That's right! The title of this training log isn't injury update. I'm FINALLY back to training. It's not very far and it's not very pretty yet, but things have been rolling along this October.
Building back, kinda nerve-ous
Since being cleared to run in September (that feels SO long ago now) I've been working with my physical therapist to figure out the best plan of attack to getting back to my normal number of running days (5-6) and volume (shooting for roughly 20 miles per week to start). Along the way we've also been doing a deep dive into everything from my foot strikes to long standing instabiliites.
One of the most prominent things we've found is that coming back what I thought were shin splints turned out to be an irritated nerve, my peroneal nerve to be precise. As it turns out my left calf was getting extrememly tight likely due to a slightly rotated fibular head and some hypermobility in my joints. Another find came when trying to strength up the ankle and calf. My posterior tibilais, the muscle responsible for inversion and plantar flexion, is very weak. So while my hip has been amazing, my physical therapy has shifted toward addressing my lower leg and alleviating the nerve pain.
Keeping Pace
I've never been great at pacing myself. I'm the person you don't want in a workout because on the first rep I'll accidentally go five to ten seconds fast and make the rest of the session much more painful than it needs to be. It's a bad habit and one I've really tried to get better at over the years. I've now reached the point in my runs where pacing is a problem again.
On my first long run last week, 40 minutes, I left from my hill top apartment and felt relaxed and controlled as I ran toward the canal to hop onto the crushed gravel. When my garmin beeped at mile one and flashed a 7:19, I chalked it up to the downhill, I wasn't going that fast and besided I felt good. I'll just ease up a bit. By mile two I found myself chasing a runner a head of me who had passed me on the key bridge. I felt good still and they couldn't be going that fast I thought until I passed them and glanced down at my watch to see my pace was 5:30.
My competitve triumph at passing the runner was short lived. The remaining portion of mile two I tried to slow myself down. By fifteen minutes into my run I realized I'd made a huge mistake. My internal monologue was Gob as I felt my legs protest and my body object to finishing out the rest of run.
This is what 3/4 of my runs look like. I get excited, I go too fast, I feel awful. I think part of it comes from running alone and part of it from the fact that my head and my body haven't quite figured out yet what's actually doable right now.
The Support system
This month has been filled with firsts; first "long" run (yes, I've officially declared that my forty minute run can be considered long), first time starting back yoga, and my first anniversary. October 12th marked a year since our wedding and while the last six months were not what we thought they would be, I'd be remise if I didn't acknowledge how much Max plays a part in my running career.
Apart from acting as my personal massage therapist the past few months as things have been shut down, he's helped every step of the way in the recovery process from moral support to chaperoning me to my appointments. While you often have to be a little bit shelfish as a athlete, what really allows you to thrive is your support system. Without these people in my life, like Max, like my coaches and family I wouldn't be where I am today.
With the air getting cooler and my runs slowly getting longer, I'm excited for what's to come and ready to start hopping in some real workouts this November.
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