Friday morning, I went in to see my sports medicine physician to officially "be cleared" to begin training for the marathon this week. I hadn't seen her since my first appointment back in January---honestly, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to or not? My physical therapist claimed to be keeping her updated on my status and he expressed no need for me to follow up with her after our final session. I mentioned that off and on I'd still been feeling some throbbing and pain, but nothing consistent. So making this appointment was purely my paranoid and overcautious decision...I was even half-prepared to ask for another MRI just to have proof that I was 100% healed.
I came out of the meeting feeling a little better about training but still a bit concerned. Beforehand, I'd prepared a list of questions regarding how I should proceed the next few months, which was super beneficial given how fast she talks and then moves on. First, she noticed that I still had a lot of tightness in my right foot and leg that she asked that I have worked on by another physical therapist. There goes more money...no one said being healthy and fit was cheap! Also, I'm to do no more than 5 days of high-impact exercise and/or running for the time being. And she recommended I start taping my arch (navicular taping) to help keep it neutral (tightness is currently preventing this some). Other answered questions:
- One day recovery is still enough for after my long runs (Saturday mornings).
- Choose to do some anaerobic cross-training rather than SEAL Team workouts on non-run days, the best ones being 1) water running or elliptical, adding in some resistance intervals, 2) swimming (good for core strength), 3) cycling (not a top choice since you're sitting most of the time and not engaging the same muscles).
- The PT should take care of and prevent any compensating injuries from the stress fracture.
- Bad symptoms to look out for are throbbing and a "hot spot" feeling in a particular area; if when I bend my toes upward, a swollen lump appears anywhere on the top of my foot; pain that gets worse and doesn't go away throughout the run.
Friday afternoon through today, Garland and I went on a little getaway trip with his brother and sister-in-law to a house on the James River. It was so calm and relaxing (oh, besides the forrest fire we spotted and called in across the creek we were on...). Overall, it was a great way to restart from work and the busy summer we've had. Plus, the weather was perfect by my standards: a little overcast but not too hot or humid.
We started Saturday morning with an hour run together, 6.5 miles---which was relatively fast for me, slow for him. It was the longest run we've both done in a while, as he's been nursing a small injury as well. The gravel and dirt back roads, cool breeze, good company and breakfast (biscuits & sausage gravy) in the pool afterwards made it way less painful.
Marathon training begins bright and early tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 5:45AM, followed by my PT consultation in the afternoon. Last year's kickoff included a mile "time trial" to get an idea of where we fell in with the rest of the group, so I'm expecting the same. My game plan for the next month is to be EXTRA safe and patient---not pushing my speed too much, keeping my form strong and steps short, stretching and foam rolling a lot, fueling smartly and taking an extra day or two off if/when I need it.
Similar to last year, I plan to do weekly training updates. Monday Marathon or Tuesday Training posts? We shall see, we shall see...
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