Injury

Today certainly wasn't a fun run. I was hoping that the soreness in my Achilles Tendon at the end of Friday's run would heal by Sunday. As I was walking around, it became obvious that it hadn't. I wasn't in any real discomfort, but I did feel some minor soreness. Rather than risk running my scheduled hard long run, I took the day off on Sunday.

It was a decision that I regretted because I don't like missing days. However, after heading out today, I quickly found out that it was the right decision. I felt pretty good today and thought about running the hard run a day later.

I decided I would head out and let my body decide whether I would do the hard day or easy day. It was much warmer than recently, but still very windy. I knew I'd have trouble running hard against the wind. I also didn't feel that great as I started off. After a mile, I sped up a bit. I quickly realized that wasn't going to work though and opted for the easy 5 mile day.

I felt alright as I headed out along West River Drive. Going against the wind wasn't a lot of fun, but I've had worse days. The Achillies did feel a little stiff. It wasn't until shortly after the turnaround point that it really started to bother me. It got worse and worse as I ran on. I wanted to make it to mile 4 and if I really pushed it, I could've.

It was really becoming a problem though, so after 3.65 miles, I shut it down. I walked back Lloyd Hall and tried to stretch the muscle out. I know it is wise not to push through, so I didn't. I really think lifting weights and combining that with the hard pounding of running took its toll. Hopefully I caught it before it was too late.

I don't want to put my long term running in jeopardy. Therefore, I am going to rest for at least the remainder of the week. I will get out and do some non impact cycling instead. Hopefully that'll allow the Tendon time to heal and recover. I'll try to cycle for as long as I would normally run. That'll keep my fitness up. I might test the injury out on Friday, but until then, I'm going to back off.

I'm starting to reconsider my marathon plans too. Going out to Minneapolis is going to be expensive. I'm also not crazy about signing up for the marathon if I might get injured (like I am now). I feel like other than the injury, my conditioning is good. I know I still need some long runs of over 20 miles and to fine tune my speed. Other than that, I think I'm right where I need to be to qualify for Boston.

I might try readjusting my schedule and running the Pocono Marathon in May instead. I still will have time to put in the training that I need to in order to make it to Boston. The Caesar Rodney Half Marathon in three weeks might be the deciding factor on whether I opt for the May or June marathon.

I'd really just love to get a BQ so I can sort of relax over the summer. I'll rest longer after the marathon if that is the case. I'll still keep my miles fairly high when I come back, but I'll concentrate on faster stuff and the Blue Eagle 5K.

3.65 miles - 28:24 (7:47 pace)