As we are now 1/2 of the way through 2010, I thought I would do a progress report on my 2010 goals.
1. Buy a new, bigger house: We are under contract! Click here to see more
2. Not gain any weight in 2010: I started the year at 157lbs (11st 3lb) and currently weigh 151lb (10st 11lb).
3. Run a sub 1:45:00 Half Marathon: Complete! I ran 1:41:40 at the Shamrock Half Marathon
4. Run a 5K dressed as a Hot Dog: I plan to do this in the fall. There have been plenty of 5K races so far this year, but I have struggled to find one that where it wouldn't be in bad taste for me to come dressed as a hot dog.
5. Run a Marathon: I am currently in Week 17 of my Marathon Training and I have signed up with Team Fisher House to raise money at the Marine Corps Marathon in October. I have been struggling with a few injuries so far, but I am only a little behind on my training at the moment.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Marathon Training - Week 16
This week went perfectly! I ran a total of 21 miles, played soccer and went to the pool twice for kicking sessions. My Achilles Tendon aches less than last week and feels slightly thinner, however, it is still significantly thicker than my right Achilles Tendon (this is as expected and it might take months before the scar tissue goes away completely). I am still doing my Eccentric Heel Drops twice a day and my hip exercises every second day.
I played soccer on Monday evening and then went to the pool on Tuesday morning for 30 minutes of kicking (the pool was like a warm bath with all of the hot weather we have been having). I have settled in to a routine of kicking two lengths and then resting 30 seconds, which seems to be working well and my legs are not overly tired at the end of the session.
On Wednesday I got up early and ran 6 miles in hot, humid conditions. It was 74F, 23C with 87% humidity at 7am which means that 6 miles takes much more of a toll on my body than it would on a cool day. I got up an hour before I started my run and drank 24oz of water to hydrate (in the winter I can just get up and go and run without worrying about extra hydration). The run went well and I continued my focus on shorter strides with a faster leg turnover and did a few 1 minute spot checks during the run, all of which were either at 180 strides per minute or higher. I set my watch for 9:15/mile and ended up with an average of 9:09/mile. After the run, I noticed that my heart rate continued to creep up during the 54 minute run - more on that later.
On Thursday I did my second kicking session of the week at the pool (30 minutes)
On Friday I ran 7 miles in similar conditions to Wednesday (79F, 26C with 69% humidity). I ran around Shelley Lake 3 times, stopping at the water fountain each time for a quick gulp of water and ran slightly faster with an average of 8:59/minute. I didn't feel any discomfort from my Achilles at all during or after the run and I continued my focus on fast leg turnover and paid attention to whether I was leaning forwards or backwards while I was running. I feel that my hips are stronger, probably from the kicking in the pool and my hip exercises and that I am more stable during my running at the moment and I am leaning forwards more than backwards.
On Sunday I ran 8 miles in typical hot and humid conditions (75F, 23C with 84% humidity). I ran with my fuel belt today with a bottle of water and one with Gatorade so that I could head down to Crabtree Valley Mall (the only water fountain is at Shelley Lake). I found that I had to focus less on my stride length and turnover (I did five 1 minute stride spot checks, all of which were 185 or higher) in this run and I didn't notice myself leaning backwards at any point. Given that I seemed to be maintaining my form pretty well without having to focus on it, I decided to try to carry my arms lower. When I run with my fuel belt, I find that I carry my arms much higher and more in front of my body than by my sides because the placement of the water bottles on the front of the belt. I know that a high arm carry can restrict the amount of air that I can get in to my lungs and I have wanted to change it for a while. I focused on brushing my hands against the bottle holders on my fuel belt which helped to keep my arms low and by my sides. The run went well and I had lots of energy and strength left at the end and I felt like I could have run much further. I ran miles 5 and 6 faster (8:08 and 8:24) just to see how a quicker pace felt - which felt good.
During the run on Sunday I had noticed that my heart rate in miles 5-8 was lower than it had been during my runs on Wednesday and Friday (162-163 compared to 168-170). The weather conditions were similar so it is unlikely that is a factor. I made two changes: my arm carry (lower on Sunday) and running with my fuel belt which meant I consumed slightly more water during my run, but I probably only consumed 6oz of Gatorade during the 70 minute run. One run doesn't mean anything, but I will continue to monitor my heart rate over the next few weeks to see if I can find any patterns related to whether or not I hydrate during my runs.
My Achilles Tendon feels fine after the 21 miles this week. I do have a painful right calf/lower leg which isn't much of a concern at the moment as it is probably related to my first full week of training in a long time!
I am mindful of not increasing my mileage too quickly, so I plan to add an additional 3 miles and run 24 miles this coming week. I am going to stay away from track and tempo work outs for a couple more weeks, so this week my runs will be at 9:00/mile pace.
Here is my plan for Week 17:
Monday: Soccer
Tuesday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Wednesday: Run - 7 miles
Thursday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Friday: Run - 7 miles
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Run - 10 miles
I played soccer on Monday evening and then went to the pool on Tuesday morning for 30 minutes of kicking (the pool was like a warm bath with all of the hot weather we have been having). I have settled in to a routine of kicking two lengths and then resting 30 seconds, which seems to be working well and my legs are not overly tired at the end of the session.
On Wednesday I got up early and ran 6 miles in hot, humid conditions. It was 74F, 23C with 87% humidity at 7am which means that 6 miles takes much more of a toll on my body than it would on a cool day. I got up an hour before I started my run and drank 24oz of water to hydrate (in the winter I can just get up and go and run without worrying about extra hydration). The run went well and I continued my focus on shorter strides with a faster leg turnover and did a few 1 minute spot checks during the run, all of which were either at 180 strides per minute or higher. I set my watch for 9:15/mile and ended up with an average of 9:09/mile. After the run, I noticed that my heart rate continued to creep up during the 54 minute run - more on that later.
On Thursday I did my second kicking session of the week at the pool (30 minutes)
On Friday I ran 7 miles in similar conditions to Wednesday (79F, 26C with 69% humidity). I ran around Shelley Lake 3 times, stopping at the water fountain each time for a quick gulp of water and ran slightly faster with an average of 8:59/minute. I didn't feel any discomfort from my Achilles at all during or after the run and I continued my focus on fast leg turnover and paid attention to whether I was leaning forwards or backwards while I was running. I feel that my hips are stronger, probably from the kicking in the pool and my hip exercises and that I am more stable during my running at the moment and I am leaning forwards more than backwards.
On Sunday I ran 8 miles in typical hot and humid conditions (75F, 23C with 84% humidity). I ran with my fuel belt today with a bottle of water and one with Gatorade so that I could head down to Crabtree Valley Mall (the only water fountain is at Shelley Lake). I found that I had to focus less on my stride length and turnover (I did five 1 minute stride spot checks, all of which were 185 or higher) in this run and I didn't notice myself leaning backwards at any point. Given that I seemed to be maintaining my form pretty well without having to focus on it, I decided to try to carry my arms lower. When I run with my fuel belt, I find that I carry my arms much higher and more in front of my body than by my sides because the placement of the water bottles on the front of the belt. I know that a high arm carry can restrict the amount of air that I can get in to my lungs and I have wanted to change it for a while. I focused on brushing my hands against the bottle holders on my fuel belt which helped to keep my arms low and by my sides. The run went well and I had lots of energy and strength left at the end and I felt like I could have run much further. I ran miles 5 and 6 faster (8:08 and 8:24) just to see how a quicker pace felt - which felt good.
During the run on Sunday I had noticed that my heart rate in miles 5-8 was lower than it had been during my runs on Wednesday and Friday (162-163 compared to 168-170). The weather conditions were similar so it is unlikely that is a factor. I made two changes: my arm carry (lower on Sunday) and running with my fuel belt which meant I consumed slightly more water during my run, but I probably only consumed 6oz of Gatorade during the 70 minute run. One run doesn't mean anything, but I will continue to monitor my heart rate over the next few weeks to see if I can find any patterns related to whether or not I hydrate during my runs.
My Achilles Tendon feels fine after the 21 miles this week. I do have a painful right calf/lower leg which isn't much of a concern at the moment as it is probably related to my first full week of training in a long time!
I am mindful of not increasing my mileage too quickly, so I plan to add an additional 3 miles and run 24 miles this coming week. I am going to stay away from track and tempo work outs for a couple more weeks, so this week my runs will be at 9:00/mile pace.
Here is my plan for Week 17:
Monday: Soccer
Tuesday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Wednesday: Run - 7 miles
Thursday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Friday: Run - 7 miles
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Run - 10 miles
Monday, June 21, 2010
Marathon Training - Week 15
I was working in Toronto this week and I had access to the hotel gym which had a couple of treadmills and a bike.
On Monday evening I jumped on the treadmill and ran for 30 minutes. I made sure I did my eccentric heal drops before I started (using the stairs in the emergency exit) and I ran for 30 minutes without a problem at an easy pace. I then used the bike for a 10 minute cool down.
On Tuesday I had planned to cycle instead of run, however when I went down to the gym and found that the bike was in use and didn't look like it would be free any time soon - so I jumped on the treadmill again. I ran for 35 minutes at the same pace as Monday and my Achilles felt okay. The bike was still being used at the end of my run, so I walked on the treadmill to cool down.
On Wednesday I decided to run on the treadmill again and managed 40 minutes followed by a 10 minute cool down on the bike. My legs felt a little tired after running for three straight days, but nothing more than some tiredness. My Achilles continues to only ache if I apply pressure to it with my fingers. I had hoped that the results of "pinch test" would have improved by now, but apparently it is not unusual for it to take a number of weeks for the pain to go away.
I traveled back home on Thursday and painted the Kitchen on Friday, so they were my rest days for the week.
On Saturday I went out early for a 5 mile run (at 7am it was 74F, 23C with 88% humidity) and decided to focus on my form. I have been doing lots of reading about running form (more on that in another post that will come soon) and am going to work on running with a forward lean (I had noticed that in a number of photos from races I have a backwards lean) and a slightly shorter stride. This will make me more efficient and hopefully less prone to injury. I worked hard on leaning forward slightly and keeping my stride rate up at around 180/minute. Unfortunately, this resulted in me running much faster than I wanted to (8:40, 8:07, 8:19, 7:52, 7:57) even though I was trying to slow down!
My legs were tired and tight after the run, which isn't a huge surprise as I haven't run at pace much recently.
On Sunday, I went to the pool and kicked for 30 minutes. I still find kicking hard, but not quite as hard as it was when I first started!
This week I hope to run three times outside at an easy pace, gradually increasing my mileage back up. This will be a good test for my Achilles!
Here is my plan for Week 16:
Monday: Soccer
Tuesday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Wednesday: Run - 6 miles
Thursday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Friday: Run - 7 miles
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Run - 8 miles
On Monday evening I jumped on the treadmill and ran for 30 minutes. I made sure I did my eccentric heal drops before I started (using the stairs in the emergency exit) and I ran for 30 minutes without a problem at an easy pace. I then used the bike for a 10 minute cool down.
On Tuesday I had planned to cycle instead of run, however when I went down to the gym and found that the bike was in use and didn't look like it would be free any time soon - so I jumped on the treadmill again. I ran for 35 minutes at the same pace as Monday and my Achilles felt okay. The bike was still being used at the end of my run, so I walked on the treadmill to cool down.
On Wednesday I decided to run on the treadmill again and managed 40 minutes followed by a 10 minute cool down on the bike. My legs felt a little tired after running for three straight days, but nothing more than some tiredness. My Achilles continues to only ache if I apply pressure to it with my fingers. I had hoped that the results of "pinch test" would have improved by now, but apparently it is not unusual for it to take a number of weeks for the pain to go away.
I traveled back home on Thursday and painted the Kitchen on Friday, so they were my rest days for the week.
On Saturday I went out early for a 5 mile run (at 7am it was 74F, 23C with 88% humidity) and decided to focus on my form. I have been doing lots of reading about running form (more on that in another post that will come soon) and am going to work on running with a forward lean (I had noticed that in a number of photos from races I have a backwards lean) and a slightly shorter stride. This will make me more efficient and hopefully less prone to injury. I worked hard on leaning forward slightly and keeping my stride rate up at around 180/minute. Unfortunately, this resulted in me running much faster than I wanted to (8:40, 8:07, 8:19, 7:52, 7:57) even though I was trying to slow down!
My legs were tired and tight after the run, which isn't a huge surprise as I haven't run at pace much recently.
On Sunday, I went to the pool and kicked for 30 minutes. I still find kicking hard, but not quite as hard as it was when I first started!
This week I hope to run three times outside at an easy pace, gradually increasing my mileage back up. This will be a good test for my Achilles!
Here is my plan for Week 16:
Monday: Soccer
Tuesday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Wednesday: Run - 6 miles
Thursday: Kicking - 30 minutes
Friday: Run - 7 miles
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Run - 8 miles
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
New Layout
I have created pages for my "Previous Training Runs" and "Previous Race Results" which can now be accessed using the links at the top of this page. I did this because the Training Run Log that I had created on the right hand side of my home page was already beginning to get too long. Hopefully this will make the information easier for me to update and easier for you to view.
Marathon Training - Week 14
This week has been a much better week than last week!
I did my Eccentric Heel Drops twice a day every day this week along with my hip exercises once a day, and I have seen a visible reduction in swelling around my Achilles Tendon. My left tendon is still thicker than my right, but apparently it can take weeks before the scar tissue is replaced completely.
On Monday I decided to go and play soccer at IBM. I knew there would be a big enough group that I wouldn't have to do much running and that if I felt pain in my leg, I could simply play the role of goalie. We played for approximately an hour and a half, and although I felt some discomfort and tightness when I was running short distances, it was minimal. I made a point of warming down by taking a jog for a few laps around the field (on the grass) and I iced my lower leg when I got home.
On Tuesday my leg felt fine (which was a nice surprise), so I went to the pool and kicked for 30 minutes. The temperature has been high already this year with highs of around 90F (32C) and lows around 70F (21C) so the water in the pool is warm like bath water, even at 8am.
On Wednesday I went for a cycle. It is taking my body a little while to get used to cycling and as I got on the bike I wished I had a little more padding on my backside! With this in mind, I had done my morning set of Eccentric Heel Drops before I went out with the plan to take a jog on some of the grassy areas to break up the cycling. I was out cycling/running for a total of 60 minutes, and probably ran for 20 minutes in various areas. The pain free, discomfort free, tightness free running gave me some confidence in my recovery and I decided to take a slow run on Thursday.
On Thursday I did my morning Eccentric Heel Drops and then set out for a run with a target of 30 minutes in mind and completed the run from the house down and around Shelley Lake without anything more than some slight tightness in my lower calf. I had expected some tightness so I wasn't overly worried. I iced my lower leg when I got home and monitored my Achilles throughout the day. There was no noticeable reaction throughout the day and I went to be pain free!
I made the decision to walk the Susan G Komen 5K instead of run as I didn't want to push my body and waste two weeks of recovery. With this in mind, I rested on Friday and just did my Eccentric Heel Drops and Hip Exercises.
On Saturday morning we woke up at 5:00 am and made our way to Meredith College to meet the NCRC team at 6:15 and collect our race shirts and bibs. It was a hot and humid morning and I was thankful that I had decided against running! We watched the finish of the competitive 5K and finally set off for our walk at 8:45am. The course was hilly and the thousands of people meant that it was a slow but pain free 59 minute walk. It is an amazing experience to walk with 25000 other people and being in the middle of the walkers meant we had a great view of the sea of people walking along Hillsborough Street.
The rest of the day was busy. We went to a party to watch the England/USA game at the World Cup and then to watch the Durham Bulls for Shane's Birthday. My leg felt a little tired after being on my feet for so long, but there wasn't any swelling or pain - so I was happy!
I am ready to attempt to run three times next week and gradually increase my workload while continuing my Eccentric Heel Drops to strengthen my calves. Next week I have to travel to Toronto for four days (three nights) for work, so I have planned the following workouts:
Monday: Run 30 minutes (treadmill)
Tuesday: Cycle 60 minutes
Wednesday: Run 35 minutes (treadmill)
Thursday: Rest (Travel)
Friday: Swim - Kicking 30 minutes
Saturday: Run 40 minutes
Sunday: Rest
I did my Eccentric Heel Drops twice a day every day this week along with my hip exercises once a day, and I have seen a visible reduction in swelling around my Achilles Tendon. My left tendon is still thicker than my right, but apparently it can take weeks before the scar tissue is replaced completely.
On Monday I decided to go and play soccer at IBM. I knew there would be a big enough group that I wouldn't have to do much running and that if I felt pain in my leg, I could simply play the role of goalie. We played for approximately an hour and a half, and although I felt some discomfort and tightness when I was running short distances, it was minimal. I made a point of warming down by taking a jog for a few laps around the field (on the grass) and I iced my lower leg when I got home.
On Tuesday my leg felt fine (which was a nice surprise), so I went to the pool and kicked for 30 minutes. The temperature has been high already this year with highs of around 90F (32C) and lows around 70F (21C) so the water in the pool is warm like bath water, even at 8am.
On Wednesday I went for a cycle. It is taking my body a little while to get used to cycling and as I got on the bike I wished I had a little more padding on my backside! With this in mind, I had done my morning set of Eccentric Heel Drops before I went out with the plan to take a jog on some of the grassy areas to break up the cycling. I was out cycling/running for a total of 60 minutes, and probably ran for 20 minutes in various areas. The pain free, discomfort free, tightness free running gave me some confidence in my recovery and I decided to take a slow run on Thursday.
On Thursday I did my morning Eccentric Heel Drops and then set out for a run with a target of 30 minutes in mind and completed the run from the house down and around Shelley Lake without anything more than some slight tightness in my lower calf. I had expected some tightness so I wasn't overly worried. I iced my lower leg when I got home and monitored my Achilles throughout the day. There was no noticeable reaction throughout the day and I went to be pain free!
I made the decision to walk the Susan G Komen 5K instead of run as I didn't want to push my body and waste two weeks of recovery. With this in mind, I rested on Friday and just did my Eccentric Heel Drops and Hip Exercises.
On Saturday morning we woke up at 5:00 am and made our way to Meredith College to meet the NCRC team at 6:15 and collect our race shirts and bibs. It was a hot and humid morning and I was thankful that I had decided against running! We watched the finish of the competitive 5K and finally set off for our walk at 8:45am. The course was hilly and the thousands of people meant that it was a slow but pain free 59 minute walk. It is an amazing experience to walk with 25000 other people and being in the middle of the walkers meant we had a great view of the sea of people walking along Hillsborough Street.
The rest of the day was busy. We went to a party to watch the England/USA game at the World Cup and then to watch the Durham Bulls for Shane's Birthday. My leg felt a little tired after being on my feet for so long, but there wasn't any swelling or pain - so I was happy!
I am ready to attempt to run three times next week and gradually increase my workload while continuing my Eccentric Heel Drops to strengthen my calves. Next week I have to travel to Toronto for four days (three nights) for work, so I have planned the following workouts:
Monday: Run 30 minutes (treadmill)
Tuesday: Cycle 60 minutes
Wednesday: Run 35 minutes (treadmill)
Thursday: Rest (Travel)
Friday: Swim - Kicking 30 minutes
Saturday: Run 40 minutes
Sunday: Rest
Monday, June 7, 2010
Marathon Training - Week 13
Funny - I didn't realize this week was week #13. I guess that explains everything!
I logged the grand total of zero miles this week due to my swollen and tender left Achilles Tendon. I did however venture to the community pool twice and on both occasions kicked my way up and down the pool for 30 minutes with my sparkly new kickboard (which looks something like this one, but with a shark print!) and did a 10 mile bike ride in a really low gear. I even had to miss the McDowell 5K-ish run this Sunday (which disappointed me more than having to miss any of my other runs!)
After a couple of days of resting my legs on Tuesday and Wednesday, I started my rehab phase on Thursday with Eccentric Heel Drops. I have suspected for a while now that my calves are a weak point for me given how much trouble I have had with them since I started running more than a few miles at a time and Eccentric Heel Drops are one of the best ways to strengthen the muscles and tendons from my ankles to my calves.
Eccentric means "muscle lengthening" and in this case, the calf muscle is lengthened by dropping the heel below the toes. The photo below shows the first stage of the exercise where I stand on one straight leg on a stair and slowly lower my heal from a raised position down lower than my toes which lengthens my calf muscle and Achilles Tendon. I then place my other foot down and lift my body back up to the starting position and perform the drop again. I do 3 sets of 15 of these heel drops per leg. This focuses on the gastrocnemis muscle.
I logged the grand total of zero miles this week due to my swollen and tender left Achilles Tendon. I did however venture to the community pool twice and on both occasions kicked my way up and down the pool for 30 minutes with my sparkly new kickboard (which looks something like this one, but with a shark print!) and did a 10 mile bike ride in a really low gear. I even had to miss the McDowell 5K-ish run this Sunday (which disappointed me more than having to miss any of my other runs!)
After a couple of days of resting my legs on Tuesday and Wednesday, I started my rehab phase on Thursday with Eccentric Heel Drops. I have suspected for a while now that my calves are a weak point for me given how much trouble I have had with them since I started running more than a few miles at a time and Eccentric Heel Drops are one of the best ways to strengthen the muscles and tendons from my ankles to my calves.
Eccentric means "muscle lengthening" and in this case, the calf muscle is lengthened by dropping the heel below the toes. The photo below shows the first stage of the exercise where I stand on one straight leg on a stair and slowly lower my heal from a raised position down lower than my toes which lengthens my calf muscle and Achilles Tendon. I then place my other foot down and lift my body back up to the starting position and perform the drop again. I do 3 sets of 15 of these heel drops per leg. This focuses on the gastrocnemis muscle.
The next stage of the exercise is to do the same heel drop with a bent leg. The soleus muscle is connected to the gastrocnemis to form what people refer to as the "calf" muscle. It is isolated during exercises by bending the leg at the knee. I perform 3 sets of 15 of these bent leg heel drops per leg.
I have found that until recently I neglected this muscle completely during warm up and warm down stretching as I always performed my "runners stretch" with a straight leg (as shown below) which only stretches the gastrocnemis.
I discovered my neglect when reading one of my books earlier this year and started adding the exercise shown below to stretch the soleus muscle.
I currently do my Eccentric Heel Drops twice a day and need to continue them for 12 weeks before cutting back to once a day.
So far I have seen an improvement each day. The swelling is no longer visible and I didn't develop a bump on the Achilles (which is one of the tell-tale signs that the injury is bad enough to be classed as "Tendonitis"). There is still some discomfort when I perform the pinch test on the tendon, but it is less than it was this time last week.
I plan to do a jogging session on Thursday to evaluate whether I can run in the Susan G Komen 5K on Saturday. I am going to play soccer tonight and continue with my kicking and cycling this week - hopefully I'll be back running soon!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Injury has finally struck
Unfortunately, what has probably been coming for a while has finally struck - injury.
When I look back over my last few months of blog entries, I can see the signs are there. I had my calf and ankle issues in March and April and then had weird leg tiredness following the Inside-Out Sports Half Marathon in mid-May - all of which point to my body trying to tell me to take a break and strengthen my body. I didn't listen, and following my long run on Monday, my left Achilles Tendon has swollen up and become painful - the start of Achilles Tendinitis.
I had issues with my right Achilles Tendon last year when I slipped on a curb in Houston (known as the Houston Shuffle) and over stretched the tendon. The tendon's response was to swell up and contract in an attempt to heal from the strain. I tried running for a couple of days after the incident, but the pain got the better of me and I stopped running for a couple of weeks. Although I didn't slip on any curbs this time, I think the running on the hills in Umstead, not doing a cool down following the Half Marathon and instead moving tonnes of water and supplies in my flip-slops and then running a fast 5K on a hilly course the next weekend was too much for my already overworked body and my weakest point gave out - in this case my left Achilles Tendon.
The good news is that after 3 days without running (and wearing flip-flops which just make the situation worse) I am nearly pain free. I could barely walk on Tuesday, and now I only feel pain if I pinch the tendon between my fingers. The swelling has gone down and I can complete my stretches and strengthening exercises pain free. However, I know that I am far from recovered and plan to give myself another week of no running.
I have the Susan G. Komen 5K next Saturday and I will make a decision the day before on whether I am going to attempt to run the race or just give it a miss.
The good thing about this injury happening now is that I haven't really started increasing my mileage yet, so I won't be behind in my training for the Marathon and it will give my body some much deserved time to recover.
I am able to do other forms of exercise that don't involve impact in the tendon - so I am swimming instead of running. I did my first "kicking" session yesterday in which I swim using just my legs holding a kick-board in my hands. This is a hard workout for my legs as kicking typically provides only about 20% of the power used in swimming, with the rest of the power coming from the arms. I managed about 30 minutes of kicking up and down the community pool and plan to do this at least ever other day from now on - even when I am running.
I hope I won't lose too many weeks of training due to this injury, but I am fully aware that trying to run through it is a bad idea and will really effect my Marathon training - as my Achilles Tendon isn't going to heal if I continue running when it is swollen and/or painful.
When I look back over my last few months of blog entries, I can see the signs are there. I had my calf and ankle issues in March and April and then had weird leg tiredness following the Inside-Out Sports Half Marathon in mid-May - all of which point to my body trying to tell me to take a break and strengthen my body. I didn't listen, and following my long run on Monday, my left Achilles Tendon has swollen up and become painful - the start of Achilles Tendinitis.
I had issues with my right Achilles Tendon last year when I slipped on a curb in Houston (known as the Houston Shuffle) and over stretched the tendon. The tendon's response was to swell up and contract in an attempt to heal from the strain. I tried running for a couple of days after the incident, but the pain got the better of me and I stopped running for a couple of weeks. Although I didn't slip on any curbs this time, I think the running on the hills in Umstead, not doing a cool down following the Half Marathon and instead moving tonnes of water and supplies in my flip-slops and then running a fast 5K on a hilly course the next weekend was too much for my already overworked body and my weakest point gave out - in this case my left Achilles Tendon.
The good news is that after 3 days without running (and wearing flip-flops which just make the situation worse) I am nearly pain free. I could barely walk on Tuesday, and now I only feel pain if I pinch the tendon between my fingers. The swelling has gone down and I can complete my stretches and strengthening exercises pain free. However, I know that I am far from recovered and plan to give myself another week of no running.
I have the Susan G. Komen 5K next Saturday and I will make a decision the day before on whether I am going to attempt to run the race or just give it a miss.
The good thing about this injury happening now is that I haven't really started increasing my mileage yet, so I won't be behind in my training for the Marathon and it will give my body some much deserved time to recover.
I am able to do other forms of exercise that don't involve impact in the tendon - so I am swimming instead of running. I did my first "kicking" session yesterday in which I swim using just my legs holding a kick-board in my hands. This is a hard workout for my legs as kicking typically provides only about 20% of the power used in swimming, with the rest of the power coming from the arms. I managed about 30 minutes of kicking up and down the community pool and plan to do this at least ever other day from now on - even when I am running.
I hope I won't lose too many weeks of training due to this injury, but I am fully aware that trying to run through it is a bad idea and will really effect my Marathon training - as my Achilles Tendon isn't going to heal if I continue running when it is swollen and/or painful.
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