Stress Fractures SUCK!!!

Yes, it's been forever since my last post, and I have a tendency to not write when I am hurt.  My thoughts are, who cares about someone whose hurt and on the sidelines...?  I'd much rather be writing about awesome workouts and races that have a lasting memory.  But, injuries happen to all of us, and they leave lasting memories on us as well.

My latest injury was another stress fracture in my right tibia.  This time, I felt like a caught it early and took sufficient time off (8 weeks).  My question is, why the heck do I keep getting an injury on the same leg in the same region?  There must be an imbalance or something causing extra stress to that area, but the docs don't really know.  I'm doing physical therapy at Quadra Health Institute once a week, so that seems to be helping my imbalances a bit.  I have also taken the very slow approach of running again.  Or, at least I believe this is a slow approach...

This past summer I felt like training was going really well.  I never got up to 100 miles a week, but I had some quality workouts.  Things seemed on track for a solid half marathon in September and a full marathon in Chicago.  The timeline of events went something like this: end of August I felt a little pain in my right tibia, took 2 weeks off, ran for 2 weeks into early September thinking the pain was an acute injury and had subsided, realized it was getting worse the more I ran, stopped running, went to a podiatrist and continued to not run for 8 weeks, the end.

On November 16th, I ran for the first time for 15 minutes to test it out.  I was out of breath, tired but thrilled to not have any pain in my leg.  For the remainder of the week I ran every other day for 15 minutes for a total of 6 miles in the week.  The following week I doubled my mileage to 12 miles, kinda crazy, I know!  Then last week I kept going with a whopping 18 miles and a 30 minute continuous run.  Everything seems to be going well, I'm not feeling pain in my leg when I run, but I have noticed that afterwards I have a weird feeling.  It's very similar to my last stress fractures, as it's been commonly called "Phantom Pain".  This pain or feeling is typically caused by a build up of calcium in the area of the stress fracture pressing outward on nerves or tissue.  After doing quite a bit of research, it's been reassuring to know I am not getting hurt again, and that this sensation is very common.  However, I am not going to be stupid and go crazy with my training.  Going into my 4th week of running give me confidence to keep training, but only with a conservative approach.  I don't really have a rush to get back into things, so I'll slowly increase my base and race when I feel ready enough to.

To conclude this past marathon cycle, I have failed miserably in an attempt to qualify for the 2016 USA Olympic Marathon Trials.  However, I still feel that my best marathon time is ahead of me, and that I have many more amazing races to come.  I know I can't do the same thing I have in the past.  I've gotten older, so therefore I should be wiser - I know I'm not that wise yet, but am aiming for that wisdom.  So something has to change, which will be my training and training philosophy.

"If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got."
-Mark Twain

The Oval Beckons

Well, I think it's about time I sat down and figured out what exactly I'm going to do this Spring, as far as races go. One thing is for sure, I am hooked on the marathon and have had my eye lids peeled wide after the Olympic Trials. Not only was that a wickedly fast race, but I have fully accepted how I finished, and even if I would have run the same time I qualified with, it still wouldn't have been an impressive finish. But like I said, I'm accepting of it, and truthfully... happy. This brings me great hope for American distance running, as that race was the most stacked field in the history of Olympic Marathon Trials! It also makes me think of all the disappointment that race produced amongst many runners. Hopefully they fell the way I do - reenergized and excited to get back into training and test their limits on this wonderful running quest.

Which brings me back to a spring journey. I've pondered it many times before, and even though it's going to be financially tight, I want to hit the oval and improve on some unfinished business. I've said it before, and feel that it is very true how the track doesn't lie, which is why I want to see where I am at as a runner and how I stack up in the stringent record books that our sport is so desperately based on. The merit of a runner tends to be defined by their ability to conquer the track, and even though I love the roads, I still have a place in my heart for the track. After all, this is where most runners get their first taste of pain. There's no hiding behind how difficult the course is, just pure running. Which is why I'll take my crack at at-least 2 track races.

The elusive 5000 meters hasn't been on my radar for a couple of years, and I feel it's time to dramatically improve on my abysmal 14:35 (or 14:24 as that has been the fastest I've covered the distance in the 2nd half of my 10,000m PR). It should be exciting, and I'm looking forward to toe the line amongst young college kids with all their amped up energy and impatience. And, after I get a few track races out of my system, I shall return to the roads and to the glorious Marathon in the Spring. At this point, it's looking clear that I want to run the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. If my math is correct I have 17 weeks until the Marathon. Let the countdown begin...

With all these dreams of grandeur aside, my base mileage is coming along, and I will have a nice rust buster race at the Gate River 15k US Championships in Jacksonville, FL., and immediately following that race, I can celebrate a wedding that evening! Cheers to Love! And the love of running!

Here is a taste of my weekly mileage, which I am proud to say I still managed to get a decent amount with a day off:

Mon - Off

Tue - am. 14 miles easy / pm. 10 miles easy

Wed - am. 6 miles easy / pm. 14 miles easy

Thur - am. 12 miles easy / pm. 12 miles easy

Fri - am. 10 miles easy / pm. 12 miles med. w/4x strides

Sat - am. 10 miles easy / pm. 10 miles easy

Sun - am. 20 mile Long Run

Total: 130