After my disastrous long run last Sunday, I had to throw out my original plans for the taper and take things day by day. I took Monday and Tuesday off, and tried running again Wednesday morning.
I ended up walking home. The rest didn’t seem to have any effect, but it was also my only option. I took Thursday and Friday off and tried again Saturday. I brought my son along in the jogging stroller, thinking it would at least be a nice outing together if the run went bad.
I couldn’t jog for more than 5 minutes at a time.
At this point, I started to completely spiral. I went straight past worrying about overtraining and started worrying about compartment syndrome. I thought about how if I needed surgery, there’d be no point in getting it just to be stuck on crutches for weeks while my wife shoulders even more responsibility. Anything that serious would likely be the end of my running career.
It was a really bad day. I did one good thing, though, and scheduled with a physical therapist for this morning. This helped me put my problems out of mind for Easter so I could enjoy some family time. I woke up today feeling refreshed for the first time in a long time.
The physical therapist poked and prodded and massaged and cupped and couldn’t find anything wrong aside from some soreness. After that and some time in a pair of compression boots, I left feeling energized and maybe a little better. Tomorrow will tell whether any of it helped.
It’s so hard to rest. After training so hard for months to get ready for this race, it feels insane to suddenly stop. I worry I’ll lose fitness (I probably won’t lose more than a fraction of a percent off my VO2max). I worry that rest won’t help (If rest won’t help, neither will running!). I have to keep having these arguments with myself or I’ll spiral all over again.
Feeling a little energetic this morning is a really good sign. The physical therapist not finding anything serious is at worst a neutral sign. If I focus on the evidence in front of me, I have to be cautiously optimistic. But if I want to be sure, I have to gather more evidence.
We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.
This Week: 4 miles, one ice bath, one foam roll, some stretching, and several nights of pretty good sleep. Too many negative thoughts.
Baby: My son did his first Easter egg hunt yesterday with help from his mom and dad. He was hesitant to put the eggs in his bag at first, but by the end he got the hang of the game. And he really liked the toys that came out of the eggs later! He was a huge hit with my wife’s extended family, and was honestly extremely well-behaved when you consider how long he spent in a car seat that day. Even my wife and I were pretty cranky after two three-hour drives!
Every holiday with him is more fun than the last. By the next one he’ll probably be walking, and we’ll all be in trouble!
theDNF 
Leave a comment