A Lean and Hungry Look

I took a full week off due to illness, a desire to give my AT a chance to rest, and the fact that my mom has been visiting from Korea for my grandmother's funeral.  I was hoping to start my winter base training today, with the goal of working up to 60-70 mpw by December, but I started easy today to test out the AT.  I'm still puzzled by the sudden reemergence of the tendinitis and am hopeful that it's not going to get any worse, but I definitely felt the same tightness--not pain--that I was feeling in the week that led up to my week off.  It's not painful, but the fact that I'm having issues again on so little mileage gives me concern.  I may call Ryan Fuhriman to have him look at it and see whether it requires treatment.

The run itself felt fine, although I can tell that I've lost a step as far as my aerobic conditioning goes.

On a brighter note, congrats to Meb on the big NYC win!  Although I think Al Trautwig is a total weenie who has no business offering his opinions on endurance events (he is atrocious on the Tour de France coverage), I had a ball watching the rebroadcast of the race with my wife last night.  I was hoping Ryan Hall would have a big day, but seeing Meb pull out the win and having 6 Americans in the top 10 was fantastic.  I was especially impressed with the way Ryan fought back from 9th to 4th over the final 3-4 miles.  I felt bad for Paula, who clearly wasn't feeling right, but it was great to watch a classy veteran like Tulu win the race.  I just hope my form doesn't look as disgusting as Petrova's (who was a total warrior, by the way) when I'm 41.  It's probably efficient, but it's just ugly!

Took Maja out for an easy jaunt on a beautiful morning. Still feeling some tightness in left AT on the outside edge about 1-1.5 inches above insertion. I started dialing the PT yesterday to make an appointment, but decided, based on the mildness of the issue, to run all week to see if it goes away on its own. I need to get back to my early morning routine--I've grown lazy since the taper for SGM and haven't been getting up as early as I should.

I finally got up at a decent time (5:30) for my run.  I headed north through the U campus, through Federal Heights, and up to Popperton Park and back.  Because the Free's gave me a blister the last time I ran in them, I was careful to pay attention to any rubbing and to modify my form so that the rubbing went away.  By the end of the run, the shoes felt incredible.  My pace was very relaxed and the run was highly enjoyable.  I noticed mild AT pain on the uphill sections, so I did my stretching and exercises after the run.  On the final climb up to Popperton, I was wheezing a bit, probably due to the presence of leftover fluid in my lungs from last week's cold.

Since it's just a $15 copay, I decided to go back to the PT to see what he says about the AT issue.  I was supposed to go back for a follow-up appointment on my hamstring anyway.  I just hope we can catch this round of apparent tendinitis before it really gives me problems.  The layoff the last time I dealt with this stuff was way too long and frustrating.

Easy loop with Maja on another gorgeous morning.  Very mild AT pain again.

I saw Ryan Fuhriman about the Achilles issues today and he found some inflammation.  He did some work on it for 10 minutes or so and recommended that I continue with the ecentric loading exercises, but only once a day.  He suggested doing two sets on each leg, gradually increasing the number of reps and sets.  He also recommended stretching against a wall, not on a stair (since the muscles contract when stretching that way, which increases the strain), but also suggested folding up a small towel and standing either on the outside half or the inside half, which allows the stretch to focus on the inside or outside of the Achilles.  Because the tendinitis is in the early stages and because the ecentric loading seems to be helping, Ryan didn't think I needed to come back for more treatment unless things started to get worse.  However, he wants me to limit my mileage while I work on getting this healed.  He said to give it 3-4 weeks while faithfully doing the exercises and stretching, and to call him if it doesn't seem to be getting better by then.  In that case, he may try ASTYM treatment.  As for my training, he wants me to let pain be my guide.  If I can run 3 miles without pain, do that for a week, then add a mile the next week, but back off if the pain persists.  This is likely to be a little frustrating, but I really want to be in a position to ramp up my mileage this winter, so I'll do as he says.  I may have to incorporate some cross-training to stay sane.

I had to share this link to The Onion's article on Meb's victory:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_york_marathon_winner_tests

Although it was another beautiful morning, perfect for a long run, I tried to be good by keeping the mileage low.  I noticed a little pain during the last mile, which was uphill, but it was mild.  I stretched and did 2x10 ecentric exercises on a stair with knee bent, and also did a little massage work on the AT in the evening.