Running? What Running?

I haven’t posted much since Boston Marathon this spring and I’m sorry to my royal readers.  For whatever reason, this year’s training had been very challenging and hard to manage.  As you may aware that I hurt my back earlier this year, for the beginning I thought I was over work on my core routine, but recently I discovered that was not that case.  It was relate to something as far back as 2013 Marine Corp Marathon.

Two weeks before MCM, I felt my heel was hurting, but I ignored it and finished with a sub-PR time.  Then the soreness faded away at that time.  After the New Year, as I started the training for BM, it came to back me. I iced and stretched, tried to make it goes away again.  But it didn’t.  I believe my body tried to adjust the soreness and run in different form than I naturally born with.  That compensated running form that ultimately gets my back hurt and some relate soreness on the knee.  Because of that, I believe my finish time in Boston was affected (other than warm temperature).

Since the marathon, I had been running below minimum:

• Week of 04/28: 25 miles with four runs
• Week of 05/05: 29 miles with four runs
• Week of 05/12: 28 miles with five runs
• Week of 05/19 in HI for a friend’s wedding, tried to run on beaches, but sand was not soft as I expected, soreness worsen on the sand; hike about 6 miles with two hikes.
• Week of 05/26: 30 miles with five runs; ran next to Niagara River on 06/01 for an hour for total of 8 miles – longest since marathon. Heel was hurt like hell on the ride back from NY.
• Week of 06/02: 11 miles with two runs.  I ran 5.4 miles in 33m’46 on Tuesday and 5.6 miles in 35m’20 on Wednesday; Thursday night was not fun, I could barely walk. 

Every morning since then, the first few steps to the bathroom are the most painful moment of the day and on Sunday morning, the pain developed to my mid-foot.  I have not run for more than a week and I feel slightly better; but the soreness does not going away, if I stand longer than 15 minutes (such as riding on metro), then I can feel it.

I was going to start my fall marathon training this week, but I only hoping for the best at the moment.  I am seeing Dr. Firestone this Friday and I hope nothing too serious (knocking on wood).  However, in term of exercise, I had been lifting weight and ride miles on a newly purchased bicycle after someone stole the other one.  I’ll keep you posted.