultimately really matters above all else: I had FUN!

Here's to running without a Garmin for a while. Will I keep myself honest and not get seduced by the lure of the metrics? Hmm...

Another Try...

After my last run I was caught off guard with the resulting aches and pains that materialized seemingly out of the blue. Although my right ankle, still not 100%, wasn't really bothering me any more than before the run, my left knee felt like someone had shoved some crap into the middle of it and then the crap expanded causing significant pressure and pain. It hurt to walk and it hurt to bend the knee. It was almost as if the ACL got shorter and fatter at the same time!

In any case, I waited for the rest of the week for the knee issue to calm the hell down and did not even attempt to run. This was quite disappointing to me as I was definitely ready to get back to training and every day lost to injury made me feel like I was losing fitness at an alarming rate.

Today I felt pissed off enough to get out for an evening run to test the body out. I ran slow and easy and really enjoyed the Fall weather as I ran in the dark, crunching leaves underfoot. The first couple of kilometres were fine, but after that I started to feel like I was losing control of my legs as they felt somewhat numb. I made it through 5k E at 5:30/km and seem none the worse for wear, but the feeling in my legs definitely makes me think that I have lost a LOT of fitness since the marathon :(

But at least it's (another) start! Plan is to run at least once or twice more this week and I am hoping my body allows this to happen.

It's Been A While

The recovery phase, post-marathon, has taken longer than I'd hoped, and I suppose it will continue for a bit longer in a fashion, but I think that this was the safest thing for not only my right ankle (which is still not 100% as of this post) but my whole body in the end. The rule of thumb I'd heard for recovery is one week off for every ten kilometres raced. It's been a full four weeks and a couple of days so I suppose that after racing 42.2km this was the perfect amount of down time in the end.

That being said, it's still a pain in the ass to take any time off. However, this morning I did manage to go out for an easy 5k and it went better than expected in some ways and less than stellar in others.

The better part was that I ran the whole way nice and easy and nothing snapped, crackled, or popped. I even managed to run at a decent pace (5:10/km). The not so stellar part was that my legs felt like they were full of lead and different aches and pains kept creeping into them and then going away. Most of all I felt super stiff in the hips and calves.

But at least it's a start! November will be all about building up the stamina and mileage one step at a time.

First Week Post Marathon

Here's how the first week after my marathon went...

Monday: Biked to work on sore legs and generally took things very easy. It was odd that my left quad was more sore than my right given that the issues I experienced at the 16k mark were on the right side. I suppose I compensated for the pain in my right side and used my left leg more in the last 26k? In any case, I felt ok given the fact that the last ten kilometres of the race were a painful experience to say the least. I walked around a bit at lunch time just to make sure I wasn't sitting all day, but other than that this was most definitely a full day OFF.

Tuesday: The physical ramifications of the marathon continued with respect to pain the legs, in particular the left quad, but also the right foot. It seems that the right quad issue that I experienced at the 16k mark of the race and thereafter was related to the slope of the road on which I had to run, meaning that the right side was always slightly lower than the left. As a result, my foot was feeling sprained and that was more worrying than any other ache or pain that I incurred. It hurt to walk, and that's always a bad sign. However, I still went to the gym at lunch time and did some basic rolling followed by a sit in the sauna. First two days after the race is still too early to declare any major issues as the plan always was to take two full weeks off running anyway.

Wednesday: A crazy day at work, bisected by a fire alarm that had me walking down from the 19th floor of an unfamiliar building, meant that I not only could not get to the gym for anything remotely close to a recovery session, but also that my right foot took more of a pounding than I'd intended. I definitely sprained something running on the slope of the right side of the road during the marathon and now must manage this injury prior to resuming running...

Thursday: Another day at work wherein I can't recall even having time to breather, but I did manage to extricate myself for a short spell to the gym. I did a bunch of push ups and pull ups, rolled my legs for a bit, and then sat in the sauna for a bit. The concern remains the right foot and ankle (the "wonky" one) as the pain seems to be getting worse rather than better. A friend pointed out that this could be a stress fracture and I am totally dreading the possibility :(

Friday: This was a bit quieter at work, though I never planned to do too much. Most of the day was spent sitting, which allowed my foot and ankle to rest, but by the end of the workday my foot was in a lot of pain. I also had a two hour basketball practice that I had to coach in the evening that totally put my foot over the edge...

Saturday: Drove to Ottawa for Thanksgiving and the foot/ankle continued to stay the uncomfortable and painful status quo. Frustrated is an understatement...

Sunday: Same as Saturday, though without the driving. Foot and ankle just did not seem to be improving. One week down and still in a major holding pattern :(

Getting Smarter, Playing it Safer?

Yet another week of trying to be smart about my running and I think the approach, for the most part, seems to be working. A couple of weeks ago, as noted, I took one run "off" and got on the stationary bike instead for a 40 minute spin. Last week I decided another test was in order and on Tuesday hit the treadmill for a speed session. The idea was to see if I would be able to run four repeats of 800m in 2:52 or 2:55 with 2 minutes rest interval. These goals correspond to the Run Less Run Faster paces for either the 3:10 marathon or 3:15 marathon, in order words my "A" BQ and "B" BQ paces.

Anyway, it was a very tough workout, but I made it! There is an asterisk to the session as I took one extra minute of rest prior to starting into the last repeat, but not on account of the heart rate (which duly came down to 130bpm within 90 seconds each time), but simply because I was overheating as the gym had the worst stale air ever; absolutely nothing moving around in there at all and warm, warm, warm...

Long story short, the test was passed. But afterwards, maybe an hour or so later, I started to feel a pain on the top and outside of my right foot. This was not debilitating, but definitely worrisome. It was marginally better by Thursday, when I was to hit the gym for another run, but I decided to play it smart and safe and so it was back onto the stationary bike for another 40 minutes. I alternated one minute hard, one minute easy after a 5 minute warm up, and finished it off with a 5 minute cool down. It was a good workout, even if it wasn't running.

And so, as this past weekend came up, my foot was feeling better. However, coaching my little basketball team at the provincial championships had me focused elsewhere and a bit more than busy. Therefore, I decided to not run at all on Saturday. I woke up thinking I would get out there for an easy 4km, but the temperature had plummeted and it didn't seem like it was worth my time so I gave the foot one more day of rest. On Sunday afternoon, after coming home from the tournament, I hit the road for a general aerobic run where I managed a decent 10km in 50 minutes or so at an average pace of 5:02/km. My diet had been less than good over the weekend and this effort felt a loss worse than it should have, but I was happy that the foot was feeling 100%!

Today I hit the gym again at lunch and got on the treadmill for another general aerobic effort. I felt well enough after the first kilometre that I decided to do some faster sections, but not too fast. I alternated  1 minute at about 4:14/km with 2 minutes at about 4:52/km until I had run 9km total, then put in one more kilometre easy for a cool down. The total was 10km in 47:05 for a 4:43/km average pace. This was so much easier than my Sunday run and I am convinced that my diet affects me very clearly when training so I guess I'd better be good ;)

Anyway, things are going well. Another test is coming up on the training plan so we will see how I manage that. But for now it's play it smart, play if safe, and run healthy. I hope...

I've Become "One of THOSE" Running Bloggers, Huh?

So, it's been a while since I've been even thinking about putting thoughts on here, and my running since I've stopped "blogging" has most definitely been of the nothing to write home about variety. June to February is a long time indeed...

Anyway, no need to get into all the nasty details, but I've been dealing with getting old is probably the best way to summarize it. Got pissed off at the foot not getting better and saw a physio in September. Started in on glute exercises and then the back gave out. Saw another physio and continued to work on glute strength while slowly getting back into running (three days per week, slow and easy 5k was the max). Start of 2015 the back was still crappy so glute exercises stopped, massage therapy started. Six weeks of that and no better, so back to physio last weekend and it turns out I have a couple of vertebrae that are "stuck" in one direction and "loose" in the opposite. Source of pain revealed! What to do about it? Who knows...

But at least my running is continuing despite living in pain. Currently running four days per week only, with the two mid week runs either of the tempo interval variety or a steady state run where I'm near the top of my aerobic capabilities, which are pretty mediocre at best. Weekends find me running a really easy recovery run of less than 5k one day and something resembling LSD on the other day, though I am not really doing the "L" or "D" parts properly just yet as I am still working my way back into longer efforts. Longest run to date has only been 14km.

So, here's to my spine pissing right off and a great 2015! No races planned. Dreams of BQ continue to linger.

Things That Might Have Been

My 2014 has not been what I would have predicted it might be. It's difficult to understate this, but as I try to figure out what "running" is all about in my world I would have hoped it was less about the "if and when" of the adventure, and more about the "what and how".

IF I could have been running as I'd planned, I likely would have a nice PR in the marathon by now.

WHEN I was running consistently at the end of 2013 and the beginning of this year I was feeling strong and putting up mileage the likes of which I'd never done before.

WHAT happened was that I broke open a new pair of shoes, they aggravated my ankle, I compensated by altering my gait, and my foot went all "What the in the merciful FUCK is this shit?!!!" on me.

HOW I'm trying to cope is to take it one day at a time, not stress about things like mileage or pace, and just run when my body allows me to. The toughest part is trying to enjoy the breaks that my foot keeps so generously giving me. Such a selfless foot... If only I could give it away so that it could bless others with its generosity.

Onwards and upwards. BQ is still the distant carrot of a dream that it has ever been...

Tentative First Steps

It's been said before, and it will be said again. It SUCKS getting old. What exactly sucks about getting old, you ask? I suppose it's personal and subjective, but for me what really bites is the time it takes to recover from injury, or whatever ailment one may incur in the arduous process of trying to get to Boston. Other than that there are benefits to ageing, I guess.

An aside: don't you regular runners out there just roll your eyes at those friggin' people who seemingly qualify at will on their first attempt at the distance? Sheesh. There should be a separate qualifying round for folks like that because, clearly, the BQ standards are too easy for the blessed...

Anyway, I've been confined to the elliptical machine since early February. Taking two weeks completely off made no difference to the sprained foot and just drove me stir crazy. So it's been an hour or more every day, early in the morning, since then, usually watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air reruns. I've had enough of Will Smith!

So yesterday scheduling issues, and the first really beautiful Spring day of 2014, conspired to shove me out the door for my first run in a long long time. 5km and the foot, though not 100%, seems to be OK with it. So the plan is now to keep up the torture of the elliptical and sprinkle in a 5km run now and then. It's a "see how it goes" training plan!

Fuck me...

The Waiting Game

My left foot has forced me to take the entire week off from running and this is a disappointing setback to say the least. I am feeling better, I think, and then it tightens up again. It's undoubtedly the dreaded plantar fasciitis, a catchall term I know. In any case, I also came down with a nasty cold towards the end of the week and spent the weekend coaching little boys at their first basketball tournament while trying to stay awake, ethusiastic, upbeat and positive. It was rough.

Onto the next one...

Wrinkles

This week represented the first setback in quite some time. For once I feel confident that the reason for the setback was not overtraining, but rather my inability to recognize that a pair of shoes was causing problems soon enough to avoid injury. After I switched shoes, thinking the pair I'd been wearing was at the end of their useful running life, I thought I was being smart. I threw on a pair of Asics GT2170's, the same model I'd worn before successfully and part of the same model line I'd been using for years with good results. This pair, for some strange reason, started rubbing the outside of my left foot under the ankle bone when I ran. I thought they just needed to be broken in and attempted to soften that area of the shoe with my hands to get rid of that annoying rubbing. However, I think the fact that the shoe was bothering my ankle changed my gait just enough that another, much more serious problem, started developing. I didn't become aware of it until it was too late, but I maintain it has nothing to do with mileage per se. It's just that this is the first time I've ever experienced this specific issue with footwear and now must suffer the consequences of my inexperience. As such, I haven't been running since Thursday and have made a commitment to let this injury (which is a bit like the scary plantar fasciitis, but I think it's actually a muscle or tendon strain in my foot) heal before getting back into running. I hope it will only take a few more days, but have no idea as I am not able to simply put my feet up and let it run its course. Coaching basketball will keep me on my feet, especially as we are heading into our first tournament next weekend. Oh well... Fitness will be lost I guess, and that sucks big time!

In the end I managed to cover a paltry 40.3km (25 miles) on 3hr38m39s of running.

• Monday: rest (Left foot hurting, think new shoes are a problem. Took a rare day off to let it rest.)
• Tuesday: 12km, 1:06:01, 5:30/km, 130bpm (Early morning run, nice and easy recovery pace, testing the foot and new GT2000 shoes.)
• Wednesday: 16.2km, 1:31:30, 5:39/km, 135bpm (Tough waking up early enough to get this one done. Still bothered by left foot, so running slowly and trying to remember this is a step back week.)
• Thursday: 12.1km (treadmill), 1:01:08, 5:03/km, 143bpm (Still sore in the left foot so this was supposed to be a bit easy. As I ran the foot felt better so I increased speed gradually topping out at 7.8mph for a 10min stretch. Good run.)
• Friday: rest (Alarm went off at 5am, decided foot was hurting too much to go for a run.)
• Saturday: rest (All day coaching certification clinic including 4 hours on court and foot had a setback. Damn it!)
• Sunday: rest (No running. Left foot going to take some time to heal.)

Can't Blog. Running...

Well, it's come to this. Like so many blogs that I've perused over the past 5+ years mine has "evolved", and by that I of course mean that my posts can only be decribed as "sporadic" at best, and "non existent" at worst. And that's being kind.

Typically, my blog absence would indicate that an injury has me sidetracked and, not being able to run, I have nothing to say on a blog that is largely supposed to be about running, or whatever it is that yours truly is doing while the neighbours politely wave, then snicker. Anyway, I am happy to report that my absence is NOT because I haven't been able to run, but rather BECAUSE I have been running. Add in the typical time pressures of a family with two very active children and the volunteering that inevitably the parents end up doing and 24 hours just doesn't cut it.

In short, I have come to the end of my self-imposed 4 week recovery period post-marathon and am about to embark on an ambitious plan to run more than I have ever run before. It's not that impressive compared to many talented and dedicated runners, but for the oft-injured and wonky among us it is a big goal. I am trying to get to a point where I am running triple digits in mileage (metric mileage that is, I'm not THAT ambitious) per week for an extended period as I prepare for a Spring marathon. For those not inclined to do the math I'm looking to run 100km (or 62 miles) per week. I won't get there right away, but I've counted off 16 weeks to first reach and then maintain my goal before other phases of training (strength, speed, taper) come into play.

Last week I ran 79.2km (49.2 miles) and felt great, helped in a big way by the fact that I was off work for two of the five working days which allowed for two mid-week 10 milers during daylight hours. I have been running every day and feel great. I am still seeing a massage therapist to keep that pesky Achilles on the path to recovery, but it's feeling better and better so I am confident that eventually it will be 100% healthy. The only things that may impair my goal are a) injury (shudder!), b) lack of time (stupid 24 hour day and 5 day work week), and c) Winter weather (stupid ice and snow, dark and cold, etc...). Many have overcome these obstacles to run more than I am hoping to run, so really I have no excuse.

For now...

That BQ isn't going to qualify itself and I've come to understand that higher mileage is a must if one is to ever have a shot at this most lofty of goals. Especially when the "one" is me, and the "me" is slow.

The Carnage of my Second Marathon Finish

Well, it certainly wasn't perfect. Neither the training leading up to the race and, as a result, the race itself. But I finished! After a year and a half off due to injury, and with more than a month off in July - August for more injury, I guess it's the best I could have hoped for. Hamstring cramped at 34.5k and I hobbled to the finish. Until then it was fairly smooth with the exception of my Sartorious/Quad starting to hurt in the first two kilometres of the race. Oh well...

Crunch Time

Things are getting close, and by that I mean the Toronto Waterfront Marathon is not that far away and yours truly is a bit nervous about his fitness level. After a full month off (July) due to issues with the Achilles I not only am really behind in terms of training, but I continue to deal with soreness in the left Achilles, which is worrisome to say the least.

Nevertheless, I continue to work with a massage therapist to relieve the tension on the tendon, I've started to stretch more religiously than ever before and attempt to do at least one solid 20 minute routine per day, and I am also doing my best to train as my body will allow.

Case in point, after running either to or from work every day last week I woke up Saturday morning and my Achilles was having none of it. In the past I would have toughed it out and trained anyway, but this time I decided not to beat myself up too much and took the day off. I knew that with just 5 weeks left to go I had to do my first of three test runs the following day. Test runs? Yes, I need to test my ability to cover 42.2km by doing a few longer runs over the next three weekends so that I can both build confidence, test my injury, and give my body some time to recover in the three weeks prior to race day. Yesterday was the first of these test runs and my plan was to run "at least 20km". Next week I will run "at least 25km", and the week after, "at least 30km". If I can get through these three, I figured, I'd be in a good place to manage the full marathon distance on race day.

So, I went out with more than a bit of trepidation as my Achilles was still barking a bit. These days I make sure to walk the first kilometre as a warm up as I am getting "old", and this time I was definitely unsure of what the run would be like as the walk wasn't exactly pain free. It was ok, but that's the best I can say about it. The other tough thing about this run was the mental boredom of the route I chose. Given the Achilles situation I thought it prudent to stay close to home and simply ran laps of a large city block relatively near my home. Boy is that boring!!! The lap measured a little more than 2km and it is not what one would call "picturesque". Anyway, I started off easy and settled into a good rhythm after a few clicks. I ran this way for what seemed like forever! (Though it certainly WASN'T and feeling this way about the distance I did cover makes me a bit worried about being able to complete the Marathon.)

In the end, the results were rather positive. I will reserve judgement on whether or not I will be able to complete the race until after this series of test runs are complete, but the first went rather well especially when compared to the Half Marathon I ran in early May in Pittsburgh:

Onwards and upwards I guess. After all, it's crunch time!

Moving On, Sort Of

It's difficult to keep a running related blog even remotely updated when one is continually sidetracked with injuries, not to mention life in general. I missed pretty much all of July in running terms and with the Toronto Waterfront Marathon now less than two months away things are at a bit of a breaking point. So here's the update...

In the last week of July I started to walk include commuting of foot either to or from work. It's not a long distance really, somewhere in the 6.5-7km range depending on the route, but at least it was something. What shocked me most of all was the muscle pain I encountered in a variety of places from just walking! In the lower and upper leg things were definitely being "activated". It proved to me that running really does ignore a bunch of muscles that are very much exercised when one walks. I don't mean strolling along and gazing at the view. I mean walking at as brisk a pace as one can sustain for the entire duration of the activity. It definitely gets aerobic!

Anyway, the other thing I did as I tried to recover from my left Achilles tendinitis was calf raises. Nothing too crazy or anything, just single legged body weight calf raises. And my calves go so sore! I was shocked, and clearly my calves, which I always assumed were fairly strong, were weak. The soreness only lasted a couple of days, but I continue to do the calf raises almost daily to ensure that this group of muscles is not ignored. On top of that I have also been to a massage therapist once each week for the past month or so just to get some help in recovery and for "maintenance".

So, after about a week or two of walking to/from work I started to sprinkle in some running. Just a kilometre at a time in amongst the walking. This was after I managed a 13.5km walk in the hills around the cottage one Sunday, which took me nearly two hours to complete. I figured if I can huff and puff my way through that distance I must be strong enough and recovered enough to start gentle jogging.

Now as we hit the last days of August, I'm at a stage where I'm walking to work in the morning and walk/running home in the evening. The mileage for running isn't great, but the total mileage including the walking is decent. Last week I managed 75km with 49km running. This week I'm already at 50km and I decided to take a break and rode my bike to work this morning, though I am planning to hit up the track later this evening for some easy intervals (400m with same distance walks for recovery). Tomorrow, should I continue to feel pretty good physically, I will once again walk to work and (mostly) run home.

The Achilles still tightens up now and then with this routine, and I realize that I am potentially asking for trouble with daily walking/running, but I firmly believe now that walking must be a significant part of my training if I am to remain injury free. Guess I'm going back to the training philosophy of the Finn's from the 1920s in this regard, but given that I'm not an elite athlete I figure any program, no matter how dated, is better than the alternative.

Here's to healthy walking/running and to a marathon without that dreaded death march, which is the ONLY goal for this year other than finishing the distance, of course.

Argh!

What's the point? Sometimes that's the only thought that makes any sense. I thought I was on the road to recovery with this stupid Achilles tendon. I ran/walked to work on Tuesday morning, and it felt fine as long as I didn't push it. I even went to a massage therapist to work out the tightness in my calves and hamstrings, and I must admit that, as painful as it was, the Achilles definitely felt better after the session. But upon run/walking home from work yesterday the damned thing tightened up again and this morning I once more am limping! Crap crap crap crap crap!

Oh well. Guess it's more time off. Time to take up fishing...

Actively Waiting

Well, it hasn't been the best of breaks, that's for sure. I have not been running since I tweaked my left Achilles a couple of Fridays ago, but only in part due to the injury. That same day I acquired some sort of strange "intestinal infection" (doctor's diagnosis) that is still sort of working it's way through my system well over a week after the initial symptoms reared their ugly head (pun intended). I think it's the result of some poorly sanitized equipment in the CPR/AED re-certification course I attended on the Thursday just before I started feeling like crap (pun intended, again), but I have no way to prove it.

So, it continues to be a waiting game of sorts. My Achilles is feeling better, but not 100%. My gut, ditto. I think part of the problem with the former is that my calves and hamstrings are so tight that the injury will not fully heal until all of that relaxes a bit. With that in mind I am booked for a massage tomorrow and I'm hoping for some significant release. The latter issue? Well, that's a waiting game that simply requires patience. In the meantime, it's weight training and commuting by bike.

Owards and upwards! Hope this is the only hiccup for this marathon training cycle as I am certainly looking forward to getting back to running again.

Them's the Breaks

With no foreshadowing, no inkling that something was about to happen, my left Achilles decided to "give out" towards the latter third of my morning 10km run. Crap!

I hesitate to call this a really grave setback, but I am definitely limping. I was too far away from home as it started to tighten up to not keep going, though I did slow down a lot to try and protect it. Oh well, onwards we go with never ending saga of the wonky body bits...

Strange Days

WWell, things are moving in the right direction, I think. After last weekend's Ultimate tournament, wherein yours truly played five games in two days (four on the Saturday alone), drank too much booze, and slept max 2 hours each night, things were likely to be a bit strange this week as I tried to get back into training.

Sure enough, Tuesday morning I was to run 7-9km and chose, wisely, the lower end of that range. It was quite slow, very stiff, and all of the various aches and pains were magnified in the early morning hour. I did feel a bit better as the run progressed, but this run was THE definition of recovery.

Wednesday morning I once again chose the lower end of the 5-6km range and things were going quite nicely until the last kilometre. The aches and pains were less and I was running much more smoothly, but then I felt a sharp pain in the upper right quad/groin that gave me pause for concern. I finished the run, but the rest of the day I was in quite a bit of discomfort. Not good. Didn't know if stretching was the right course of action, didn't want to take pain killers to mask the pain, so I just muddled through the day.

Thursday would normally be a leg weight training day, but I decided to skip the legs and instead do some more upper body on account of the quad thing. Although I woke up pretty much pain free, by the afternoon the pain was creeping back into the region. I did do a bit of stretching and that seemed to help, but by bedtime I was concerned that my Friday morning run would be compromised.

That brings us up to date, and this morning I gingerly set off on my prescribed 7-9km run. I wasn't sure how my leg would react or how far I'd be able to go. Concentrating on keeping things slow and easy and, in particular, making sure that my stride was short kept me safe and I managed to complete 9km none the worse for wear.

So, that's the way the recovery after the Ultimate tournament is likely to go for a bit longer. Seems that my body has a few surprises in store and the aches and pains move around a bit. I guess as long as this continues I can't be too unhappy given that nothing has been a major issue, though it does enforce the whole running slow and easy ethos under which I have been training since the start of the year. I do look forward to something other than slow plodding, however, and have hope that in the coming weeks I will be able to start some basic mile repeats and the like.

Onwards

Well, the couple of weeks post Half Marathon have been less than stellar exercise wise, but some of it could not have been avoided. The calf issue was one thing, but then a full week of off-site training (not physical, but work related) and conferences put a damper on most everything this past week. I did manage to do pretty well, however, all things considered:

Monday was a travel day as it was a Holiday so we'd spent the three day weekend out of town.

Tuesday was my first run after I decided to shut it down on account of the calf and subsequent illness. Ran 7km pretty easy, took one minute walk breaks every 2km. I managed to fit in a quick weight training session during the lunch break at the course, but it was not entirely fulfilling.

Wednesday I ran 5km in the morning, once again nice and easy, and I managed another weight training session at a different gym that was the most cramped space I'd every worked out in. Glad it's not my usual spot.

Thursday I just did some light leg weights. Good to keep that up I think, just have to be careful.

Friday morning I was up early again and managed a nice 9km run. Later in the day my calves tightened up a bit as I spent far too much time either sitting or standing still at the conference. At the end of the day I fit in a very good weight training session as the conference ended early(ish).

Saturday I just managed a 3km recovery run, though I felt good enough to put in some pick ups between telephone poles here and there for fun.

Sunday morning I ran 10.5km over a loop course that I hadn't done in a couple of years through Leaside and Rosedale. Just took a one minute walk break at the 5km mark. Felt good for the most part, though I ran very slowly and my heart rate was mostly in the high 130s, and in the very low 140s for the last few kilometres.

And that's where I am now. 20 weeks to go till the Marathon, and still feeling like I am recovering from that slow Half, which is irritating. Oh well, at least I'm running.

This weekend will be a bit of a shock to the system as I am playing in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament for the first time in years. Promises to be more of a party than a competitive atmophere, but that doesn't mean that my legs won't be trashed by the end. A little apprehensive about it, but looking forward to the camping, partying, and playing for sure!

Bummer

Things don't always go as planned, and I guess that adapting to the ups and downs of life is part of any decent training plan. It pisses me off whenever things get in the way of my schedule, but I have to do my best to let it go and find the bright side of any situation.

Well, here goes...

After the Half Marathon in Pittsburgh my left calf was quite sore as a result of the downhill running and such. I managed a couple of short, very slow runs on the Tuesday and Wednesday after the "race", but then came down with an awful cold on Wednesday evening that really took hold the following day. At first I thought it was just allergies to tree pollen hitting me hard, but when my throat started hurting I knew it was something worse. As such, I have not been able to run since as I've either been tied to my bed (missing work on Friday), or feeling very, very tired and lethargic. The upshot of all that is a few missed runs. That's the down side.

The up side, I suppose, is to take this as a sign that I really could use a break. A few months back, as I was mulling over the Marathon Training plan that I'd hoped to follow, I built in a two week break into one of the incarnations right after the Half in the Steel City. Subsequent plans no longer had that two week break because I am an idiot and can't see the benefit of such a thing when I'm actually feeling healthy, but it seems that my body really could use some time off, no? Therefore, I am trying to be positive about this and not feel like I'm losing fitness while waiting on the sidelines to try and start running again. It will now be a 22 week training plan instead of 24, and I think that's OK. Time to look at the old spreadsheet and re-jig.

The cold is still there and I feel crappy, though at least I'm back at work, and the calf is improving, but there is a hint of stiffness still in there. Also, my left heel feels bruised and it hurts a bit when I first get out of bed, which is the tell tale sign of the dreaded plantar fasciitis that I desperately wish to avoid.

So, marathon training will have to wait until at least next week. I am committing to taking this whole week off EVEN if I miraculously recover and feel 100% in the short term. Think I'll still go to the gym, but mostly to make use of the Sauna. We'll see...