When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Running

“Things could be worse.” – That’s been my motto this week. 

Between blood blisters, a stolen wallet, getting my new shoes caked in mud during a 16 miler in the rain, and having mayonnaise (would could be grosser than mayonnaise??) splattered on my face, dress, and bare legs at a cocktail party by some gentleman fixing his burger, it’s not been a good week…

I’ve also been frustrated by the perpetual presence of stress in my right foot. I have been battling with my body to safely get in some quality running (or just any running!) these past several days.  The good news is that I’m 99% certain that I do not have a stress fracture – nor do I believe I have the beginnings of one (See – I said things could be worse.)  Instead, I’m quite sure I have injured a tendon on the outer side of my foot.  No clue which one – I took Astronomy as my science in college.  Like runner’s knee though, I have taken the approach that I may continue to run – just cut back on mileage, closely monitor the foot to make sure it is not getting worse, and ice the crap out of it.

Now that I am a few weeks in to preparing for my big race, I am starting to get all the typical aches and pains of marathon training.  Being paranoid about injuries, I internally push the panic button each time I feel a twinge.  Then I remember how I felt after my first few long runs at the beginning of my debut marathon training – pure, all-over pain.  It wasn’t like I got back from running and my knees hurt or my feet hurt.  Instead, I got back and my soles ached, my toes throbbed, my knees felt as if a three hundred pound football player bashed them in, and I could barely stand up straight.  I would wonder “How did I just run 16 miles if my walk is now a shuffle that should belong to a ninety-five-year-old great-grandma in a rest home?”

After taking several days off to rest my right foot, I tested the waters with an easy three miler…well, it was easy until I decided to take off my shoes and run barefoot down the paved streets of my neighborhood.  Fortunately I live in a hood where mannequins and mirrors are considered yard art, so a person running barefoot down the sidewalk seems normal in comparison.  I would probably need to run barefoot while wearing an animal costume to get any second looks. 

While my running sans shoes was not out of place, the blood blisters that appeared (especially one large one) on my feet certainly were…Great.  Now I have two bum feet.  Could things get any worse?  Yes – I would remind myself.  Things could definitely be worse.

A few days later I tried a different approach with my barefoot practice – About three miles in to an easy run, I randomly decided to jump off the sidewalk and in to a grassy field where my neighbors often play softball.  The grass was wet and the ground a little muddy from the continuous rainfall that we have been receiving in Charlotte.  I slipped off my shoes and sat them on a picnic table and began to run 3 miles (almost perfect lengths of .25 mile laps) around my new grass track.  As I completed each lap, I would do strides – picking up my pace from easy running to near 70% effort for about 10 seconds then back to easy. 

In short – my grassy three miler was great.  “Why have I never run barefoot out here before?”  I thought.  It’s funny how my right-foot road block opened up a whole new training opportunity that was right around the corner from my house but until this week never noticed.  While a set back in training, work, or just in life often leaves us feeling defeated, it sometimes is a hidden opportunity to help us think outside of the box (or off the pavement in my case) and brainstorm new ideas that we may not have otherwise thought.

This week, as I set out on one of my runs (or maybe hobbles is more accurate) with my blisters, inflamed tendon and all my other aches and pains, I made a mental note to capture the moment…Hopefully when I reach my goal, I will look back and remember the hot, humid long runs, the threshold workouts where I thought I would die, and that tough week when, with a stressed foot and mud on my shoes and mayonnaise on my face, I found a way to keep running. 

MCM Training Week Five: 40 Miles 

This Week’s Beer Choice: 21^st Amendment’s Brew Free or Die IPA