My first steps of the day were very tentative as I tested out my sore right arch. Of course, these days, my first steps are always tentative in the morning, and especially the day after a log run. I hobble around, descend the stairs sideways and slowly, and wonder how I could hope to run at any speed any time soon. After my usual exercise routine and a cup of coffee, my outlook and walking tend to improve. This morning, pain was perceptible in the arch, but it wasn't too bad.
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At the 16km mark en route to my PB marathon (2:19:06)
behind Rob De Castella at Point Cook, Victoria, in June 1979 |
Today was a planned recovery day, but the bigger decision was what training to do for the rest of the week in light of the arch problem. I did want to run in well two races coming up this weekend, the Terrigal Trotters 10km Time Trial on Saturday, and the Woodford to Glenbrook 25km trail race on Sunday, but also wanted to stick to my training plan. The "easy" decision would be to train lightly for the next four days, let the arch repair, and freshen up for the races. However, in my running prime, I credited my best marathon performances to staying focused on a specific event, adhering to my program, and not succumbing to minor injuries or the temptation to freshen up for intervening races. I don't like missing races, or performing below par because of a heavy training program, but have always been willing to pay that price in quest of a greater goal.
On the other hand, I know that because of my innate stubbornness, my bigger problem can sometimes be my unwillingness to change my training program in the face of injuries and illness. I'm trying to be more mature in approach these days and test my running decisions against the standard of the advice I would give someone else in the same situation. The main game here is to be fit and injury free for the Melbourne Marathon in October. I would tell another athlete that missing a couple of quality sessions sixteen weeks out from the target race is much less important than getting an injury right. I would also tell them that it was OK to keep running so long as the injury was not getting worse, but to back off if it was. I decided to follow my own advice for the rest of the week.
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| The lagoon about to break out in to the ocean at Copa |
It had been raining heavily all night, and the lagoon at the back of our house was as high as I have seen in my nine years here, so I decided that, for today, my training would be a walk down to the sandbar separating the lagoon from the ocean and then a 4km jog/walk around Copa, depending on how sore my right arch felt. My training plan called for an easy 10km recovery day, so walking and jogging 5km wasn't much of a shortfall for today. There was some arch pain, but I didn't feel like I was making it worse and, more importantly, it was less painful than after yesterday's run. I'll plan for an easy 10km tomorrow, but be ready to modify that if necessary.
