I'm back beotches!

I am happy to report a whole week and a half of running with minimal complaining from my ankle and achilles.  Yep, that's right!  I'm back, bitches!! 

Last Thursday, I had another PT appointment.  We didn't really do a whole lot.  He massaged my calf for about 10 minutes, and man oh man, did it feel good!  When he was finished, it felt as if I didn't even have an injury.  No tightness whatsoever.  That lasted through to Sunday, then the tightness started to creep back up.  My injury is so weird lately.  It's healed enough so that I can run daily on it, but that stupid calf gets tight on me and puts a lot of strain on my achilles.  I bought The Stick massager, so that I could massage my calf myself, so I have been doing that since last Thursday.  It works pretty well, but it's nothing like a professional massage, lol.  It's getting me through, though.  I also discovered the ThermaCare Heat Wrap.  Wonderful product.  I have been using a wrap every other day or so after a run to keep my muscles loose.  Love the heat wrap!  I scheduled a calf massage for this coming Saturday.  My PT is on vacation this week, but I will go back to see him next Thursday.

As for my runs, I ran 17 miles last week!  I have been training my friend, Becca, on the Couch to 5k Program.  It has pretty easy runs, and I think she is on week 7 this week.  I did a couple of 35 minute runs with her last week, and two 40 min runs by myself.  The calf massage did me wonders through 3 runs.  Monday, I rested because it felt like it was getting a little tight again.  This week, I have run Tuesday and today.  Tuesday, I did a 45 minute run, and it was amazing.  It was my first real run without breaking to walk.  I had been breaking to take it easy on my ankle, but I'm barreling forward now, lol.  Today, I did a 35 min run in the sun.  I'm feeling pretty tight tonight.  I made my husband massage my calf with the stick tonight, and I'm hanging out on the couch with a heat wrap on, catching up on my shows on the DVR.  The funny thing is, I am running faster paces now than I did last year when I was training, lol.  I took 3 months off from running.  I cross-trained a little bit, but definitely thought I would struggling when I came back full force.  I guess I kept up enough cardio on my break to still be able to run a decent bit.  I'm taking the advice of local runner, Jason Pyles, who recommends I run based on how I feel, not based on a pace chart or HR zone.  Running how I feel has me running faster than before!  I ran today's 35 min run at a 10:00 min pace, and last year I would've ran an easy run like that at an 11:15 pace.  The 10:00 pace felt good, so I just went with it!

I am very optimistic that I am on the up side of this injury.  At least now, I can actually run on it regularly.  A little tightness I can deal with through massage and stretching.  As of right now, I believe that I have enough time to train for the CDR.  I don't know that I will run it any faster than last year because I'm getting a much later start, and I'm fresh off an injury.  Last year, I took 16 weeks to train, but I started from scratch.  This year, I have 10 weeks to train!!  But, I know from last year that I am capable of pushing myself harder.  I know that I can do more weekly miles, and I can do them faster.  I may just surprise myself!