Back on the horse

Less than a month into the whole blogging thing and already I'm behind schedule! Anyway, I think I last left off describing the beginning of a game-changing injury for me in June 2007. I ruptured my posterior tibial tendon and ended up having the tendon replaced and my calf also operated on to keep the injury from happening again. I had what's called a gastrocnemius slide, in addition to the tendon surgery, in order to lengthen my chronically tight calf, which led to an abnormal amount of strain on the tendon that eventually resulted in a rupture. That injury had me out from June to December 2007.

Coming back was hard because of my new biomechanics and basically a new calf that needed to get strong again. I gradually built back up, though, and did a couple of 5Ks. I was signed up to run the Philadelphia Half Marathon this November, but some weird calf pain curtailed my plans. One doctor though it was popliteal artery entrapment; another thought it was compartment syndrome. Seven appointments and six weeks later, I had a slew of negative tests and orders from a doctor to return to running. It was weird -- I'm a classic overdoer, so docs usually tell me to stop running through pain. This doctor, though, wanted me to see if I could trigger the compartment syndrome symptoms again, at which point he'd then have me come back in for the testing and possibly eventually surgery.

Well, three weeks later and I'm back at it, thankfully! I have no immediate goals at this point yet other than to get the mileage back up. I feel slightly foolish after all those doctor visits and the runaround I got; was it just an overreaction? I was in a lot of discomfort, that I know. But I'm glad to be back at it again!

Here's how last week looked (Christmas week):

M/12-22: 52 minutes (5 below in Chicago -- Brr!)
T/12-23: 47 minutes
W/12-24: 32 minutes (back in MN; Lake Phalen + side loops)
Th/12-25: 31 minutes (same as yesterday)
F/12-26: 49 minutes (Summit/St. Claire loop)
Sa/12-27: 50 minutes (deceiving; run was broken up by walking due to very icy conditions on what seemed to be every sidewalk)
Su/12-28: 38 minutes (River/52 bridge)

Total for week: About 37 miles or so

So far, the week is off to a pretty basic start. I didn't have to work today but went to the gym early. My chest hurt during yesterday's run; Derek suggested maybe they hurt after running several days in very cold weather that I wasn't used to running in since I was off for six weeks. Taking this into account and the fact that I seem to have caught a cold led me to try the treadmill. Frankly, I wasn't too motivated and was feeling pretty congested and cruddy, so I called it a day after three miles. Better than nothin', I suppose!