Uncharted territory

This past weekend I ran 14 miles. That's more than I have ever run before. A few weeks previous I had run 12 miles and it wasn't easy. I knew that as I got closer to the 13.1-mile mark there would most likely be a mental block that I would bump up against. The longest distance I had ever run was a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and just knowing that made the longer runs seem even more daunting. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I was out running my 14-miler that it didn't seem all that difficult. I certainly wouldn't say it was easy but it seemed easier than the 12 miles I did a few weeks back. Now I'm filled with a bit more confidence about the rest of this training which is a nice feeling to have with 8 1/2 weeks left to go.

Perhaps even more surprising than my better-than-expected 14 mile run is that fact that it went so well despite the fact that I'm still dealing with a stress fracture. It would appear that my foot has healed somewhat even though I haven't rested it one bit since the diagnosis. I believe this is due to my slightly altered gait/footstrike which keeps some of the impact off the sensitive part of my foot. So far this adjustment hasn't lead to any negative effects elsewhere (knees, hips, etc.). However, I think that the foot has healed as much as it can without rest at this point so my prediction is that the small amount of residual discomfort (I'm not sure it would qualify as pain) is going to be with me for the rest of my training. That's OK. It's tolerable. My goal now is to keep it from getting worse as I continue to add mileage. My long run this weekend is only 8 miles. The weekend after that is 16. Keep your fingers crossed.

The good, the bad and the ugly

The Good:
Over the past week or so I have managed to alter my foot strike and gait just slightly in order to minimize the pain in my foot. I was worried this might just transfer the pain elsewhere (to my knee or hip) but, so far, all is well. My foot still hurts but it is much less than before and certainly not enough to quit running.

The Bad:
This past Wednesday my training called for a tempo run. This requires me to run harder than normal for short intervals. As soon as I started the first speed interval my foot hurt. A lot. Being the smart person that I am, I ignored the voice in my head that said "You should probably stop" and I pushed through the rest of the run. My foot was very sore for the next day. Lucky for me, the next day was a rest day and after that I had a day of cross training before I had to run again, so there was time to recover. However, it seemed clear that tempo runs aren't going to be happening while my foot is still hurting. This is unfortunate because these runs are what help you increase your endurance.

The Ugly:
Wednesday was also the day I went to see the sports medicine doc. He took X-rays and ordered an MRI. On Friday we got the results. The verdict? I have a stress fracture in the second metatarsal bone of my left foot. For lack of a better word, this sucks. The doctor was sympathetic to my situation and told me it was up to me as to how much I run on it but he would advise lots of cross training and no running until it heals (i.e. stops hurting). There's no way to know exactly how long that would be but probably many weeks. As dedicated as I am, there's no way I'm good enough to do only cross training for the next 10 weeks and then go and run 26.2 miles. So, given that my foot isn't hurting that much now that I've learned how to run on it, I'm going to continue with my training as is, probably ditching the tempo runs, and just see how it goes. I ran 6 miles yesterday with no problem. If, as I continue to increase my mileage, the pain gets worse then I'll reasses the situation at that time. I've just come too far (and I'm too damn stubborn) to throw in the towel at this point.

Running or swimming?

I got up at 6am today to do my long run. The predicted rain hadn't arrived yet but it was 75 degrees and 99% humidity. The air was so soupy that it was more like swimming than running. My foot appears to be getting better. It was sore for the first few miles, and there were a few stabs of pain here and there, but after that it actually felt pretty good. Of course, when I'm running 12 miles towards the end of the run other parts of my body start to hurt so then I tend to not notice my foot anymore. I've determined that I really need to take water with me from now on. Today there was so much moisture in the air that I probably could have just run with my mouth open but anything longer than 10 miles requires refueling. The best part of the run was the fact that the rain came about 30 minutes after I finished my run.

Opposite world

My foot is still hurting. However, my last two runs have been better than any since this whole thing started. I ran yesterday morning and was pleasantly surprised to find that my foot didn't hurt as much as it had been. Then I ran this afternoon and the pain was even less than yesterday. What's my secret? To do the exact opposite of what common sense would say to do. I haven't taken any more days off to rest my foot. I stopped icing it. I stopped taking Ibuprofen. Maybe I should also take up smoking? Well, maybe not but I have no idea why my stubborn, and possibly stupid, approach to dealing with my injury is working. I do, however, know enough to not mess with it if it appears to be working. I'll attempt my long run on Saturday (12 miles) and see how it goes. Let's hope I'm still living in opposite world then.

Ice and ibuprofen

I managed to run 10 miles yesterday. My foot hurt but it wasn't bad enough to quit. I spent the first couple miles wincing and altering my foot strike trying to minimize the pain. After that I settled in and just ignored it. I ran slower than usual - not on purpose but as a result of the discomfort. At the time I thought if that's as bad as it gets then there's no reason to call off the training. I can work through this much pain for the next 10 weeks. However, this morning my foot is very sore. I'll be icing it as much as possible, downing ibuprofen every 4 hours, and we'll see how it feels tomorrow (when I'm supposed to run again). My appointment with the sports medicine guy is still 10 days away. I'm trying to stay optomistic but it isn't easy.

Biding my time

I'm not a patient person. If you know this about me you'll understand that waiting for my foot to get better is a very difficult thing for me. I went for my run on Monday and instantly knew that my foot wasn't better and that I probably shouldn't be running on it. Of course, I finished my run. I went home and iced the heck out of my foot and continued to do so as much as possible the next day between teaching classes. Tuesday evening I got on the stationary bike for my cross training and was pleasantly surprised that my foot didn't hurt once during the workout. I decided that I should take yesterday off, even though I was scheduled for a run. My foot had been feeling pretty good all day but I didn't want to press my luck. I decided to go for a walk with the kids. As soon as I put on my sneakers (which I hadn't worn since Monday) and started walking the pain returned. Needless to say, I was quite depressed.

I have an appointment with a sports medicine doc but it's not until the 10th. If I stick to my training schedule I will rest today, cross train tomorrow and then have a long run on Saturday. I'm going to forge ahead, gently, and see how it goes. While my foot is still sore it does seem to be getting better. I haven't given up my hope of running this race but I know the more time I have to take off the worse my chances are.

Pain? What pain?

Sometime late last week I developed a pain in the top of my left foot. It was around the time I did my run in Baltimore. For that run I had to tie the key to my car onto my shoe and, since I was a little paranoid about losing my key, I tied my shoe extra tight. When the pain first showed up it felt like bruise and I assumed I had simply bruised it by tying my shoe too tight. Over the next day or so it seemed to get better. Then, during a subsequent run, the pain came back a bit. I assumed I had gotten too enthsiastic with the shoe tying thing again but then I did some poking around on the internet. It appears that I may have a metatarsal stress fracture. This is not a good thing. It's not horrible in that it doesn't require surgery or anything along those lines, however it would mean taking many weeks off from running and that would be the end of my training. So, what to do? For now I'm going to keep running but I'm going to take it easy and I'm definitely going to be tying my shoes loosely for awhile. We'll see how that goes. I don't have a long or hard run until Saturday when I'm scheduled to run 10 miles. I'm hoping that my foot will be feeling much better by then. If the pain persists then I'll make an appointment to see a podiatrist and get an expert opinion. Perhaps I'm in denial about this but I'm still hopeful that this is just a bruise. I'd much rather be an idiot that doesn't know how to tie her shoes than be an injured runner.