Recovering

Last week we vacationed to Orlando- we had a great time but I had a long run on my to do list and I thought I’d rather get it over and done with than have it looming all weekend. Friday morning the alarm was set for 5am, I figured I’d try to beat the heat and humidity by starting extra early. The day before I had asked our concierge for a running route and the most they could offer was a 4 mile loop around the hotel – you’d think in Disney’s ginormous complex they’d have a much longer running path- I did at least, but no, they don’t. I headed out for my first loop, which Adam joined me on and the humidity wasn’t so bad at this point- it was super early and pretty dark out..

 

On a side note, the distance set for this run was 14 miles, which is longer than my longest run to date. I kept telling myself to slow down cause I had quite a ways to go. At the end of each loop, the valet was kindly waiting with mini bottles of water, bananas, and a towel- I wish all runs could be like that! By the third time around my legs were starting to fatigue and the heat was building up rapidly. Part of my route involved running past both swimming pools and at this point I was ready to plunge, but I kept going..I completed all 14 miles which I was really happy about and then went to the gym to roll out and stretch. After that, I headed back to the room to find Adam completely passed out in bed… I guess the 5am alarm might have been a bit too early for a vacation.

The rest of that day we spent at Universal Studios and my legs were certainly letting me know how tired they were.

About mid way through the day I said to Adam ‘I think I may have done something to my Achilles tendon’. My calf felt so tight, I kept trying to stretch it out- waiting on line gave me lots of time to do so. The next morning it still hurt but the throbbing was less so I figured it was just tired from the run. I rested the remainder of the weekend and enjoyed every minute of it!

Come Tuesday morning, once we were back in New York, I headed out for my scheduled 8 mile run. 6 miles into it I decided I needed to stop. I immediately called my sports medicine Doctor and booked an appointment for the following day because something just didn’t feel right. I spent the rest of the day frustrated and worried about what the Dr. would say.. The next morning at my appointment he worked on my leg for about 30 minutes- at one point he was literally putting all of his weight onto the tightest part of my calf.. I thought I was going to pass out, but I got through it and I’m glad I did because it immediately felt better. He told me to rest it until Friday, maybe do some bike instead and then try running a short distance, 2 miles or so.. So, Thursday I headed to the gym to spin for 40 minutes, my legs were so not used to spinning (being as I haven’t done it since I started this marathon training) that when I got off the bike I felt sore in all kinds of new places, but I guess that’s a good thing .

On Friday I ventured out for my 2 mile run. I was nervous in case my leg didn’t feel better but also anxious to get back out there. I took it incredibly slowly, stopped a lot to stretch my leg and maxed my run out at 2 miles. I felt pretty good.

The doctor had told me that I could try a 5 mile run if I felt ok on Sunday but I decided to let it rest one more day. Today I’m scheduled to run 4 miles- I’m going to see how I feel this evening. I saw the doctor yesterday morning and he said the leg’s doing great and I should be ok for my upcoming race on Sunday! That being said I was back in his office later in the afternoon because my leg felt worse…

I’m trying to keep my head up and focus on staying positive but I must say I’m getting increasingly stressed about not being able to run at the moment.. especially considering I was hoping to set a PR in Philly. We’ll see how the rest of this week goes …