Finally I can Run!

So it has been exactly 27 days from the day I strained my calf and twenty days since I had an inch and a half toothpick break off in my foot.   In reality, the toothpick and sickness probably worked to my benefit because it really forced me to rest and not run at all.



I am now having to readjust my training schedule. My coach (who is also my running partner, best friend, and my wife) is keeping me to a practical schedule to start off with, knowing that if she didn't have me promise to keep to some limits, that I would be back running 25 miles this week and injuring myself again.  We have some big plans this year (a couple of ultra distances and two or three marathons), and while I know I am behind on my schedule, revising and being reasonable is better than not achieving my goals for the year. 

So yesterday, I was able to get my first run in to test the calf out.  My wife had me promise to turn around at the two mile mark which I religiously did. She had me run with my daughter who would fake a side pain every half mile or so to keep my pace down.  I took it easy with a 10:30 pace on a very flat course  The great news was that, while my legs felt tired, there was no pain.

Ok, turn around at AT&T Park!

Today I was back to running the Embarcadero.  Again, I was kept to a 3 mile limit, which I extended only a little bit to 3.3 miles.  It was a beautiful day for a run, sunny and in the low 50's.  There weren't many people on the course, which was nice and I kept to a strict out and back from work (which is in Levi Plaza) to AT&T Park.  To keep my pace down, I made sure I stayed with my heart rate between 137 to 141 bpm, with the the discipline that Dr. Maffetone would be proud of!  The pace was a little up from yesterday at 10:15.    I know I am going to have to reestablish my aerobic levels so I am not going to even think about my 8:30 road run target yet.  

Filbert Street Steps you will be mine!

The run went good, even though I could definitely feel some rust in my legs.  That said, no pain and my legs felt strong!! 

So the rest of the week, I am limiting my mileage.  I will also reintroduce beginning tomorrow my bicycling to work routine to better build on my aerobic threshold.  So now I am back on track and looking forward to the rest of the year hopefully injury free.

While I was injured though, I have done a lot of research, to feed my runner fix.  So I will occasionally be including videos that I have found online.

 This time, Common Mistakes in Trail Running by Scott Jurek!

Video Source: YouTube