Healing the heel (ha, ha, guys, at least you're getting a bit of joy out of this ...) has proven not to be as easy as I thought. I shouldn't have jumped out that plane, you say. How true, how true.... but not half as exciting.
We live and learn and ..... forget!
Three weeks out from the tumble and the heel still has not cleared up completely. Having said that, the heel itself is no longer the real problem. At present the fascia is much more painful when I run and particularly first thing in the morning. I wonder whether I might have picked up an injury there as well, which has so far simply been masked by the pain in the heel.
Also, after longer runs I end up with sore calves.
That on the other hand is not necessarily a bad thing (so maybe having this injury was a blessing in disguise (now for a pun in French: le talon blessé!)), as for a long time I have tried to improve my stride by striking mid-foot rather than with the heel. The injury has forced me to do that (painfully) and I may get that wish granted after all. It does put a bigger strain on the calves though.
Compared with what I felt last week (after 15ks), today was not too bad after yesterday's 17ks.
This week I managed to do 30ks and have also gone back to the pool. I certainly have suffered a set-back and in reality I will have to leave the Perth Marathon aside. Again, that may not be so bad. After all, Berlin is much more important to me than Perth.
It's now 6 weeks to Perth and 18 weeks to Berlin.
In reality am not going to get ready for Perth and if I tried, there would be a good chance of either pulling another injury or not resolving the current problem.
Therefore preparing for Berlin is now a much bigger priority. Sorry, guys, I'll watch you from the sidelines.
I suppose if someone wanted to do the relay, that would be an option. I'd be fine doing half of it in any combination.
I still plan to do the Perth HM, if only to see where I stand. That is now three weeks out, so hopefully I will have the foot under control.
Fortunately I have little Court commitments in the next few weeks (except for the next few days), so that will allow me to get into a routine with more time on the bike and in the pool.
Oh, yes, and did I mention that my daughter has convinced me to do an Ironman? Busselton December 2009, she will crew me. I suspect though that she will be busy at leavers and in any event only wants to me to shave my legs so she can make fun of me....
Hmmmm, daughters.......
18 May 2008
Feel the Heel Part 2
A tad optimistic I was last week as running "freely" is still not happening.
I did a short tempo run mid-week and a longish run of 15ks yesterday and ended up with a very sore calf today, courtesy of not guarding the right foot and not using a normal gait. Running downhills is a particular challenge.
I will just have to take it easy with shorter but more frequent runs. It's happening, but it's just taking an awful long time!
I did a short tempo run mid-week and a longish run of 15ks yesterday and ended up with a very sore calf today, courtesy of not guarding the right foot and not using a normal gait. Running downhills is a particular challenge.
I will just have to take it easy with shorter but more frequent runs. It's happening, but it's just taking an awful long time!
11 May 2008
Feel the Heel
or: Pain is nature's way of telling you you're alive.
I went for a short run today, just around the park, but otherwise I have found moving around quite a challenge this week.
The heel is still quite bruised, although much better than a week ago.
On a brighter note, the knee is completely pain-free.
I think it'll probably take another week until I can run freely again and in the meantime, I'll stick to the bike and might as well go to the pool and work on my stroke!
I went for a short run today, just around the park, but otherwise I have found moving around quite a challenge this week.
The heel is still quite bruised, although much better than a week ago.
On a brighter note, the knee is completely pain-free.
I think it'll probably take another week until I can run freely again and in the meantime, I'll stick to the bike and might as well go to the pool and work on my stroke!
04 May 2008
Crashing down to Earth
Having got quite some heat at the homefront, I thought I would get an A skydiving licence and then be content with the occasional jump.
This weekend was supposed to get me much closer to that point.
Without going into too many details, I have now decided to postpone the plan for a while, a considerable while I think.
It's just too hard to travel up to York, taking time out and having my head properly sorted out to concentrate. I think I need my head too much during the week and don't need the additional challenge.
The first (and only) jump on Friday was quite symptomatic. My first solo and I was really looking forward to it.
Jumping headfirst out of the plane was good fun, I recovered quite ok but manoeuvring was not so good. The landing would have been excellent if it had flared for long enough during the final few seconds.
This way I jarred my right heel (and bumped the right knee for good measure) and now, two days later, I still cannot stand on the heel. But it is improving.
Quite a pity though as things were clicking into place nicely even though it had looked for a while after Canberra as if I had overdone it completely and any further marathons would be out of the question.
I spent some time in the gym today obviously not doing anything involving the use of my right heel, but riding should be ok, so I might jump on the bike this week.
Worst case scenario is that I might have to give the Perth Marathon a miss, but we'll see.
This weekend was supposed to get me much closer to that point.
Without going into too many details, I have now decided to postpone the plan for a while, a considerable while I think.
It's just too hard to travel up to York, taking time out and having my head properly sorted out to concentrate. I think I need my head too much during the week and don't need the additional challenge.
The first (and only) jump on Friday was quite symptomatic. My first solo and I was really looking forward to it.
Jumping headfirst out of the plane was good fun, I recovered quite ok but manoeuvring was not so good. The landing would have been excellent if it had flared for long enough during the final few seconds.
This way I jarred my right heel (and bumped the right knee for good measure) and now, two days later, I still cannot stand on the heel. But it is improving.
Quite a pity though as things were clicking into place nicely even though it had looked for a while after Canberra as if I had overdone it completely and any further marathons would be out of the question.
I spent some time in the gym today obviously not doing anything involving the use of my right heel, but riding should be ok, so I might jump on the bike this week.
Worst case scenario is that I might have to give the Perth Marathon a miss, but we'll see.
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