Cleared to run again

10/31/07

AM: 5 x 10:oo on/2:00 off plus 10 min. kicking, pool, 80 min. total

PM: 15 min. easy

I saw the podriatrist today, and my x-ray was clear. As suspected, I'm a quick healer. Just four weeks earlier, there was a big crack in my second metatarsal, but that's now nicely patched itself up. As I had suspected, my podiatrist thinks that I got it wearing a pair of thin and beat-up 5k flats during a half marathon. The good news is that I hit 10-mile and half-marathon PRs in the race (54:52 and 1:13:04...I can't believe I couldn't find five more seconds), so at least my brief hiatus started on a high note. If you're doing the math on the 10-mile and HM splits, then you're correct--the last three miles of the half marathon fell horrendously off pace. But I did have a crack in my bone, so give me a break (pun horribly intended).

I've been meaning to start putting my training online for a while now, and coming off of four weeks of injury seems like an appropriate place to start.

I've been pool running like crazy over the last four weeks. Surprisingly, I trimmed off about 4 or 5 pounds in the process, which came as a pleasant surprise, especially since I don't have too much extra to lose, anyway. I'm down to about 155 now, which, given that I had to cut weight to get to 152 pounds my senior year of high school (5 years ago this winter), suggests that I'm pretty trim.

During my time off, I started lifting again a couple of times per week (careful to stay off of the foot, though), stretching, adding more core work, and icing diligently. I feel like I did everything I could to take care of myself, so we'll see how it pays off in the weeks and months to come.

Naturally, the first thing I wanted to do after getting the OK from the doc is to go out for a run, so that's exactly what I did, even if it was still shorter than a pre-race warmup. My legs had a surprising amount of pop to them, bolstering my blind faith in the benefits of pool running.

Glad to be back, even if the weeks to come are still going to have a lot of cross training. To play it safe, no serious mileage for me until the first of the year, and my hard days will still have to be cross-training for the next month. Fortunately, I have some other cross-training options other than the pool now that I can resume weight bearing excercise (i.e. the bike and the elliptical). Pool running definitely works. But, it's not the most exciting thing in the world, I have reeked of chlorine for a month, and my hair is so dry that, if stranded in the wilderness, I could rip it from my scalp and use it as tinder for a fire.