The day after last week's 15-mile long run, I went for a little bitty shake-out run. We were on the coast of Michigan for a little getaway weekend and planned on spending the day walking outside, shopping, doing the typical tourist thing.
About 1.5 miles into my run, a horrible, awful, no-good, very sharp pain appeared on the outside of my right foot. I hobbled back to the B&B where we stayed, found some ice, and started googling symptoms on my phone. And subsequently freaking out. "Is it a stress fracture? Is the pain in my bone? Is there even a bone on the side of my foot where this hurts? Is it something else? I don't have experience with other injuries, really... what could it be?!?"
Needless to say, walking around that day was painful. I had pain in every step. In the back of my mind, thoughts were racing. "Am I going to have to take time off? Will I have to throw in the towel for my spring marathon? I've got a 20-miler next week! Training has been going so well, why now?!"
Pretty much full-on panic mode. Though I didn't mention it to my Business Man; I thought he would think I was crazy. (Well, he knows I'm crazy, but I didn't need to confirm it yet once again.)
I decided to take Sunday completely off which put me 4 entire miles under my mileage goal [GASP!] for the week. Upon our return home and some more Google diagnosing, I determined I had tendonitis. So I did what those Google experts told me to do. Iced every few hours, popped ibuprofen to help with inflammation, and elevated my foot. I also stretched my calves frequently because calf tightness can cause pain where I was experiencing it.
By the time Monday came around, the pain had lessened. I headed to the gym to attempt a treadmill run, if it felt okay. If not, I'd do something much more torturous, like the bike or elliptical.
I hopped on the treadmill and busted out 12 miles, 9.3 of them at 7:30 GMP. Yes, I had a bit of pain, mostly in the first 20 minutes. It then subsided and I had a great run.
I continued to ice and stretch my calves religiously Monday and Tuesday. And the pain kept decreasing.
Yesterday I decided to run my 20-miler after school. And it was the best 20-mile run I've had in my entire life. I ran on the treadmill to play it safe, so that if I needed to stop, I wouldn't be stranded several miles from home.
Stats - 20.2 miles, 2:40:30, 7:56 average
I finished strong, and felt great the entire run. I have finally figured out a fueling pattern that works for me - Gatorade along with sport beans. I am still working on getting more fuel in, but at least I'm feeling much better than I was last year during long runs.
The best part? I have felt pretty much completely normal today. Typically the day after a long run, my legs are shot. Today... a bit tired but nothing crazy. Must mean I'm doing something right!
And the pain in the foot? Almost non-existent. Yea... I can be a bit dramatic sometimes when it comes to running. Lesson learned - NOT ALL INSTANCES OF PAIN WILL RESULT IN A FULL-BLOWN INJURY. If you take care of it early, and do what's necessary, you can avoid serious time off.
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| Post Flying Pig last spring. |
So, my apologies to anyone I sobbed to about my training being over. That was just me freaking out. Bring on the rest of marathon training! 9.5 weeks to go! :-D
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| What I can't wait for post IL Marathon this April! :) |
Comments
LOVE the last picture. :-)