rehab in loops: week 6

sunday, 4 miles . . .

monday, 6 miles . . .

tuesday, 10 miles . . .

wednesday, 10 miles . . .

thursday, 10 miles . . .

friday, 20 miles . . .

saturday, 10 miles . . .

. . . and now the hard part of injury, rehab in motion. i almost prefer last week, in the sense that there was little question as to my plan of attack: don't run. easy, yet so hard for those addicted to running, the amazing feel of poetry, movement, breathing. hard to walk away from that even knowing it was temporary.

this week is all about the delicate balance. i don't want to push too hard too soon and yet there is that part of me. the runner part of me. that just wants to pound pavement for an hour and forty minutes. but i have to hold back. test my ankle. test my patience. this is endurance but in a completely different way. the strength to hold back. the strength to keep back your own strength.

after a mile and a half at a really slow pace (around 8's), my ankle was hurting fairly bad. i stopped and just worked it, massaged it, dug my thumbs into that tendon until i couldn't stand the pain and then push harder. after about five minutes, i tried to run again. the pain was relatively gone. for the next two and a half miles, i hit my magical pace of 6:39. it felt so great to run that fast. amazing.

i didn't have time to ice afterwards because i'm teaching half of the sermon this morning. i may pay for that later but this is my job, my ministry, my passion and i suppose running must bow down to a few things in my life. i did ice that night and worked it more with the tp.

. . . this morning scared me. not because of the two unleashed dogs running around the elementary school, whose owners seemed upset at me, but because i couldn't shake the pain for the first two miles or so, though i tried all of the same things as yesterday.

but finally the tendon settled down and it became more of a constant burden, awareness, instead of an intolerable pain. i think i passed my first test for the week. i was nearing the exit from the path to my house, looking down at my watch reading 5.80 miles, just enough to get home and make it an even 6 and still have time to ice my foot before work. but then i had a demon thought. or was it an angel. maybe i didn't pass my test. what if i put in just 2 more miles? can i push it? no ice? and i pushed that voice down.

maybe tomorrow.

. . . maybe tomorrow has become a reality today. a truly breakthrough run that started with very little promise. my leg started hurting after the first mile or so. i stopped and worked out the area. for awhile the pain was gone, but then it came back with a fierce vengeance around 2.5 miles. this was quite discouraging. i had to either cut this run short or make it really long by stopping every mile to massage it out. but during this massage i hit a place i hadn't before by using my other hand to wrench my ankle at strange angles. this seemed to do something amazing.

i started running again. and as before the pain was gone for the first lap around the school yard. but then the pain didn't return. at times there was a dull ache but nothing that consumed my mind like the other pain. i started to drift off into that magical place that only happens on a run. an all exuding peace of perfect communion with GOD where everything in life becomes clear. the miles started zooming by. and then i was at 10 miles. this felt amazing. at times i was averaging a 6:31 pace but ended up with a 6:38. my foot wasn't sore at all afterwards and i went through two icing cycles.

things are starting to turn around.

it was a beautiful morning too. i thick fog covering everything. i couldn't even see across the playground. one of those days that i would have loved to just run forever. though after all this rest and low miles, i am thankful for the 10 that i got.

. . . and now this endless third mile mulch path around the elementary school is becoming tiresome. a total of 34 miles around this glorified loop with the little changes of clockwise to counterclockwise and back again. but again i must be thankful that i am able to even run. today was even better than yesterday pain wise. i stopped at about 1.5 miles to massage out that tendon. i found that same piece of large bark to dig into the spot and turn my foot. this again did the trick. i ran the rest of the time without stopping. it did start to throb a little bit near the end as well as some other places on the foot (but i think this was from going the same direction the whole time, this pain eased up when i started going the other way). even some runner's high afterwards. this tells me that i'm not quite ready to hit the streets. which means this weekends long run (if it happens) will be at bush park which is mostly mulch path but affords a few more choices than this single loop.

. . . 10 miles without having to take one break to work out my ankle!!! this confirms what i have speculated over these past two days, that i am getting better, slowly getting better. it felt great. hit my pace right on, though it took a few laps to get there. i am tiring of this madness. 40 miles of this 1/3 mile loop. the same high school students walking to class. the same middle school students waiting for their bus. the same dogs barking. the same over-zealous teachers arriving early. the same. the same. the same. but at least from a pain perspective it was different. this is what i am holding onto in the midst of this seeming madness. this is just another step, another part of being a runner, and for that reason, and that reason only, i embrace it. one of those things that will be a great story looking back on it, as most trials are.

wondering how tomorrow will play out. some pavement mixed in with the trail. i change of scenery will be nice. more options, more elevation, more mileage. hoping that my ankle will be able to handle all of these mores.

. . . this was a less than glorious run. at bush park, around the bark dust trails he runs for over 2 hours. i tried the track. hurt my ankle too much. i tried the concrete path. hurt my ankle too much. and actually i was in a constant throbbing pain through much of the run. had to stop quite a bit to massage things out. a huge effort to stay at my pace. maybe because of the trees, or the turns, or the pain, or who knows.

what i do know is that this is less than fun.

. . . back at the elementary school. running on that third mile loop. this is madness. something must change, i thought. i grabbed my piece of bark that was under the bench, took a turn, and hit the road. maybe a good idea, maybe a bad idea, but i needed a change of scenery. at the end of the 10 miles, things were fairly sore. took time to ice and stretch. not getting worse, not getting better.