Today marks 5 (FIVE!) full weeks off from running for me. Since my stubborn shin refused to heal during three months of half-training and elliptical work between Feb-May, I realized I needed to stop all training in order to let it heal properly. It was a tough decision to make, but being forced to run at 50-75% speed was only making me more frustrated. With five weeks now having passed since that decision, I'm ready to test the leg and see how it feels.
First off, to celebrate the regained use of my legs, I'm skipping work tomorrow to go for a nice hike in the Massanutten range. No running, just a nice hike on a course I love. After that I will begin running every other day for a week to see how my shin responds. I have surgery scheduled to remove a non-cancerous tumor in my neck in two weeks (it's a "schwannoma" that has grown at the site of my original lymphoma surgery 5 years ago) , but hopefully after that all the obstacles will be out of the way and I'll back running 100% again.
I'm still hoping to run the full 100 miles of the Viaduct Trail race in August, but I'm perfectly ready to shift that to 50 or 75 in the name of proper training if my legs aren't quite back at that point. I'm also looking forward to running the Cheat Mountain Moonshine Madness 50 miler in WV at the end of August as well. My super-fast running friend Adam Casseday is RD-ing this race for the second year in a row, and on top of being held on some great WV trails, the race features a 9 p.m. start time. After what is hopefully a long and healthy summer of running, I'll certainly look forward to running without the need of a hat and sunglasses!
3 comments:
5 week layoff is rough. Hope the shin is healed.
That Cheat 50 sounds sweet. I like the start time.
How was the hike? Are you feeling ready to rumble yet?
Five weeks was complete torture, but the hike was just what I needed to get things back on track - I even dusted my friend AND the dog on the way to the peak! Sure that may have had something to do with the dog being distracted by the black bear we ran into on the trail, but whatever...I prefer to take it as a sign that I'm not in that bad of shape after all!
I went for a mighty 3 mile run on the soft path between the Capitol Building and Washington Monument tonight (my "front yard"), and the shin didn't tweak at all. Looks like the loooong climb back has begun!!
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