These two weeks are a mixture of glee and fear, with a dose of melancholy and some solid fun thrown in. The official Boston Marathon postcard and the bib for the Manchester Road Race both arrived and it’s amazing to think of races on the horizon. Post-Erie recovery has been so onerous. I turn 50 this week and maybe that’s part of the melancholy? Most of the time, my foot is feeling better and better. It often seems to improve from one run to the next. I can hardly believe I am publishing this because I am convinced if I talk about it too much, I’ll bring some kind of jinx down onto my head. Still, the training log does not lie. I pieced together two weeks in a row at more than 25 miles a week. If I could live my life with my fingers crossed, you can bet I would be doing so. At the end of this two week period, though, some signs of trouble cropped up. Read on to hear how it’s going:
Monday, 10/29, Morning Crew – Swim 2250, Never Miss a Monday workout
Good swim with Snarky Girl, but somehow I felt rather sad today. Kind of feeling the cares of the world and maybe feeling a bit old. My foot was pretty achy and that never helps.
Tuesday, 10/30, Early Morning Crew – 5 miles easy (9:09 pace)
Five easy miles with Snarky Girl. When was the last time that happened? The foot felt ok. I still feel terribly nervous that something is going to go wrong somehow. But I had the second EPAT treatment today and it hurt a good deal less than the first time around. Fingers crossed that this is the solution to the plantar fasciitis?
Wednesday, 10/31, Morning Crew – 45 minutes (5 miles) plus strides! Plus weights, plus birthday, plus Halloween!
Happy birthday to me! I ran up a big hill! I did 6 x 20 second strides! I did some big girl squats with the bar! Plus, lunch with a friend and trick-or-treating with the kids. Life is good.
Thursday, 11/1, Early Morning Crew – 4 miles (8:45 pace)
Shhhh, I think my foot is getting better. Today was the best run since starting the EPAT treatment. I’m worried if I say too much, I’ll attract the attention of an evil-eyed witch of some sort.
Friday, 11/2, Early Morning Crew – Swim 2650, Fabian workout
Oh Fabian. You are my hardest swim workout despite your frou-frou name. I love you, but you’re exhausting.
Saturday, 11/3, Early Morning Crew – (almost) 5 miles (8:34 pace), plus weights
Slightly faster running today, but the foot still seems fine. Weights after and foot was fine. I’m starting to think I might propose to my podiatrist or at least to his magic machine.
Sunday, 11/4, Early Morning Crew – 8 miles (9:04 pace)
Ran with my girlfriends on River Road on a beautiful fall morning. My foot was fine again! This is the first successful “longer” run since the Erie Marathon. I can still hardly believe how well it’s going.
Total: 27 miles running (!!!); 4900 yards swimming; 0 miles biking – because: RUNNING!
11/4 – 11/11
This was a mostly good week. Highlights include a track workout with my son, a PR on the Manchester Road Race course and a good deal of running. In the background, work is totally bonkers, but the running part of my life is steadily improving. I’m hoping very much that the setback at the end of the week is short-lived.
Monday, 11/5, Early Morning Crew – Swim 2250, Frank workout
Chilled out version of Frank with Snarky Girl.
Tuesday, 11/6, Early Morning Crew – 5.5 miles as 2 mile WU; 10x200m @7:45 pace / 200m recovery; 1 mile CD, plus 3rd EPAT treatment
The kids had the day off for the election so Aidan joined me at the track! We had so much fun! At least I did. It’s possible he thinks his mother is insane. He remains my #1 favorite running buddy and soon, he’ll be much faster than I am. Easiest EPAT treatment so far.
Wednesday, 11/7, Morning Crew – 4 miles, plus weights
I went to the gym to lift. I ran my standard four mile route. It’s almost like running life is back to normal.
Thursday, 11/8, Early Morning Crew – 6.5 miles (8:50 pace)
Can I keep writing every day that things are getting better? Can every day be the best run yet, post-EPAT? I am so happy and also so nervous that everything will go south after all. But 6 miles in the middle of the week feels huge. I still get some twinges in the plantar fasciitis area of my left foot, but this is so much better than it was.
Friday, 11/9, Early Morning Crew – Swim 2150, Long Course workout, weights later in the day
Crashed into Snarky Girl mid-swim and really hurt my wrist. Ouch! Even though running is going great, work is out of control and I’m so ready for the week to be over.
Saturday, 11/10, Early Morning Crew – 4.7 miles (8:14 pace)
I met the Retiree and Ghostie to run the Manchester Road Race course. So fun! Plus I was a minute faster than last year’s race time! Having missed a bunch of fall races, it’s looking like Manchester will be my first race back. Unfortunately, the foot did hurt some later in the day. Not sure what that is about.
Sunday, 11/11, Early Morning Crew – 9 miles (9:25 pace)
Decent run with the girls. I’m so happy to be back running with them but not at all happy that my foot hurt pretty consistently. Maybe the evil-eyed one has found me after all? Maybe recovery is just never a straight line? This wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t what I had hoped for either. Sigh. Fingers crossed that this is a small setback.
Total: 29.7 miles running; 4400 yards swimming