Patience: Not Just for Gilbert & Sullivan

(Ah, "Bunthorne's Bride." Not my favourite G&S musical, but I have a soft spot for it because I sang in the chorus in my high school production lo these many years ago...)

I had my last PT meeting a few days ago, and was cleared to start running on land again, provided that I take it VERY slowly and VERY gradually. So I ran for five whole minutes that day, and eight today, both on treadmills. The foot feels fine so far, though my cardio initially went "WTF??" Not exactly distance of any sort, but it's a start.

The strongest message I got from both PT and Sports Doc was, not surprisingly, "Don't do too much too soon!!" Right about now is apparently the most dangerous time for recovering athletes: they feel tons better, so they think they can get right out there and be as they were, and bang, they reinjure themselves. All NOT what I have in mind, so I'm going to be as patient as I can with all of this-- water running is still very much on the menu for a while, even if I get to add a few more minutes on land every time.

In some ways this is rather frustrating, even as I know it's all good news so far. I'll have a gait analysis done in about a week, which will tell me more about how I run, what I need to fix in terms of form, how to do so, and what kind of shoes to get since the ones I have clearly aren't what my feet need. When I do get frustrated at my glacial pace, though, at least I can try to remember that spring is on its way, so I can eventually build up my running OUTSIDE rather than on the dreadmill indoors.

At any rate, far better to do this slowly and gradually than not at all. The plan at the moment is to train for a half-Ironman triathlon later in the summer to benefit LIVESTRONG, since the marathon (in two weeks) is right out. Longer distance, greater challenge, but less pounding on my foot, oddly enough. (Half-Ironman = 1.2 miles of swimming, followed by 56 miles of biking, followed by 13.1 miles of running. Exactly half the Ironman distance, which tells you how crazy Ironman is, and don't get me started on multiple-IM-distance races.) That training plan will start in a couple of weeks, so I've a little more time to do some base training until then.

It'll be good to have a goal to work toward again!