As I mentioned in the comments of my last post,
I'm seeing some progress in my Achilles injury. I underwent my second
session of prolotherapy at the end of September, and after about 10 days of
cross training (either biking or uphill hiking on a treadmill), I started
running. I've been running every other day; I started with 3 miles and
added a mile each session until I reached 9 miles (or about an hour, as I'm
typically running in the 6:30-7:00 pace range, just basic aerobic work for now).
I've been running on 99% soft surfaces, which seems to help as well.
I've tried to be extraordinarily diligent about the "extras": ice baths, self-massage, static stretching, eccentric loading of the calf
(on a stair), and various balance and strengthening exercises (often on an
Airex balance pad or a BOSU trainer).
The runs are going pretty well. While I
still have some mild discomfort in my ankle, and I still have a bit of
stiffness when I wake up in the morning, I really don't seem to be any worse
for the wear doing 9 miles every other day. Previously, this level of
work was not sustainable—I'd be digging myself a hole, as the ankle would be slowly
getting worse. And even the discomfort that I do have seems to be less than it was several months ago.
So this is all quite encouraging. I had
another appointment with Dr. Nicola on October 23. We discussed the
possibility of another prolo session, but we agreed that for now, I should just
keep building, seeing how it goes. I will visit him again on November 15.
I'm also adding bi-weekly visits to Dr. Roy Settergren for active release
on my ankle. The self-massage I've been doing is surely a good thing, but
Dr. Settergren can loosen things up a lot better with ART than I can on my own. I like him a lot, I think he really knows his stuff, and he's great at ART.
As for the continuing buildup, I'll start
increasing a weekly "long run" by one mile a week. I'm going to
do 10 miles later this week, then 11 next week, 12 the next, etc. My regular
runs will remain 9 miles, but I'll start adding some back to back days (the
first few times I do this, the second run may be a bit shorter—5 or 6
miles—just to be cautious). So hopefully by the next time I see Dr.
Nicola, I'll be running 4 or 5 days a week, maybe 35-45 miles per week. I will
also supplement with biking and uphill treadmill hiking (the latter is actually
quite aerobically challenging). I've joined a gym (Wicker Park Fitness) in my new neighborhood, so I can start to regularly to the treadmill work. Once I'm consistently doubling (typically a run in the AM, treadmill hike in the PM), it will make the transition to doubling with two actual runs a day that much easier when the time comes.
Optimistically, with a gradual buildup, I'm
hoping that by the new year, I'll be training at more or less a full volume—around 100
miles a week initially, and then continuing to build from there.
Pumpkins in the Park 5k – 4th place, 16:39 (in
Dig 'Em frog costume)
Since my running was finally going relatively
well, I decided to hop in the Pumpkins in the Park 5k race in Lincoln Park on
Saturday evening. I ran in my Dig 'Em frog costume (from Smacks cereal),
which wasn't the easiest due to the costume's massive chicken wire and paper mache head.
I finished 4th behind three Fleet Feet guys, including my friend Dave
Strubbe, who outkicked me.
I initially just planned on running a moderate
pace, but I have a hard time toeing a line and not running hard. So I
ended up going out with the leaders. The top two guys made a little push
about a half mile in and I let them go. I was by myself the rest of the
race, until Dave passed me with about 100 meters to go. With fourth place
secured, I slowed to a walk and did a few big hops across the finish line.
My splits were roughly 5:13, 5:17, 5:30. Not bad for my lack of
fitness and my costume. I don't think I've run a mile faster than 6:00 in
the last 5 months.
The best thing about the race was how well my
ankle held up. I didn't notice it at all during the race, and the stress
of the race didn't leave it any worse afterwards. A good sign to be sure.
