The sore muscles are healing fast. Four days after the marathon and all that remained was a little tenderness in the left foot that’s been hit by a mild case of plantar fasciitis for the past month or so.
I went to the gym and did a 30-minute spin Thursday morning, just to remind myself that I really am athletic and that sweating is a part of my life. It felt good to get my heart rate up, though I had to get out of the “easy” zone after about 12 minutes when I noticed that my hands were still cold. I can’t say I broke a sweat, but 30 minutes and 8 miles later, my hands were finally warm and my heart rate was up to 95 bpm.
I know there are still microscopic tears that haven’t healed yet, and I’m trying to be patient with the healing process. My sleep during the week has been patchy, at best; I would wake up several times a night to change position, relax tense muscles, then look at the clock to see if it was time to run yet.
My recovery plan was to cycle and do the elliptical at the gym, and start going to boot camp to work on the lateral muscles that were neglected. Running and biking are very linear activities, and now would be a good time to build up some more strength before I start any new training program.
By Friday afternoon I literally felt itchy with the need to run. Appointments and family kept me close to home, but the next morning, after making breakfast for Bill and the kids and sending them off to the ski slope, I laced up my brand new Scott’s minimalist shoes, grabbed Kirby and her leash, and went out for a slow one-mile recovery run around the pond.
Scott
My foot hurt, but I was willing to ignore it completely and head to the Mesa. I would have, too, except Kirby doesn’t like long distances and I had a date with my yoga mat in North Boulder.
The yoga workshop was an easy Hatha yoga session, full of breath and ease into asanas. My legs shook, my glutes cried several times, and my hip flexors screamed when I curled into Child’s Pose for minutes at a time. I talked to myself through this session; “Trust the process. You came because you knew you needed to stretch and that your body needs this release. It’s okay to hurt, you’re re-awakening your muscles. Trust the process.”
This “Trust” thing keeps coming up. All through Marathon Training, through CIM itself, and now in yoga. Trust that I’m where I’m supposed to be, doing what I’m supposed to do, and don’t stop just because it’s uncomfortable or hard.
I want to run so bad I can taste it. And I know I’m not ready. I did more research last night on healing Plantar Fasciitis, and the bottom line is that I’m a heel striker who needs to learn how to land mid-foot. I need to adjust my stride and re-learn a new gait. Now that the marathon is over, this is a good time to do that.
The new Scott’s will hopefully help. I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll be working with some Vibram’s soon, as they force you to land mid-foot. I need to build up new muscles and get the habit ingrained before I tackle any sort of mileage again.
After yoga yesterday I cleaned, rearranged a few things, hung pictures and did some more holiday decorating. Bill and the kids didn’t get home until almost 7:30. I had an entire day, twelve blissful hours to myself in which I could pay attention to my body, move around my home and settle back into my self and life. This was the first time since the marathon that I’ve had uninterrupted time to just think and feel. I was completely in my Zen, and finally, a week after the marathon, slept all night long without waking up.
Lara, first of all, congratulations on CIM. I haven’t run that one but have heard good things about it. I live in Superior and do almost all of my runs at Davidson Mesa, except for my long runs.
I just wanted to comment on one thing you said in your post above. I highly recommend against deliberately changing how you run. I tried that and ended up fighting various injuries, both significant and small for almost two years. When you change your gait deliberately you end up putting pressure on parts of your body that aren’t ready for that. I really believe the best approach is to do focused training towards improving speed which will ultimately result in your running more towards the front of your foot. Basically, the faster you run the more you tend to go mid-foot or fore-foot. So, improving your speed, and focusing on more speed at the marathon distance, will ultimately change your gait naturally. Any other method, IMHO is asking for trouble. Believe me, some PF is better than a stress fracture, or any of the other many hip/back ailments which can occur by unnaturally changing your gait. Rest well and congrats again on your first marathon. I recommend Chicago as a next marathon if you want a BQ. That was where I got my first BQ as it is flat, fast and sea level.
Michael, thanks for the great tips! Lots to think about there. I don’t normally do a lot of speedwork, and now I’m curious what that would do to my gait. Hmmmm….
I think we’re practically neighbors! I do a lot of running on the Mesa too, we should meet up one of these weeks when I’m fully mobile again. I appreciate all your words of wisdom on the PF issues, thanks!
Glad to help. I am no great or fast runner but I have studied extensively and unfortunately learned a lot through making mistakes. Speedwork is a a mixed bag for people like me who are not highly talented. I added it to my training and qualified for Boston but have to be careful as the intensity causes me issues at times. I think you did great at CIM and in your training. You had a few aches and pains but nothing major which is a good thing. You were very close to a BQ and without your pit stop you would probably have made it so I don’t think you should change anything radically. I am happy to offer some suggestions on speedwork but in general my advice is to just focus on what works best for you and ignore a lot of peoples advice.
I would be happy to meet up for a run some time. I am out of work so I generally don’t run early anymore. I used to run from home at 5 AM but now, with my flexible schedule I generally run around 9 to 11 AM depending on the day. As for the PF, definitely use a tennis ball and/or a golf ball for massaging the bottom of your foot. I keep one near my bed and it helps a lot. Rest well.
Make sure you are fully healed from the PF before you run in Vibrams or any minimalist running shoe. My podiatrist and orthopedist both say barefoot running is a very bad option for that type of injury. Once it’s all better, though, I hope you enjoy the new feel.
Good for you for easing back into things … better to go 10 percent too slow in resuming serious training than get 1 percent injured, right?