Monday, July 25th:
Unplanned day off. Still some residual soreness/stiffness behind my left heel. Old Casey would have run through the discomfort and logged the easy 8 miles on the schedule; New Casey has learned that missed mileage early in the marathon cycle is WAY better than missed mileage late in the marathon cycle. See how I feel tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 26th:
Day off. Missed running today not so much because of the heel (which, thankfully seems to be improving by the day) but moreso because of the food poisoning/vomitting that plagued me this morning. Felt better by evening, but definitely not fun to have to get sick while at work and patients can clearly hear the loud noises emanating from the office restroom. Nice.
Wednesday, July 27th:
4:40 am, 72 degrees, 75%, 0-5mph. Cherry Hill West Track. Nike Run Avant.
2 mile warm up, 4x1200m w/400m recovery jogs, 2 mile cool down.
Goal: (4:18/rep, or 5:45/mile pace)
Actual Splits: (4:18 17 16 14)
Heel felt fine, but my legs were SO heavy/tight - both from my recent inactivity and from fluid loss while vomiting yesterday. The warm up and cool down were very slow, and I really had to work to get my legs to turn over fast enough during the workout; but as you can see from the splits, I still hit all the marks. Probably had to work harder than I normally would for this type of workout, but I was glad to still get a quality session in this week despite the hiccups. I would hope that the next time I have track work I will be more fully recovered and things will go smoother. And I am not even fretting my mileage this week - whatever it is, it is. I'll push back the heavier mileage another week or two once I know for sure I am in the clear with my health.
8:15 pm, 80 degrees, 50%, 5-10 mph. Neighborhood. Saucony C2.
3m easy pace - 7:35 average. Much easier effort than this morning. Practiced POSE running, or the act of falling forward. Form seemed much more efficient and the run required way less energy. Easier on the feet also. Heel still not 100% but definitely manageable.
Thursday, July 28th:
4:45 am, 72 degrees, 75%, calm. Neighborhood. Adidas Marathon 10.
1m easy - 8:28 average. Looks like it's time for an extended layoff. Heel situation just won't go away. What's crazy is it's not painful - probably 3 out of 10 on a pain scale while running, 1 out of 10 on a pain scale while walking - but running at this point seems to exacerbate it and I just don't want to blow it up into something bigger than it already is. I would prefer to take the extra time off now with the hope of all symptoms disappearing before I resume running. If it persists beyond a week, I may break down and see a specialist. Kind of a bummer since I had been progressing nicely week after week and taking easy days easy - gotta roll with the punches sometimes.
Friday, July 29th:
4:40 pm, 92 degrees, 50%, 5-15mph. Pennypacker Park Trail Loop. New Balance 890.
3m easy - 7:42 average. So go ahead and laugh. My layoff lasted about 36 hours. I'll admit it...I am an addict. I did TONS of form/balance/stretching drills last night and all day today. It didn't help that Janine and the girls are down at the shore and I have nobody but myself with whom to pass the time. I am NOT lying when I say that all those drills helped (tremendously). I am NOT lying when I say that I felt great on my run today, because I really did (even though it was hot). However, I would be lying if I said that I thought running was better for me than rest right now or that I feel 100% healed. Because in the back of my mind, I know I am not 100% yet. I am getting closer, but I am not there yet.
Sometimes you have to test the waters. A large part of me thinks that the injury happened for one of two reasons (or both): a) I tried to do too much in the heat on my long run last Saturday - as I tired my form broke down completely the last couple miles and my foot strike was nowhere near what it normally is, and/or b) I carried a 20oz bottle of Gatorade in my left hand for the second half of that run, which forced an imbalance in my stride and impacted my left foot strike with greater force than it normally does. At least those are the theories I am sticking with.
Doing stride and form drills the past 36 hours has also forced me to realize how long my stride had artificially become in just the past few weeks. Breaking my stride back down to the basics enabled me to see how much more natural and efficient I feel with a much shorter stride, with a lower arm swing, and less powerful impact forces. Hopefully all of this will help both my heel situation and my running. I do promise not to overdo it. But the logical part of me rationalizes that if my heel doesn't hurt while running, there's no reason to take additional time off. Let's see if that logic holds as I progress slowly over the next week.
Saturday, July 30th:
4:45 am, 76 degrees, 80%, 5-15mph. 10x Westfield Gravel path + cooldown. Adidas Marathon 10.
3m warmup, 4 (1.43mMP/1.43E), 1/2m cooldown.
Goal splits: (6:30/7:50)
Actual splits: (6:28/7:47, 6:28/7:39, 6:27/7:42, 6:08/7:46)
I am pretty sure I will look back at this day as the turning point of this marathon training cycle, for better or worse. I was hesitant to run long this morning given my heel situation, so I figured I would play it doubly safe by running on the crushed gravel path loop (easy on the feet) which is just under 1.5m, so that at any point in the run I could call it quits if the heel acted up. I paid extra attention to my form today, allowing neither my mind to lapse at any point nor my body (and therefore foot strike) to break down. The humidity made the going a little tough in the beginning, but by the 3rd workout loop I really found my groove and realized the heel wouldn't be a problem.
I also learned my lesson from last week and stopped after every easy loop to get adequate Gatorade in my system before starting the marathon pace loops. Between the Gatorade every 2.8m or so and the Gu gels every 5m, I felt fully fueled today. On the last marathon pace loop, I was feeling strong and decided to pace myself not by the Garmin but rather to "run on feel" and to practice finishing strong for the half-marathon that is less than a month away now. I was really stoked to see 6:08 pace that last loop, because a) that is approximately the pace I hope to average for the half, b) I finished that loop at exactly the 13m mark of the run, so it certainly indicates strength, and c) I had another gear to go to if I needed it. Best of all, no heel pain at any point of the run!
I'll know by tomorrow if I am in the clear and if the heel is truly healing, or if I made a big mistake today and can't walk at all tomorrow. I truly have faith in the former. I also have renewed faith in my physical abilities, and I am learning more and more to not fear racing/pain/time. Which isn't to say I have thrown all caution out the window. I certainly plan on giving myself lots of easy days to allow myself to heal properly. But certain time barriers used to strike fear into me, and God-willing I get to race day healthy, those barriers are going to have to battle one tough warrior.
Sunday, July 31:
5:40 am, 70 degrees, 80%, calm. Hialeah-Cherry Hill Blvd Loop. New Balance 890.
6m easy (BOF) - 8:01 average.
Spectacular morning weather full of early sunshine, lower temps, and no wind. Took only 1/4m to get myself into a nice rhythm which I maintained for the entire run. By mile 4, I felt like I was on autopilot and could just keep going and going for hours on end. But it was a recovery day, I pulled back the reins, and called it a day when I was supposed to. Heel is a minor nuisance when I wake up in the morning, but seems to have no effect whatsoever on my running (which, I think is actually helping the healing process at this point). Still cautious moving ahead, but feel like I am beyond the worst of it.
Weekly Total: 36 miles
Ernest Hemingway wrote a classic short story called "The End of Something." Today is the last day of the week, the last day of July - and it definitely feels like I am ending one chapter of my running and moving into something totally unknown. I took a big step in the athlete maturation process this week by giving myself time off of running at the slightest bit of discomfort - something I never would have done in the past, especially when the schedule called for heavy mileage. Turns out, I ended up running just over half of the planned 70 miles. But I feel like taking this step back to look at the bigger picture from a more panoramic perspective has done wonders for my psyche and health in the long run. I am rejuvenated. I am empowered. I feel absolutely ready to take on what will be the toughest month of this marathon cycle and what will be the most training I have ever done in one month - granted I stay healthy. Sometimes minor setbacks are the best things that can ever happen to you in life. I hope this week turns out to be one of those moments.
4 weeks to half marathon, 11 weeks to the marathon.
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