You know what's funny? That during a "recovery week", it feels as though my foot injury might be returning. I noticed a weird feeling in my foot again last Monday. It's not a sharp pain, throbbing or soreness, nor is it noticeably swollen. The only word I've found that's close to describing it is "strain"...like a muscle strain? It's really just a discernible and different feeling, but a feeling that ensured a very restful recovery week.
Monday: One hour cross-training workout (gym)
Tuesday: 1 hour run (5.75 miles)
Wednesday: 30 minute walk
Thursday: 1 hour run (4)
Friday: 45 minute cross-training/stretching (gym)
Saturday: 1 hour run (5.8 miles)
Sunday: Tubing on the James River
TOTAL MILEAGE: 12.55
I noticed my foot on Monday; so instead of jumping into my car to head to the SEAL Team PT workout after work, I took the elevator to my work's gym. I was at the end of a book, so I happily read on the adaptive motion machine for 45 minutes plus some pushups and sit-ups for good measure.
The next morning, Garland decided to skip due to his own aches and pains so I headed out to our Tuesday run all by my lonesome. It seems incredibly unfair to be the only one getting out of bed when the street lights are the only thing shining outside ;) I'd intended for it to be a slow run, but my fresh legs got the better of me. All of my miles except for the first were (just barely) under 9 minutes. Overall, this run felt normal. Total time: 52:45; average pace: 9:10; fastest mile: 8:48; slowest mile: 10:14.
The funny foot feeling continued. Wednesday included just a short walk around the neighborhood with Garland before a dessert dinner with friends. Thursday morning's run was amended to a solo 4-miler (rather than a typical hour group run). It's way easier for me to go slower when I'm alone...on the other hand, it's also a lot harder to go fast! Again, my foot and the rest of my body felt fine during the run but I cut it short to be safe. Total time: 38:15; average pace: 9:33; fastest mile: 9:10; slowest mile: 9:58.
Also on Thursday, I finished this giant bag of sweet potato corn tortilla chips that I bought on Monday. Recovery week means nothing to my body's carb cravings. These were the best chips I've had in a long while...gluten free has never tasted so good.
This past Saturday was Garland's (and his twin brother's) birthday, so I was compelled to attend the morning group run. Garland got to lead "birthday pushups" and I knew the rest of the weekend would include 4x the average day's worth of calories. I fell into a good rhythm and successfully ran every mile slower than a 9 min/mile pace. And to make things more interesting, it poured rain halfway through the hour. Total time: 55:13; average pace: 9:28; fastest mile: 9:23; slowest mile: 9:43.
Saturday breakfast #1 - Bacon, egg & cheese tako from Boka Tako Truck at the South of the James farmers' market, complete with a drippy yolk situation
Saturday breakfast #2 - Pancakes, bacon & pitchers of mimosas at Kitchen 64 with 14 friends. River tubing was moved to Sunday due to dreary weather. The [one bottle champagne]:[one mimosa pitcher] ratio helped sooth the disappointment.
I didn't notice my foot at all yesterday, but I'm tempted to continue on the cautious path with straight cross-training rather than SEAL Team PT workouts this week (where there's typically 2-3 miles per workout with stuff in between).
My foot feel completely normal during runs, it's only when I walk around outside of workouts that it bothers me---similar to (but not exactly) how it was two days pre-marathon last year. So it's either just muscles still strengthening/adjusting OR the beginning of a stress fracture. If it's the latter, I'm hoping to deter it from progressing by decreasing my weekly impact on it. Wishful thinking? I might have to consider re-joining the YMCA for the option of water running. As always, I've got to take training ONE WEEK at a time...
I'm currently planning to run the 2014 Richmond Marathon this November 15th. Every Monday, my posts are dedicated to this journey to the finish line! I'm training with (and following the program supplied by) with my local fitness group, SEAL Team PT.
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