Today marked a new beginning of sorts. While it could hardly be considered a ‘real’ run, I was able to mix several 1 minute run intervals in my 30 minute treadmill walk. I generally ran 1 minute and walked 4 minutes, and repeated that for 30 minutes, covering just over 2 miles. It was notable because I was finally able to run without feeling any pain in my ankle, which I had injured on Dec 24, almost 2 months ago.
I still have a long way to go in my recovery, as that little bit of work has my ankle sore all afternoon. It likely needs a couple of days of recovery until I can try again. I also have had a pretty bad case of plantar faciitis these last few months, and while my heel has been feeling a bit better lately, and didn’t hurt during my 30 minutes on the treadmill today, it has been achy all afternoon. While not much to write home about, I am hopeful that this marks the start of my return to running, which I miss a lot.
I’ve also finally come to grips, after a couple of ‘biggest loser’ style pep-talks from my trainer, with the understanding that I will not be able to run (or walk, or walk/run) the Asheville Marathon on March 3. Also depressing is that today marked the 3rd race in the last month I had signed up for in Dec prior to my injury, but was unable to run. This has been tough to swallow because this is the time of the year I love to run and typically put in my highest mileage.
Mentally, I am definitely getting to a better place, with an understanding that this break in running (along with the other 2 lengthy injury breaks I also had in 2012) is giving me plenty of time to focus on things like strength, flexibility, and nutrition. The fact is that my last strong marathon came over 2 years ago, when I ran the First Light Marathon on the day I turned 40. Since then it has literally been all downhill on the injury front.
At this point, I will stop making short term goals, and will return to marathons when my body signals it is ready. However, my looooong term goal is to get myself back to health slowly and smartly, such that I can run another strong marathon at the Mississippi Blues Marathon, on the day I turn 45, on 1/9/16.
Maybe this time I’ll finally be smart in my recovery and get back to healthy! Hopefully more to come…
