My initial hope was, as I put it, two weeks on the bench. It looks, however, like it will be closer to three. In 11 years of distance running, no injury has sidelined me longer.
I saw Dr. Spector on Friday and he was very pleased with the progress. I'm very pleased with the progress, too.
This was a really bad staph infection and it's now mostly under control. Still, the wound in my foot was deep, and Dr. Spector really urged me to give it extra time to close up. At this point, I'm listening, not resisting -- and I continue to take antiobiotics and keep the area covered.
I'm going to do some light cycling and gym work this week, and I expect Dr. Spector will give me the green light to resume easy training when I see him again (the last time?) on Friday, Feb. 5. At our last appointment, we discussed what truly caused this. Was it a staph infection from the start? Was it an inflamed bursa sac that got infected? Hard to say, but the thing to ponder is this: He sees infections like the one I had all the time --not in healthy patients, however, but in diabetics.
Tomorrow is Feb. 1. National Half Marathon, my first race of the spring, is March 20. Do I have any chance of running well there? Maybe, maybe not. I have to train smart, and possibly cross train.
In a previous post I said I miss running. In reexamining that statement, however, I'm not sure that is entirely true. People talk a lot about the transformative aspects of running -- it makes you smarter, it makes you feel great, runners' high!, it keeps you young -- and I agree with all of it 100 percent. But I'm not really missing the sheer act of running right now: Rather, I do not like having my training disrupted, and what I miss is the preparation. Otherwise, sleeping until 8 a.m. and later on weekends is, well, kind of nice.
Becoming a runner 11 years ago remains among the most important things that has ever happened to me. At the same time, the aforementioned positive side effects are no longer why I do this. I do this now because it is just what I do. And I know the time will eventually come for me to put my flats away and start running (much less) for entirely different reasons.
You wonder all the time if this never-ending pursuit holds you back in other areas. You wonder all the time if you should be working more (at your job), pursuing it harder. But you also ponder potential regrets (not wanting to have them) and you know you have to see this through.
I averaged about 10 miles a day in 2009, hit a PR in the half marathon, ran my best marathon since 2006 and joined Georgetown Running Company's racing team. Early in 2010, I settled on a plan of a spring devoted to high volume and races from 10 miles to 13.1 followed by a summer of higher volume and a hoped-for fall assault on my marathon PR in Chicago.
To come out of my first decade of running with only few short-term injuries accrued and to start my second decade with a pretty bad could certainly be cited as a gloomy sign. Of course, I just have to start next week and see where it all leads. I'm getting needlessly ahead of myself.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
#4
Finally, we're on the mend. The inflamation is way down, the infection is almost gone and Dr. Spector said on Monday I was about 80 percent better. I'm still on antiobiotics for another week -- at least. I'm back to work, though putting in short days, and wearing the highly fashionable surgical boot. And I'm soaking the foot twice a day in epsom salts then applying a topical ointment and wrapping it up with gauze and tape.
I do miss running. Also, I'm a bit worried, as National Half Marathon is creeping closer and I want to run well there, mostly because I was accepted into the elites. Red Fox suggested a good post-injury training plan, but I will not get into any of that until I get some sort of green light. The main holdup, I believe, will be this cut/gash/wound in the metatarsal; it's been drained twice and is now about an inch deep. How long will that take to heal? (I'd rather not think about it.)
I see the doc again on Friday. He might give me the green light to get on a bike. Maybe, too, these so palpably self-absorbed posts will come to an end.
I do miss running. Also, I'm a bit worried, as National Half Marathon is creeping closer and I want to run well there, mostly because I was accepted into the elites. Red Fox suggested a good post-injury training plan, but I will not get into any of that until I get some sort of green light. The main holdup, I believe, will be this cut/gash/wound in the metatarsal; it's been drained twice and is now about an inch deep. How long will that take to heal? (I'd rather not think about it.)
I see the doc again on Friday. He might give me the green light to get on a bike. Maybe, too, these so palpably self-absorbed posts will come to an end.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
#3
Hopefully this series will not reach double digits.
I saw Dr. Spector today for the third time in less than a week. Two days of Augmentin-875 had not done much to make my foot smaller or stop the infection; the situation had only gotten worse. Of course, working 10 hours yesterday to make my weekly deadline did not help; I suppose, though, I could have not worked yesterday and woken up this morning with a clownish foot and no job to return to once this heals .... save my highly lucrative professional running career.
So I saw Dr. Spector today. He put about five shots in my foot to numb it out and opened the gash wider and literally squeezed the stuff out -- drained it, so to speak. The idea here is that the reason my foot was swelling with infection was that everything was trying to escape through a tiny wound and thus had nowhere to go. Afterward, he wrapped my foot and gave me a super-cool (as in, not cool at all) surgical boot which was exactly what I've been needing these past few days. And now the meds should actually work.
I am now taking Cipro in addition to Augmentin, and the funny thing about taking Cipro was that this what the Peace Corps doctor in Niger would have us take for gastro-intestinal issues. It worked like a charm! Additionally, Dr. Emily (who is suddenly rethinking her American Studies doctorate in favor of becoming a podiatrist) has been nice enough to unwrap and wrap the tape around my foot thrice daily and apply antiobiotic ointment.
So I'm out of work for the rest of the week, basically bed-ridden, and hopefully when I go to see the doc again on Friday things will look a lot better. I also have some codein in case the pain really flares up (thus far it has not) or maybe in case I just get really bored.
I saw Dr. Spector today for the third time in less than a week. Two days of Augmentin-875 had not done much to make my foot smaller or stop the infection; the situation had only gotten worse. Of course, working 10 hours yesterday to make my weekly deadline did not help; I suppose, though, I could have not worked yesterday and woken up this morning with a clownish foot and no job to return to once this heals .... save my highly lucrative professional running career.
So I saw Dr. Spector today. He put about five shots in my foot to numb it out and opened the gash wider and literally squeezed the stuff out -- drained it, so to speak. The idea here is that the reason my foot was swelling with infection was that everything was trying to escape through a tiny wound and thus had nowhere to go. Afterward, he wrapped my foot and gave me a super-cool (as in, not cool at all) surgical boot which was exactly what I've been needing these past few days. And now the meds should actually work.
I am now taking Cipro in addition to Augmentin, and the funny thing about taking Cipro was that this what the Peace Corps doctor in Niger would have us take for gastro-intestinal issues. It worked like a charm! Additionally, Dr. Emily (who is suddenly rethinking her American Studies doctorate in favor of becoming a podiatrist) has been nice enough to unwrap and wrap the tape around my foot thrice daily and apply antiobiotic ointment.
So I'm out of work for the rest of the week, basically bed-ridden, and hopefully when I go to see the doc again on Friday things will look a lot better. I also have some codein in case the pain really flares up (thus far it has not) or maybe in case I just get really bored.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Injury Report #2
The goal today was to put on a shoe. After taking out the soles, I managed hiking boots. But it hurt pretty bad and I've spent most of the day with my foot in nothing but a sock beneath my desk. Bursitis feels better. Now the antiobiotics need to kick in and make my foot shrink; it's day two on the meds, though, and I'm not seeing much progress there.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Injury Report
As of Saturday, my goal for Tuesday was an easy run. As of now, Monday, my goal for Tuesday is to be able to put on a shoe.
Things took a turn for the worse with the metarsal bursitis yesterday. After acknowledging on Friday night that running on the inflamed bursa sac made it even more inflamed, I committed to some days off and spent them, mainly, with my foot in a bucket of ice water. The pain, or stinging, seemed to die down during the day and flare up at night, and that was pretty much the case yesterday -- except it flared up to the point last night where I was popping Aleve like candy to no avail.
This morning, Emily took another look at the area and found a nice fresh cut. Perfect: an infection, too.
I saw the doctor again today. He removed some dead skin and gave me prescriptions for a better ibuprofen, antibiotics and ointment to apply twice daily after soaking my foot in warm water with Epsom salts.
Bummer. Walking right now is a challenge.
The good side is I feel like I now have this situation under control, and it should only improve after tonight.
Things took a turn for the worse with the metarsal bursitis yesterday. After acknowledging on Friday night that running on the inflamed bursa sac made it even more inflamed, I committed to some days off and spent them, mainly, with my foot in a bucket of ice water. The pain, or stinging, seemed to die down during the day and flare up at night, and that was pretty much the case yesterday -- except it flared up to the point last night where I was popping Aleve like candy to no avail.
This morning, Emily took another look at the area and found a nice fresh cut. Perfect: an infection, too.
I saw the doctor again today. He removed some dead skin and gave me prescriptions for a better ibuprofen, antibiotics and ointment to apply twice daily after soaking my foot in warm water with Epsom salts.
Bummer. Walking right now is a challenge.
The good side is I feel like I now have this situation under control, and it should only improve after tonight.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Training Jan. 11-17
M - AM 12 with 8 by 30 seconds on, off
T - AM 9 with Patrick PM 6, Lincoln Park
W - PM 11 - 3 WU, 7 miles tempo in 40:30 on treadmill, 1 CD
Th - 9
F - 6
S - 0
S - 0
Total - 62
I woke up on Wednesday morning with what felt like an odd lump on the bottom of my right foot. When I examined the area, however, there was nothing there, and it was not painful, so I went ahead with my plan for a tempo on the treadmill.
As I had been doing, I wore my Luna Racer flats, which was probably a bad idea. I now know that odd lump in the metatarsal underneath and between my fourth and little toe was a slightly inflamed bursa sac. The tempo converted it to a very inflamed bursa sac.
Thursday's run was crap from the start; I made it a few times around the Mall (packed dirt) but the inflamed area never seemed to loosen up or dull out. Afterward, I iced and got on ibuprofen, and by the afternoon I thought I had pretty much kicked it. To be safe, I skipped a post-work 5 or 6. But I did not take ibuprofen either, and the stinging in my foot woke me up in the middle of the night.
On Friday, I saw Dr. Adam Spector, a podiatrist I saw in 2008 to get an in-grown toenail fixed. Spector, a runner and very good doctor, took an X-ray which ruled out anything serious. He acknowledged that, in some cases, you can train through bursitis, but you have to play it day to day, and what he saw was simply the result of too much pounding in the metatarsal. I have really high arches; my foot is not naturally a good shock absorber.
So why I have mostly managed to avoid injury? Well, I'm pretty lean, yes, and fairly efficient, though my gait is fairly quirky. Mostly, even when I'm putting in good volume, I have a good sense of where the line is; I know, too, when my body is most vulnerable and I need to pay close attention to my cadence.
But I screwed up recently, and moving forward I am going to have to be more proactive about escaping the concrete-laden Southeast. Also, a month out from the Philadelphia Marathon, perhaps I moved forward too fast. Honestly, it's hard to say.
A short run Friday made it feel a lot worse -- it stings, walking is hard -- and so I must accept that RUNNING does not help this injury.
Nothing but RICE until Tuesday. That day, if it feels decent, I'll try 30 minutes on grass.
T - AM 9 with Patrick PM 6, Lincoln Park
W - PM 11 - 3 WU, 7 miles tempo in 40:30 on treadmill, 1 CD
Th - 9
F - 6
S - 0
S - 0
Total - 62
I woke up on Wednesday morning with what felt like an odd lump on the bottom of my right foot. When I examined the area, however, there was nothing there, and it was not painful, so I went ahead with my plan for a tempo on the treadmill.
As I had been doing, I wore my Luna Racer flats, which was probably a bad idea. I now know that odd lump in the metatarsal underneath and between my fourth and little toe was a slightly inflamed bursa sac. The tempo converted it to a very inflamed bursa sac.
Thursday's run was crap from the start; I made it a few times around the Mall (packed dirt) but the inflamed area never seemed to loosen up or dull out. Afterward, I iced and got on ibuprofen, and by the afternoon I thought I had pretty much kicked it. To be safe, I skipped a post-work 5 or 6. But I did not take ibuprofen either, and the stinging in my foot woke me up in the middle of the night.
On Friday, I saw Dr. Adam Spector, a podiatrist I saw in 2008 to get an in-grown toenail fixed. Spector, a runner and very good doctor, took an X-ray which ruled out anything serious. He acknowledged that, in some cases, you can train through bursitis, but you have to play it day to day, and what he saw was simply the result of too much pounding in the metatarsal. I have really high arches; my foot is not naturally a good shock absorber.
So why I have mostly managed to avoid injury? Well, I'm pretty lean, yes, and fairly efficient, though my gait is fairly quirky. Mostly, even when I'm putting in good volume, I have a good sense of where the line is; I know, too, when my body is most vulnerable and I need to pay close attention to my cadence.
But I screwed up recently, and moving forward I am going to have to be more proactive about escaping the concrete-laden Southeast. Also, a month out from the Philadelphia Marathon, perhaps I moved forward too fast. Honestly, it's hard to say.
A short run Friday made it feel a lot worse -- it stings, walking is hard -- and so I must accept that RUNNING does not help this injury.
Nothing but RICE until Tuesday. That day, if it feels decent, I'll try 30 minutes on grass.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Training Jan. 4-10
M - AM 10 with 6 times 30 seconds on, off
T - AM 10 PM 5: loops around Lincoln Park with 6 times 30-second accelerations, 15 seconds off
W - PM 12: on treadmill, 3 WU, 7.9 miles in 46 minutes, beginning at 6:10 and progressing to 5:33, 1.1 CD
Th - AM 12, met up with PMurph PM gym
F - PM 12 moderate with 5 by 30 seconds on, off and 4 hill reps
S - AM 12 moderate with big group from store
S - 17 from the Line. Cold.
Total - 88
2010 race and training plan is still developing, though I am now set on Broad Street as my last race of the spring rather than the Frederick Marathon. I believe, in terms of development, that this will set me up best for a breakthrough in the fall at the Chicago Marathon. More later ...
T - AM 10 PM 5: loops around Lincoln Park with 6 times 30-second accelerations, 15 seconds off
W - PM 12: on treadmill, 3 WU, 7.9 miles in 46 minutes, beginning at 6:10 and progressing to 5:33, 1.1 CD
Th - AM 12, met up with PMurph PM gym
F - PM 12 moderate with 5 by 30 seconds on, off and 4 hill reps
S - AM 12 moderate with big group from store
S - 17 from the Line. Cold.
Total - 88
2010 race and training plan is still developing, though I am now set on Broad Street as my last race of the spring rather than the Frederick Marathon. I believe, in terms of development, that this will set me up best for a breakthrough in the fall at the Chicago Marathon. More later ...
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Dec. 28 - Jan. 3
M AM 7 PM 3 on treadmill, ab stuff
T AM 10 with 6 times 30 seconds on, off PM 5 with loops through Lincoln Park
W AM 3 WU, 40-minute tempo/progression workout: 6:15 to 5:36, 6.7 miles in 40 minutes, 5:58 avg. 1.5 CD - 11
Th - 10
F - 0
S - AM 9 PM 6
S - 18 with team from Riley's Lock on C&O Canal. Icy, windy, -1 degrees with wind chill. Good training.
Total - 73
I am ready to move on to more serious training. Through most of January, the emphasis will be the tempo run, and I may stick with doing them on the treadmill.
Coming soon: Analysis of 2009. Plans for 2010: New Year's resolutions, National Half Marathon, Cherry Blossom, going for two in a row at Frederick, planting the seeds for a fall run at Chicago.
T AM 10 with 6 times 30 seconds on, off PM 5 with loops through Lincoln Park
W AM 3 WU, 40-minute tempo/progression workout: 6:15 to 5:36, 6.7 miles in 40 minutes, 5:58 avg. 1.5 CD - 11
Th - 10
F - 0
S - AM 9 PM 6
S - 18 with team from Riley's Lock on C&O Canal. Icy, windy, -1 degrees with wind chill. Good training.
Total - 73
I am ready to move on to more serious training. Through most of January, the emphasis will be the tempo run, and I may stick with doing them on the treadmill.
Coming soon: Analysis of 2009. Plans for 2010: New Year's resolutions, National Half Marathon, Cherry Blossom, going for two in a row at Frederick, planting the seeds for a fall run at Chicago.
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