Old Man Still running

Well, the foot is very sore today.  I could hardly walk, and can’t without a big limp.   What is strange is there is no noticeable swelling and no bruising.   The source of the most pain seems to be what is called the peronial tendons.  One common cause is “running on uneven surfaces.”  Hmmm…OK, I do that just a bit. “It can result from running on sloped surfaces or running in shoes with excessive wear on the outside of the heel.”  Yep, I checked the shoes, they are worn out, probably 500 miles, outside heel worn. Caused when “foot and ankle are rolled inward,”  Yep that happened pretty bad about a month ago or so.  I didn’t appreciate this wise crack:  “In general, older people are at a higher risk of developing the condition.”   Older?  Come say that to my face.  Let’s race up Timp and see who is old.  Treatment, “Cease any activity that is likely to hinder the rehabilitation process.”  Ya, ya, ya, I know.  “It may take 6 weeks or longer to recover.”  Yikes, don’t say that!   How to prevent this from happening again, “When running, choose level surfaces and avoid rocks or holes.”   Pretty funny.  Next thing you will tell me is stick to running on roads.  It’s not going to happen.

You have got to love the psychology of an injured runner.  We have visions of never being able to run without pain again.  We see someone jogging in the neighborhood and get very jealous.  We worry that just a few days without training will get us out of shape.  All are silly thoughts.  Healing will take place, just be patient.

The foot a little better today.  Yesterday it times it felt like I needed crutches.  Today, I still can't walk without a limp, but healing is taking place.  Running isn't even an option.  I made an appointment with the podiatrist for Thursday.   Its been almost three years since I've seen him.  He'll at least get a kick out of hearing about my running and looking at my toe nails.  But I bet by Thursday most of the pain will be gone....hoping.   Once I can rotate it without much pain, I'll start hitting the pool.

Afternoon... can walk without a limp now!  My doctor visit Thursday will help rule out stress fracture and hopefully rule out ruptured tendon.   What I have learned is that one week of rest won't heal this.  If I go back out on the trail after just one week, I'll set it back again.

Hit the pool this morning.  Half hour of pool running with hand floats, half-mile swim in 20 minutes and then hard kicking on my back for 10 minutes (great for the hamstrings).   Frustrating, because I wasn't tired and it didn't feel like much of a workout.  I guess I will have to double the time.   I'm walking without a limp but do feel pain.

I hit the pool at 4:00 a.m., well, not really, I had forgotton my pool running hand floaties (they look like dumb bells), so I drove home, got them and came back at 4:15 a.m. I had the entire pool to myself until 5:50 a.m.   The pool at Saratoga Springs is a private community outdoor pool but is a large 25 meter pool with six swim lanes.   It is heated by thermal heating from the springs so they don't worry about the cost of heating it, thus it can get too warm for hard swimming.   This morning it felt like it was about 92 degrees, a bit warm.   It actually helps me somewhat by adapting my body to hot-weather running.  The pool is open year-round.  I've have swam in it when it has been below zero outside. (It is cool too see your hair freeze solid).

I first did 40 minutes of pool "running" in the deep end, doing mostly a cross-country ski type exercise with both arms and legs.   To keep me from being total bored, I rigged a mini radio on the strap of my goggles and listened to Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN radio.

After that I did a one-mile swim (64 lengths) in 44 minutes without stopping to rest.   Not blazing fast, but very good for only my second day swimming in over one year.   I was surprised that it felt pretty easy.  Obviously my cardio fitness is already at peak, so that isn't a problem, but I thought my upper-body and shoulder strength would be a problem and it would take my quite a while to work up to a mile. Not so, it went very well.

One reason my pace isn't that fast is that I have quite a bit of drag in the water.  I choose to wear knee-brace sleeves while I swim.   With all the kicking, I have found that my knee caps get loosened.  When I go back to running, that becomes a problem as the knee caps slide around.  So the sleeves keep the knee cap tight into place and I can kick as hard as I want.  But it does create lots of drag making me slower.  Also, I'm not doing flip-turns.  As my upper-body strength improves, I'll add those in.  But it isn't about speed, it is about workout.

I've never been a great swimmer, but swimming does seem to be in my family genes.  All my kids have been on the high school swim teams, being good enough to be captains of those teams.  I had a daughter to placed very high in the state.   I was on a swim team for a couple years when I was 10-11 years old, but didn't really excell.   I'm just better than average and can swim very far if boredom doesn't kill me.

The morning was was fantastic as I finished up.   I heard and saw a couple geese honking overhead.  I looked out across the lake and could see Venus rising before the dawn glow.  It really is an impressive sight at the pool in the morning.

The foot continues to improve.  Tomorrow I will see the doctor.

Hit the pool at 4:05 a.m.   Did 50 minutes of pool running and then did a one-mile swim.   The pool was blazing hot this morning, at least 96 degrees.  For whatever reason they have trouble regulating the pool temperature and at times it climbs high.  It is extremely difficult to swim hard and long in a pool that hot, but I got the mile done.  Talk about heat training!  It felt like I was training for the Badwater race in Death Valley.   I did the mile in 48 minutes, but about six of those minutes were spent on the pool deck cooling my body temperature down in the 36 degrees morning air.  I finished up the workout by doing about ten minutes of tought deep kicking on my back, really working the hamstrings.   I returned home really feeling like I had a hard workout.   My body temperature was messed up for awhile.

I went to the podiatrist. My self-diagnosis was correct. I have a peroneal tendon strain on the outside of my foot. He took an X-ray and there is no stress-fracture. The doctor gets a kick out of listening to my running history. A young college intern was with him today and the kid couldn't belive what I was saying, talking about 100-mile races. The doctor as a former runner gets it and knows I understand foot-care, injury recovery, etc. He says I really need six weeks of recovery. He gave me a boot to help the tendon rest and an ankle brace to use once I start running again. I mentioned the marathon in 16 days and didn't realize that I said, "its only a road marathon." They both laughed, pointed out what I said. He said that was up to me, but I would likely be hurting after it, setting back the healing. But he quickly said, "I know you understand how to care and treat things like this." So, my plan is to still run in the Ogden Marathon, but I won't enter Sapper Joe 50K which is the following week. Instead I will volunteer for it if they need it. That will give me three weeks of more recovery until Squaw Peak 50.

I wore the boot sleeping last night, seemed to help the foot rest. Couldn't bring myself to wear the thing to work.  Probably should. I still feel pain walking but can walk normally now.  The family won't give me sympathy when I wear the boot.   I suggested that I get a bell for them to come running at my beck and call, but that didn't fly.  When the phone rings I even still have to get up.   There is no respect for the old-man runner who injures himself.

I did the same routine this morning.  45 minutes pool running and a one-mile swim.  The pool was much cooler this morning, thank goodness.   I did the mile in about 44 minutes and then did vigourous deep kicking while on my back.    I had the pool to myself for almost two hours.   Two ladies showed up as I left.

I can feel my swimming strength returning with three straight days of mile-swims.   The shoulders are starting to feel stronger.  Also, it is fairly easy to lose weight swimming, easier than running.  I've lost about three pounds this week.  On the downside, my skin is starting to be affected by all the chorine and soaking.  They over chorinate this pool and my skin doesn't like it.   That is one reason I don't usually swim regularly.    I'll try to put up with the itching.

I doing fine and actually enjoying the break from running for a little while. 

P.M.   I walked a mile on the way back from a meeting.   It was very discouraging at first.  After a quarter mile the pain was almost enough to make me limp.   But after a quick stop at a store, I felt much better for the last 3/4rs.  The ankle and foot felt good and strong and the pain was minimal.   That was more encouraging.   I did see a couple runners on the downtown streets and I couldn't help to think to myself jealous thoughts, "Show offs!"

I did a tough workout this morning.  I swam 2 miles in the pool.  The first mile was 44 minutes and during the second mile I stopped at each quarter mile to do vigorous deep kicking.  I'm rather amazed that I'm already up to 2 miles in just my first five days of swimming in over a year.  That is encouraging.  That makes 5.5 miles in the pool this week.   Also, I've lost four pounds this week.  I had forgotten how easy it is to lose weight swimming as compared to running.

A couple friends came to the pool during my second mile.  One of them will run in the Sapper Joe 30K.   After all that time in the pool, I went to the rec room and did a little eliptical.  I felt no foot pain, so that is great.  However, I hate elipticals.  The motion just is too far away from the running motion and those machines affect my knees poorly.  They put too much pressure on my knee caps in the wrong way if I do long workouts on them.  I shifted over to the stationary recombent bike and did a tough hard ride that got the quads burning.   Then I did toe lifts to get the calfs burning.  The foot didn't hurt during them.  In the pool my vigorous kicking on my back got the hamstrings burning.   So overall, I think that workout was great.

I'm very encouraged about the foot this morning.  I now feel very little pain while walking.  I think running 10 miles of the BSTM last Saturday set my recovery back 8 days.   I've almost made that up and I will be careful this time during the second week of recovery.

So things are looking up.  I'm trying to keep a postitive attitude and just think of this as a nice long taper.   With all the miles I've run the past two years I deserve a little break.