Monday, February 18, 2013

Runner Down...

I hate to admit it.. I really do. But I think I may have to take time off.

How did this happen?
I'm not exactly sure. After last weekends 20 miler I noticed the top of my foot bothering me right after and during the last few miles of that run. I ignored it. 

All last week I noticed it, didn't pay much attention to it until last Thursday. I knew it wasn't going to get better because even walking triggered pain and I noticed some inflammation. 

So I listened.. and rested. Friday and Saturday. No Running. Rest ice massage heat

Sunday morning I was feeling good. No pain when I walked. It was long run day and I wanted to test out the waters.. see how far I could go without feeling any pain. Mentally I wanted to run 13+mi... My legs felt well rested but not my foot. Past mile 9, I knew I needed more rest. And part of me regretted Sundays run.

I googled and self-diagnosed myself with Extensor Tendonitis
everything matched what I had... pain on the top of my foot, inflammation... 

I came across something that broke my heart..
"The joint should be rested until all signs of pain have disappeared; this could take several weeks"

several weeks?!

Today is definitely rest day.
Now the question is... to go see someone (a foot doctor, Accelerate..?) or try to just stay off it and ice it? With my last 20 miler this weekend... I'm not sure what to do. Avoid running all week and wing it on Sunday? I'm honestly about to have a full on panic attack. I can't imagine taking more than 3 days off from running. Especially now.. week 15 of marathon training. Tapering is suppose to start next Monday... Help?

Have you ever injured yourself and NOT went to see a doctor? 
Have you tried out Accelerate? 


I should really listen to Deena Kastor's advice...  but I'm just too stubborn.

4 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your foot injury. That stinks, but listen to Deena and take some time off until your foot is feeling near 100%. Basically, you are in shape to run the marathon right now and you won't lose your fitness level for several weeks. I took a full 10 days off before the 2011 NYC marathon and was able to run it. I was injured for most of the 6 weeks prior, so I was still holding fitness which I had "banked" for 6 whole weeks! So, take some time off and focus completely on recovery. Seeing a doctor would be best to make sure you didn't break anything and to get a proper diagnosis. If you are able to run then run. If not, sign up for another Spring marathon a few weeks later, but hopefully, this will be a quick recovery. :-)

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  2. When I saw that Deena tweeted you back, I screamed. That was so exciting. She is my absolutely favorite runner ever.

    Please take care of yourself!!!

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  3. LOL! If you cannot listen to Deena, who will you listen to? :)

    3 days won't kill your training. A week of might not! I hope you feel better sooner than that though!

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  4. Take the time off. It's the very best thing you can do for your training. Trust me! Actually, don't trust me, i'm an idiot, but trust Deena! She's amazing!

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