Week 11
Planned: 10:15 total hours (1:30 swim, 5:45 bike, 3:00 run)
Completed: 9:22 hours (1:04 swim, 5:39 bike, 1:09 run, 1:30 crosstrain)
I so don't like those numbers …
The week started off great. I had a great track workout 2 days off the race, a nice ride in Key Biscayne the next day and a bonus ocean swim that I didn't think I'd be able to squeeze in. Then I come back from vacation, hit the track, and half-way into my first mile interval - half-way into a not-too-taxing 8-min mile interval - my foot is in crazy amounts of pain and I have to stop. Seriously?!?!?
I pretty much went into a full blown panic. All I could think was: stress fracture. I could barely sleep, since this would be a major, possibly game-ending, injury. So I go to the orthopedist the next day to see if I can get any intel at all. They x-rayed, they palpated, they tested my foot against resistance - no stress fracture, she says. Take a week off running (that's it?!?!?) and then come back slow. So I start to breathe easy - I can take a week off. Coming back slow is another story, but I can definitely take a week off. Off running, that is. I can still bike and swim, and I decide that I can find non-impact cross-training to simulate running so I won't feel like I'm losing too much.
And then I have a great 50-mile ride. Zone 2, could've gone forever, not even exhausted and desperate to finish 50-mile ride. I follow it up with 90 minutes on the Precor Crossramp, whatever that is, but it seems possibly somewhat similar to running, and it says it works the gluts, hams, quads and claves, so I think I'm doing pretty good. My foot is remarkably better within days, I can walk with almost no limp / change of gait, and I'm starting to think maybe I don't even need the full week off. At this point, I'm barely even worried. This is no big deal, barely a blip on the screen. I'm starting to wonder if I can even run on Tuesday …
No, I can't run on Tuesday. Even though my foot seems fine with walking and general weight-bearing, I tried a few steps running and it really hurts. So now I'm back to panicking. What if it's not better in a week? What if I have to take several weeks off running? What if it's more than several weeks?!?!? I'm trying to remain calm. To remember that this is a recovery week, and that really I don't have much of a choice anyway. To remember that five days can make a huge difference. And it damn well better, otherwise I'm going to freak out. Nine weeks away is not that long - only 3 more long runs, and without them I'm screwed.