Three Week Review

"Oop... I almost forgot. I won't be able to make it, fellas. Veronica and I trying this new fad called, uh, jogging. I believe it's 'jogging' or 'yogging.' it might be a soft j. I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time! It's supposed to be wild."

-Ron Burgundy

So back to the blog. I have done exactly 1 run since the Sun Mountain 50 Miler, a little more recovery time than I would have liked. But my foot decided that it needed a break despite desperate pleas from myself to suck it up and carry on.

As previously mentioned in my last post, towards the end of my race, a mere 100 yards from the finish, a sharp pain developed on the outside of my left foot. I was able to gimp limp to within view of the finish line then adrenaline carried me through the finish with apparent ease. Shortly after this my foot again let out a screaming OWWW! as I stepped off a step carrying a plate full of pizza and a beer. I almost crumbled to the ground, but rested assured that no matter what, not a drop of that beer would have hit the ground as I had been dreaming of that beer for 8hrs and 30mins!

Soreness and occasional pain persisted the next day and into Tuesday when I had to go back to work. After a morning of barely being able to walk to the bathroom, I decided that something serious was up, and I began pouring over the Internet, looking for possible culprits:

Jone’s Fracture

Avulsion Fracture

Stress Fracture

Peroneal Tendonitis

POPS

The possible culprits did not look good. I began to worry. Fret. Panic. Complain. There goes my summer!

Decided that I needed an Xray so I headed off to Urgent Care after work. The Xrays came back negative for anything! Wahoo! But was also told that it was really too early to notice any stress fractures and that I should come back in a week. Damn! And told me that I have to wear a boot. Shit! But I was almost immediately able to start “walking” right away so at least I had regained my mobility. Hurray! I was also told to see a podiatrist for further recommendation.

I hate you Boot!

Two days went by. Thing were going okay. I was able to walk. I began emailing back and forth my Sports Chiropractor, Dr. Brad Farra, who I has previously worked with on my hamstrings and posterior tendon tightness. He was confused about why I was in a boot if there was no stress fracture and recommended that I come see him instead of wasting my money paying new patient fees at a podiatrist. So I scheduled an appointment for later that day.

I got to his office, and we talked. He worked me through some drills that I was able to do completely pain free. In the end, he diagnosed that there was no way that I had a stress fracture or any fracture given my response to his testing. Mega Wahoo! He told me to ditch the boot and began some ultrasound, graston and KT taping. I was able to walk home pain free!

Things went well the next week with only one major relapse (too much time walking and standing around in the mall the day after my initial treatment. L) I began working out on the bicycle trainer to try and maintain some fitness. I was able to do a much of hard interval workouts and my Friday night, I was fairly confident that I would be able to at least walkajog the Starlight 5k that my whole family signed up for months ago.

I tested the foot Saturday morning and my foot felt fine. No pain. However, my knee revolted initially. Still not used running yet. But they worked themselves out after a few blocks. Should have walked for a bit then started jogging/shuffling. I could walk faster than this jog!

So later that night I suited up in my neon yellow T-shirt and joined most of the fam on the starting line (my Father got hit my rock shrapnel while mowing and got 8 stitches in his shin. He responsibly backed out of the run).  I, on the other hand, felt confident enough to give in a try. And try I did, but I should have known that my competitive spirit would have come out. My never quit attitude pushed me on as my foot began to ache a ½ mile into the run. Its only 3 miles! Maybe 30 mins. And I could always walk. I foolishly? pushed through the pain. Walkajogging past hundreds of people. Don’t worry tho. I ran past the news cameras! Don’t want the whole world knowing that I was walking in a 5k J, only the people on the street got that pleasure.

I made it to the finish line, no significant pain or sharp pain, but my foot was definitely sore, a little swollen and achey. I iced massage on the way to dinner, which helped a ton.

I was able to walk almost pain free the next day and was walking normally and pain free a day after. I continued to hit the bike hard, saw Dr. Farra again for more ultrasound and graston. Now almost 3 weeks after Sun Mountain with only 1 run since, I stand on the precipice. I shall try to run again tonight. After work. Really slowly. I’m nervous. Biking is great and all. I love it. But it’s not running. It’s not helping me all that much for Waldo.

We’ll see what happens. Wish me luck.

I would also point out that my lovely girlfriend, Kerrie, completed her first 5k since high school. Way to rock it babe! You coulda done it way faster if you werent hampered by your gimp bf.

UNT

Bryan

Onward and Upward

View from Pittock

Just a little update. Things have been progressing well for me in the last week. I have been able to increase my mileage back up to 50 miles a week thanks to the work of Dr. Brad Farra. I’d highly recommend him for any sports injuries or chiropractic needs.

I went out this past Saturday for a nice 17mi romp on the Wildwood. The weather was so great, and I was feeling so good that I extended my run and ended up putting with 21.78 miles. Recovered nicely so the next day after Easter brunch and festivities, I headed out for a 20mi mountain bike ride on the firelanes of Forest Park.

I look forward to this weekend, as I hope to put in a marathon distance. I want to go camping as well so I have my eye on the Middle Fork of the Willamette Trail outside Oakridge, OR. The snow should be gone and the weather should be okay so things are looking up. Still have to do some research as not exactly sure where to camp.

UNT

Bryan

Bouncing Back....

Back to the wildwood...

So my diagnosis was correct. Post Tib Strain, technically not tendonitis so that’s good. So a few weeks later and lots of Graston, icing and biking, I’m finally back running…on roads. I’m slowly bumping my mileage back up and should hopefully be able to start hitting the trails this week. I’ve had some residual tightness in my upper Achilles/lower calves, but I’ve been stretching them and really working it with The Stick.

What does this delay mean going forward? Well Sun Mountain 50M is currently on the chopping block. At this point, I’m not sure how quickly Im going to be able to bounce back. Hopefully I can get my mileage back up really quick. I’d like to get back up to 45-50 miles a week, then focus on some hill training. At this point, I think I have 5 training weeks with 1 taper week… So my main concern is whether or not Ill have the hill training in that I need. That is the big question mark. Yes I could just put up the hills, which is what I’d probably do anyway, but I’d like to think that I would have the ability to attach a few big climbs. I also don’t want to compromise my whole summer by entering a big race partially healed, then get really injured, have to take a month or so off then be poorly trained for Waldo. L

So I plan to spend the next two weeks testing my body to see how I’ll react. If I think I can potentially be prepared for Sun Mountain, then I’ll really focus in on that. If not, then I’ll settle into an easier progression. Maybe cross train a little on my mountain bike.

Oh and Sun Mountain could sell out before I make any moves so that could help make the decision for me…

That’s all I got for now.

UNT

Bryan

Post Tib Tendonitis



Post Tib Tendon

 Preface:
Towards the end of the week leading up to my run on the WRT, I was beginning to feel really fatigued and tired. I had really upped the climbing that week, and it definitely took its toll Thursday. I didnt really feel like running on Thursday, but I needed approx 10mi to hit my mileage for the week. I had also planned a hill day as well, but it didnt sound like fun. I decided to get some miles in on the road before heading up to do a few Pittocks. Even though it was actually pretty warm, but my head an body werent really into it. I contemplated sitting the day out, but rationalized that its on these days when you want to quit that you actually get stronger, mentally tougher, etc so I went out despite feeling tired.

I did my run, but cut it short in the end and only went for about 8.5. My body was just exhausted, and finally decided that I needed some rest. I had water, but definitely should have brought some calories as I bonked pretty hard on the last climb. I happened to meet Jason on top of pittock so we ended the run together.

The next day, Friday, I was still pretty tired. I did a mild strength workout in the Columbia gym as scheduled, but didnt push myself too hard as I had a big day coming up on Saturday. That evening I was grumpy and tired. I got to bed around 11:15-11:30pm, and decided to sleep in a little instead of getting a early start on my run. I knew that the sleep would help.

The next morning, I awoke feeling pretty refreshed and not too tired. I ate a quick breakfast, then began assembling my kit for the run. I got to the trailhead around 11ish I believe and was trotting to the CG in no time.

*See the previous post for more info on the run*

Post Run
Everything felt fine Saturday night. I was sore here and there, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It wasnt until Sunday evening that I finally decided that something was not right with my left ankle, around the medial malleolus. I took some NSAIDs that evening in hopes that it would cool the pain in my ankle. The pain followed me through Monday and on Tuesday I began doing my research on Google. I concluded in the end that I had some sort of Posterior Tibial Tendonitis/Strain, something so I scheduled an appt with my Chiro, who I was already seeing for my hammy luckily, for Thursday.

I rode the trainer on Tuesday night to see how it would react to a little physical activity, and it responded pretty well. Minor flashes of pain every once and awhile. I continued to ice regularly and laid off the Vitamin I, aka (ibuprofen). My ankle began feeling better on Thursday as I could start walking without any pain.

That evening during my Chiro Appt, my doc confirmed my Post Tib Strain diagnosis and performed some graston, ultra sound, ankle readjustments and slapped on some K-Tape. He told me that I could probably start jogging this weekend if I didnt have any pain, stay off the hills, but continue hard workouts on the bike.  I should be able to get back to full running soon enough, but I'll definitely take it slow. I rode the bike again last night, felt a little more painful, but that was primarily due to the brusing from the graston.

After Thoughts
What did I learn? This was just a stupid training error on my part. I was trying to ramp up mileage, while simultaneously ramping my my climbing training significantly. Only ramp up one thing at a time. Also, I failed to Respect the Machine. My body was telling me to rest and that it was tired, but instead focused foolishly on my almighty training log. Gotta stick to my plan. False! Gotta Respect the Machine!

I had a rest week planned starting this Monday so I rationalized that it was okay to push my body one last time before my rest week. While my body seemed to do fine on the run, what really screwed me over was the rapid increase in climbing. I probably would have been fine on a flatter run as it would have put less stress on my tendon, but regardless, my body was telling me that I was pushing up against my limits, and I tried to squeeze in one last big run and that came back to bite me in the ass.

In the end, I dont think this will effect my goal of running Sun Mountain 50M, but only time will tell how quickly I'll bounce back from this and how soon I'll be able to hit the hills again. This time however, I will take a more conservative approach to my hill training, although I fear that I won't have enought hill training in before Sun Mountain. I'll have to get my mileage back up to 50-55 miles a week before I can hold that constant and beging running some hills. I also want to get in at least one 50k before the 50M, doesnt have to be a race, might just be a wildwood traverse, but I would feel more confident going into SM with a 50k under my belt this year.