Mark's Running Journal

OK, I know this is becoming downright ridiculous, but I still can't run because of my stupid toe.  It is going on 3 weeks now.  I went back to the doctor on the 30th, because the hematoma kept spreading out from under the bandages, and because it was hurting so much.  He said it was a good thing I came in, because it had become infected.  He cut off all of the loose deflated blister skin from around my toe, and for some reason cut deeply down into the toe where the wart had been and removed a bunch of tissue.  (He also gave me an antibiotic).  I ended up with a big hole in the bottom of my toe.  It is still there. 

The general pain has largely subsided, so I intended to try running this afternoon.  In the morning, however, we went to Provo to watch Thatcher in the homecoming 5k.  I ran from the track up to 900 east by Helman Halls to watch him run by there, and then I ran back.  I figure it was probably about 1.5 miles round trip.  That was enough for me to learn that I am not yet ready to run--it has been extremely painful ever since we got home!  Like I said above, I still have a red, raw hole where the wart was, so I guess I will have to let it continue to heal for a while.

Got up and tried out my foot on the stair machine.  It worked!  It hurt some, but tolerable.  30 minutes.

P.M.  There has been a controversy on dyestat over the length of the Region II XC course, so I went out and measured it with a wheel.  The line marking the course was still bright and clear, so there was no problem (except that it was getting dark by the end).  I jogged it pretty slowly, probably about a 10 minute pace.  The foot hurt, but not nearly as badly as last Saturday.

Ran 2 miles on the treadmill, 10 minute pace.  I'd say the toe should no longer hold me back.  It is still healing, and it hurts running, but not enough to keep me off of it.  The problem is that my hip now hurts more than it did before my time off, and on top of that I have developed some pain in my heel, plus a tight left calf!  I think I'm falling apart.  I have noticed the heel the past several days when I step a certain way.

Ran to the duplex, mowed the lawn, ran home.

Time to get back at it.  The toe still hurts, but there is no reason why I can't start running regularly.  Ran after work, 3 miles, 8:39 pace.

3 miles on the treadmill before work.  8:57 pace.

In the morning I ran with A'Lissa.  We headed toward Millcreek Canyon, but I turned around just past the toll booth for a total of 3.47 miles.  I came back pretty fast and averaged an 8:23 pace.

 I spent the rest of the day at the state cross country meet.  I went early and put a wheel to the course.  I have heard in the past that the course is a bit long, and thought I would measure it for myself.  It came up 75 meters short of 3 miles.  I'm glad I did it, because the times were so fast that the length of the course ended up being quite controversial.  8 of the top 10 times from the past 5 years were run today.  It clearly was off.  I was talking to Coach Shane and he said he thinks it was off even more that 75 meters. 

 I'm counting the 3 miles I jogged while measuring the course, plus another (at least) 3 miles running around during the races.

Decided to give my injuries a rest, so I did the stair machine for 30 minutes.

I ran in the BYU Parent's Weekend 5k race.  I'm not in race shape, considering I haven't been consistent in my running since my vocal cord surgery in August and have barely run at all in the past few weeks due to the toe debacle.  But, A'Lissa had already entered us, so I decided to just have fun with it.  My plan was to just take it easy and sort of jog it (Demetrio was doing the timing and when I told him my intentions he said, "That's what everyone says").  I was thinking I would do somewhere in the 8 - 9 minute pace range.  But, even though I went out in the middle of the pack, I found myself at a 7:30 pace for the first 800m or so.  By the time I was at 900 East and the top of the long uphill, I was at an 8:26 pace instead of my planned 9:00 pace.  So, I decided to go ahead a push it just a bit.

I went fast enough to really get out of my comfort zone only one time other than the finish, so it was far from an all out effort.  My mile splits were 8:17, 7:25, 7:18.  My finish time was 23:09, although our Garmins read 3.05 miles.  Maybe next year I'll see what I can do about that 22:20 5k PR.

 A'Lissa hit a new PR of 20:57.  Even considering that the course may have been a bit short, this was still a great race for her.  Her PR was 21:20 at sea level, in the Corona del Mar 5k a couple of years ago.  Thatcher, who was not entered, ran with her.

As for injuries, my hip was OK, but I am becoming a little worried about my leg pain.  When it first started I thought the pain was in my calf, then I realized it was below the calf but above the achilles.   It is sort of on the side of the leg, and now, as I examine it, I'm thinking that it may originate at the bone. 

 We warmed up and cooled down to and from the hotel, just under 1.5 miles each way.

Decided to give my sore leg a rest, so I did 40 minutes on the stair machine.

Gave the leg another day's rest by sticking to the stair machine again.  30 minutes.  Will try it out with a run on the treadmill tomorrow.

Bad news.   My leg has been feeling great this week, so I thought I would get on the treadmill and try it out a bit, nice and slow.   It started out fine.  I could feel it, but not so much that I would say it actually hurt.  But, after about a mile it did start to hurt.  At about 1.3 miles it started hurting quite a bit.  Just as I was thinking I would take it to 1.5 miles and then stop and switch to the stair machine, I felt, and I'm pretty sure heard (over the television), a sharp pop followed by an intense pain.  I got off the treadmill, limped upstairs and got an ice pack.

 For the past 30 minutes I've been on my laptop researching it.  It appears to by my soleus.  I'll have to make an appointment with a doctor, but hopefully it isn't too bad.  Sitting here with my leg up and with ice on the affected area it feels tight, but it doesn't really hurt.  If I try putting weight on it hurts some, but not a ton.