Counting down the days!

Since my last update a lot has happened, mostly for the good! After still having some pain in my lower calf muscles and tendons, I followed my physical therapist's advice and took a long hiatus from running (well 2 full weeks, but it feels like a long break) . The goal was to shut down the muscles and allow them to recover. In the meantime, I filled my training weeks with all sorts of cross-training including a grueling 2.5 hour pool run in the diving well of the Brookline pool. On that Saturday afternoon I watched countless children perfect their dives, cannonballs, and freestyle. Somehow the time passed quickly and I decided pool running was bearable and beneficial. I might make it a part of my regular running even when I am not recovering from injury.

On Monday I got the "ok" to run up to 6 miles! Yesterday I ran a full 6 without any pain at all for the first time in over a month. It was an amazing feeling and it gave me a lot of confidence for next Monday. I know 6 isn't anywhere near 26.2 but I'm optimistic that my pre-injury long runs, pool workouts, adrenaline, and awesome crowd support will get me to the finish!

Speaking of the finish, when I was leaving PT this morning, I noticed that they were setting up the stands around the finish line and I got really excited. Even after all these months of training, as the marathon draws near, I'm finding it hard to wait 5 days!

Injury Stricken

Hi everyone!

It's been almost 3 weeks since I've written and there are a few new developments in my training. Things have not been going as planned for a while now. Several days after the 16 mile run I last wrote about, my left inner ankle and Achilles tendon area still hurt. This wasn't normal for me-- usually I feel better a day or two after a long run. A bit too eager to keep up my running, I tried again after a few days, but it was painful. Still, hopeful, and not listening to my body like I should have, I tried again the next day and it still hurt. I knew this wasn't a good sign. I've had this kind of pain before from increasing my mileage too fast and I knew that this chronic pain had again flared up.

Fortunately, I left for a week in Montana with my family and my boyfriend, Rob, and I hadn't been planning on running heavily anyway that week. We traveled to the northwestern part of the state, near Big Mountain/Whitefish and Glacier National Park--a vast, beautiful, and sparsely populated area, perfect for lots of snow related cross training. I spent the week skiing, snowshoeing, and pool running, hoping to prevent losing the fitness I'd built up. Snowshoeing was really fun (but cold) and at one point, in Glacier, we practically ended up in a grizzly bear den. They were deep in hibernation, but still, seeing a sign that read " Grizzlies have been known to attack humans for no apparent reason," was a little disheartening!

We returned to Boston, and the next day, the weather was fantastic, and I couldn't resist going for a run. I felt fine during the very slow run and afterwards, but the next day my ankle was swollen and hurting again. It was definitely time to see a physical therapist. A few days later, when the physical therapist looked at my feet and had me do a few exercises, she determined pretty quickly that I didn't actually have achilles tendonitis, like I thought all along, but my posterior tibialis muscle was being overworked due to the way I run. It was so great to finally know what was wrong with me! For the past 4 years, I've had this problem once or twice a year when I've increased my mileage a bit too fast or over-trained, but I always thought it was my achilles that was bugging me. It feels so good to at least have that cleared up and to know what's wrong. Now to treat it correctly so I can make it to (and through) the marathon!

On Course

Well, another week is coming to an end and I am gearing up for a long run tomorrow. Last Saturday I ran 12 miles on the marathon course and I think it went well. I was nervous because I hadn’t run over 10 miles in a few months. Also, about a week earlier I clumsily injured my toe by running into a chair leg before I put my contacts in one morning. It turned black and blue and was swollen for days. I was so scared I had broken it. Fortunately, my toe was feeling better and the day was sunny, though only 25 degrees, with a wind chill of 11! After a week of walking on icy, snowy sidewalks I was worried about the state of Comm. Ave but it turned out to be nearly 100% cleared and easy to run on. It was fun to see other runners, some solo, some in groups, out for their long run. We exchange smiles and a few words when stopped at traffic lights or when slowing down near an icy patch on the road. There is definitely a sense of runner camaraderie when training on the course!

As I ran up and down the rolling Newton hills and then Heartbreak hill I thought about the marathon and how excited I am to finally be running Boston. I think I’ve watched it from the Boston College main gate, about 4-5 times, sometimes as a BC student, others when my parents were running it. As I watched runners after they had just climbed Heartbreak hill, I always pictured myself out there. The chance to run this year holds so much meaning for me and I am really happy to be running it for Hospitality Homes.