Sunday, July 13, 2014

Back to work!

So the past two months have been a challenge - little injury after little injury. Some real, some imagined, I'm sure. Regardless, all with some negative impact. Prior to Santa Barbara 100, my right hip was problematic. A half dozen trips to the chiropractor (thanks, Dr. DeVasto at Hosmer Chiro!) demonstrated that the issue stemmed from tightness in piriformis and other deep rotators in my butt. This issue was solved through a mix of deep tissue massage, joint manipulation, stretches, and a 30 minute hip series I learned from Becca at P.A.C.E. (I recommend it; hardest workout you'll do without breaking a sweat. Check it out!). After SB100, the hip held out but my right Achilles proved problematic. I ran the Smith Rock Ascent (awesome race in an awesome place!!) and the next day, the right Achilles was screaming!

This issue was curious. I gave it a week off and then embarked in a short but high-mileage backpacking trip with Steve and Noelle. On the third day of hiking, I could barely walk the Achilles was hurting so bad. Based on some Googling, it seems as though it was a case of Achilles bursitis, perhaps. However, a blister that arose on the heel seemed to exacerbate the discomfort. Which does not make a whole lot of sense to me... anyway, I took a few more weeks off (some bike and core workouts to try to stay fit in the meantime) and then, after the blister had completely healed, I tried running again. And it was OK. The Achilles got sore BUT never the pain I had felt prior and some stretching and ice always alleviated it. So, this week I returned to training.

And it was great. You don't realize just how great it is to be healthy until you're not... and then when you return to running form, the freedom of being able to lace up those shoes and go for a run without experiencing distracting pain is delightful. Now, I am ot convinced I am 100% healthy yet so I need to be smart and ease back into the training. This week featured six runs totally 50 miles to ease back in. Four runs with hills but not a terribly brisk pace and two runs on the hot roads around Intel in Hillsboro, super flat and a more aggressive pace.

The verdict? That first run felt sloppy, floppy, loosey and goosey. By the end of the week, I could feel my fitness returning and my body buckling down and ready to get back to work. Now, that is a great feeling! Let's hope I can make the right choices to get back into the swing of things and continue doing the preventative maintenance I need to do in order to stay healthy.

So, what's next? Angel's Staircase 35k in early August is the next minor race though I do not intend to race it hard as the following week is Waldo 100k. Waldo is a race I intend to have a great run at so my sights are focused there. Time to do work :)

This past week:

Tuesday, 7/8/14 - 6.3 miles in 55:00 (Up to Pittock, down to Cornell, and back)
Wednesday, 7/9/14 - 6.3 miles in 52:00 (same as yesterday)
Thursday, 7/10/14 - 6.9 miles in 50:10 (flat route near work in H'boro)
Friday, 7/11/14 - 7.4 miles in 53:29 (flat route near work in H'boro)
Saturday, 7/12/14 - 14 miles in 1:56:30 (Wildwood to Marquam to Terwilliger to downtown to home)
Sunday, 7/13/14 - 9 miles in 1:15:00 (up to Pittock down to Macleay TH then back up to Pittock and home)

Total: 49.9 miles

Peace, world :)

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