My running has been both wrong and amazing these past two weeks.
The amazing wrongness began at President's Cup on June 18th. I wrote about the damage I did to myself there. Summary: 19:15 5K barefoot. Left Achilles tendon = hurtin'. So for the rest of the week, Tuesday - Saturday I did not run. Instead I did some swimming and cycling, some icing and some rope-stretching. People at work noticed I was limping and showed concern.
I was registered for the Pine Beack 5K on Sunday June 24th. It was the USATF-NJ masters championship, so I wanted to run for the team's sake. I knew I had less pain in my Achilles when I was warmed up, but it was difficult to get to the warmed-up state by running. So I brought my bike to the event, warmed up on the bike, and ran the race wearing road race shoes. Initially I didn't have much pain during the race, but I did not want to push too hard. I ran 19:41, finishing just ahead of a member of my club who is a mother of two and still lactating.
The next day I swam again. Continuing my amazing wrong running program, I proceeded to run a cross-country 5K on Tuesday June 26th. I ran 19:53, finishing behind a 13 year old, but ahead of a bunch of 16 year-olds. Some pain there, but tolerable. So I continued last week with more alternative training Wednesday - Saturday: swimming and cycling, icing and stretching. .
Charlie emailed yesterday suggesting a long hilly trail run at Round Valley today. Of course that would be an amazingly wrong thing to do, considering my condition. But, true to form, I went and did 20 hilly rocky miles in 3:12 this morning with him and Jen. It was a beautiful run, and I am amazed I was able to do it. My Achilles did not bother me until the last few miles. I am psyched that I might even be able to run a decent Escarpment Trail on July 29th, despite this nagging Achilles pain.
So I am looking forward to another week of alternative training because I am not registered for another race until July 10th, another XC 5K. Maybe I should sign-up for a triathlon?
Running various amounts of my mileage barefoot since July 2004. Now that it's mainstream, I am no longer crazy, but maybe I was among the visionaries.
