July 22, 2013: On my way to recovery? Knock on wood.

Dear diary blog,

After about 4 months of dealing with tendonitis,  I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It's been a very long tunnel. And no, I haven't been running through it.  
Today I completed 4 miles on the treadmill virtually pain-free (the only pain being the crushing blow to my ego that the last time I felt this good, I was running a half marathon). This time, I followed my physical therapist's advice: stretch before, stretch after, and stretch IN BETWEEN. Also, as she suggested, I included bouts of walking (about 0.2mi every mile). After today's workout, my extensor tendonitis was pain free (the one above the foot), and my plantar tendons have only mild pain (as opposed to severe pain, last Monday night). Even if it took me a lame 45 minutes to complete this workout, I feel good. Really good.

According to the book I bought (see this post), I need to have a 16 mile long run about 3 weeks before the marathon; that will be Sunday, September 22, 2013. This is 9 weeks away. If I want to increase my mileage every week with a linear increase (and not fuck my foot again), I need to run 1.5 miles more (per workout) every week.

It seems doable.

 I'm planning on running about 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and cross-training in the other days. I guess I should allow myself one rest day, probably Saturday or Sunday. I mean, if I ever happen to forget to take a rest day, I'm sure my girlfriend will gently remind me. Remember she is self-described as a "psychopathic, attention-whore"? Those are her words (and my exact sentiments)!

For all of you marathoners, Chicago is just around the corner of summer.

How has your training been going?
Any tips when it comes to nursing an injury?
For all of you bleeding-heart humanitarians, how are your sales pledges going?

Now, I've had a plethora of (voyeuristic) readers implore me to divulge a more "behind the scenes" look at my life. Y'know, what does my typical Saturday morning look like for this French expat living in Boston? Something like this...uninflected voices included:


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2 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 29, 2013 at 1:48 AM

    I nursed a nasty Achilles Tendon through a Marathon last year. Never went to a doctor, though. KT tape got me through the long runs. I wore compression calf sleeves. I wore a rigid night splint, and I put my foot in a bucket of ice water after every run. I was able to manage 4 runs/week in the final 4 weeks of training.

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  2. UnknownAugust 6, 2013 at 10:34 AM

    Thanks for your comment Bob! Compression leg sleeves are the only thing I haven't tried yet. I'll give it a try.

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