Running to Recovery 1

My foot felt great on Friday, so I decided to go for a little run on Saturday.  The goal was 3 miles, even if my foot hurt (due to tendonitis) because I wanted to see how I recovered after that distance.

I started slow.  And I mean S-L-O-W.  It had been so long since I last run, I actually couldn't remember how to run.  My footstrike was sloppy, and I found myself limping although my foot didn't hurt that much.  But I kept at it, and ran 3.3 miles.  I don't think I ever found my stride during this run.

As soon as I got home, I threw back a glass of chocolate milk, and started stretching.  It was evident from the very beginning that my right leg, particularly my right calf, was super-duper tight.  As was my right hamstring.  Well, whaddya know?  Its my right foot that giving me problems!  Perhaps my injury and tension are related?  Hmm....

After stretching, I spent some time with the foam roller, rolling out those terrible knots in my right calf.  Oh my gosh, SO PAINFUL.  I am whimpering like a little kid the whole time (surprisingly, Nugget did not notice the pain I was in and proceeded to sit on my lap while I was on the foam roller.  His extra weight actually helped, I think).  Once I located the knots, I switched to a tennis ball to really target those areas.  At this point, there were literally tears in my eyes.

I then iced and elevated my ankle, and then put on my compression socks.  Result? No pain AND no tightness.  My foot felt great!

So today I decided to go for a slightly longer run.  The goal was 5 miles.  I once again started slow and was happy to discover that my first few steps were pain free!  I still couldn't remember how to run, so it took a while to find my stride, and at that point I could feel my ankle again.  I was feeling really good (though still running really slow), and pushed to three miles before turning around.  My total mileage for this run was 6.68.  By the end, I felt my gait was back to normal, though I could still feel a little tug in my ankle.

Once home, I followed the same routine: chocolate milk, stretching, foam roller/massage, ice and elevate, though the last two steps were rushed since we were headed out the door for last minute errands.  To compensate, I took two Motrin.  My foot feels great, though it does seem like it wants to tighten up.  I'm going to try another massage session before bed tonight and see how it feels in the morning.

These runs were very encouraging.  I'm going to do one more long run of 8-10 miles this week, and see how my foot feels and recovers.  If all goes well, I will definitely run the Marine Corps Half-Marathon on the 20th.  Fingers crossed!

And because I realize all work and no play makes Jane a dull girl, I leave you with a video of a trend I'm pretty sure I started years ago.  I'm so glad its finally catching on.