Well as I sit at my laptop now I am certainly not in a position I would have imagined myself two months ago. The Steamtown marathon is less than one month ago but alas I will no longer be toeing the ling on October 8th with some of the best runners around seeking a Boston Qualifier. Following my 4:56 miles race (something that I am still excited about) I had a strange pain on the top-lateral area of my foot somewhat close to the ankle. I wrote this injury off as due to my unfamiliarity with the spikes I wore but in hindsight that was probably unwise.
I took a day off since I have always followed the philosophy that taking rest days when you need them or even if you might not is always better than paying for it later. Then my foot felt pretty good so I set out for an easy trail run. I decided I would start at Gathland State Park and head towards Weverton Overlook realizing I could always turn around anytime. I did feel some lingering soreness after maybe 15 minutes of running so I stretched it out and ran easy back to my car for maybe 3 miles. The foot actually felt better at that point and did a stride analysis video here since I was curious how my form had developed with a mix of VFF running and MT101 trail running.
The following day I went out and did a relatively easy 11 miler with Chad A. into the Valley from Hamburg Rd. but not all the way up to the tea room. I worked the hills and felt good. Again the foot was somewhat sore but it warmed up and after the run it didn't feel too bad either. A nice long ice bath after the run had me feeling pretty good the next morning. And that's when I decided to go out and run 18 miles with Chad C. and Joe B. on the canal. This was apparently an unwise decision because the following day my foot felt worse than after the mile race. But as was uncharacteristic of me I still went out and ran 4 mile the next day on it. Perhaps I was nostalgic about the opportunity to run with the old BHS group one last time. No matter what the reason thenext day I could hardly walk and the pain was no longer in my foot, it was obviously my ankle.
To make a long story short, two weeks later my ankle was feeling about 95%. It had felt about 95% for a number of days so I ran an easy 2 miles and as I suspected that light exercise helped to heal it completely. *knock on wood* Since then I've had a relaxing and slow return to running. I did defer my Steamtown registration until next year which will allow me to shift my focus for the meantime. The shift in focus is best addressed in its own post which will be forthcoming however the important thing is I will be doing less racing and when I do race it will probably be longer than before.
Workout wise I did do a fun run today of running from the Manor Area to the cliffs and back, timing my self on the "ascent" and "descent" portions. There is something quite exhillarating about charging up the mountain without abandon through burning and painful legs only to reach the summit and feel a great sense of accomplishment and a tangible reward of a nice overlook. The first time I ran it which was shortly after coming back from the ankle injury I ran the ascent in 22:48 and the descent in 16:53. Today I shaved off almost a minute for 21:51 on the ascent but only 17:12 on the descent. My goal is under 20 minutes, which is no small order since that would mean maintaining around 9min/mi pace the entire way up, which is no small order. But since I enjoy that run so much I think it's very possible. If I could do that then during the CAT50K race I should have no trouble running the ascent in 25-26 minutes at a more moderate effort level. A pace like that should help me gain a few minutes on anyone near me but at the same time due to my training on the mountain I would hopefully not be dead for the rest of the race.
Looking forward in the immediate future I am excited to be running in my favorite season (fall) without the pressure of a major race coming up. In this way I will be able to enjoy the best weather of the year in a stress-free environment where I am free to go out and enjoy running for the pure intrinsic sake of it and not because I want to be in shape for a certain race. I feel like this mental recharging of my batteries will be good and can hopefully lead to a much improved outlook in 2012.
Quote of the day:
"And I will find strength in pain" - Mumford and Sons
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