I haven’t updated this blog in a while and it’s been even longer since I
wrote about anything sport-related, so I figured I’d break silence on that
front. The main reason, as mentioned
back in February is that I have been recovering from a foot injury called
Plantar Fasciitis. I had never heard of
this before I went to a foot doctor, but it turns out that it’s common among
people from all walks of life. Many of
whom, incidentally, all wanted to provide guidance to me on how to get rid of
it.
Thankfully, there are a few guys I know who have had issues with this
and also happen to be skier/runner/cyclist types. In fact, three guys I know through skiing
have all had this issue, are all doctors, and one of them is actually a foot doctor. So, in that respect, I got some really sound
advice right away from people who knew where I was coming from. So, I was able to attack the issue
directly. It started with resting it -
no weight bearing workouts for the month of February. This was awful, nothing but a spin bike for
an entire month in what is usually my favorite time of year (ski racing
season). Meanwhile, I took a slight leap
of faith and registered for the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May hoping this would
be straightened out by then (more on that later). In March, I started to mix some easy runs 3
times a week and gradually increased mileage and frequency over the last 6
weeks. Over the last 3 weeks I’ve been
able to do some intervals and tempo running, and last week managed to log about
55 miles for the week along with a couple easy bike rides.
It’s still not 100% from a pain standpoint and I’ve been taping my foot
before every run. However, I have been
able to get back to training again and not just working out. It may seem like a subtle difference in
wording, but it’s a big difference from a mental standpoint. When you’re just working out, you have to
force yourself to workout, when you’re training for something, I find myself
having to force myself to take rest days instead. Every workout has a different purpose at this
point whereas in February and early March the only purpose for working out was
to burn some calories – I was just going through the motions trying to be
patient.
This Saturday will be my first competitive event since Eastern Canadian
Champs in early Feb and I’m beyond amp’d about it. I’m doing the Flower City Duathlon, which I
did two years ago. I’m not really sure
what to expect from a result standpoint.
I am definitely not at the fitness level that I usually have after ski
season, but it will be nice to put a race number on and see what happens.
My big goal this spring is the aforementioned half marathon in
Brooklyn. I agreed to do this race with
Andy and Jamie Schild a few months ago.
Jamie just moved to NYC and the three of us decided to do a half
marathon in the spring and a full marathon in the fall (the first for all of
us). Until about 4 weeks ago, I wasn’t
sure what goals/expectations to set for it since I hadn’t run more than 6-7
miles at any given time and hadn’t done any intensity at all. However, after the last few weeks, I feel
like I’m on track from a training perspective and am hoping to have a good race
there. I guess “good” is relative, but
to put it in quantifiable terms, I feel like a 1:23 half marathon is within my
reach at this point. This time would
also automatically get me into the 2013 NYC marathon without having to rely on
a lottery entry, so I guess maybe it’s a little arbitrary, but since I’m
writing it on the internet, I guess that makes it an official goal.
After the half marathon, I’m not really sure what my next goals will be, I
haven’t had much of an opportunity to bike due to the travel, but I would like
to get some bike racing in and definitely want to try mountain bike racing this
summer, so we’ll see. For now, I’m just
happy to be training again and not just working out.
