Recovery / Safe Mode

A week and a day has passed since I completed my first marathon, but only today have I dared to run again. On Saturday, I went for a nice four mile walk with my mom on Burma Road (my better half ran the full five mile out-and-back), but I have been afraid to run because a number of my joints and/or muscles still ache...and I do not want to risk a more serious injury.

That said, I do need to resume my training because I have a second marathon within the next few weeks (I registered for the Long Beach International Marathon before I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon simply because I wanted the bonus technical shirt...greed will be my undoing).

I do my favorite five mile loop because, though it starts uphill, it features a longer gentle descent. I take it easy at first...and my legs feel okay (breathing rhythm is off, but not horrible). I let my stride naturally open up as the hill crests, and my pace easily improves. By the third mile, I am back under nine minutes per mile (wondering why I did not try running again earlier). I have no difficulty sustaining this pace for the rest of the run, but I feel my left knee twinge over the fourth and fifth mile. I do not experience the same painful sensations I did during the marathon, but the tingling implies a potential setback could occur at any moment given harsher conditions (steeper grade, angled pavement, concrete, longer distance, stepping on a rock the wrong way, etc.).

As soon as I return home, I realize that the discomfort I have been experiencing has definitely increased. My right hip and right ankle (both of which first got tweaked during the Palos Verdes Half Marathon) are definitely worse for wear, likely due to over compensating to protect my injured left knee. My right foot's arch/heel pain (possibly plantar fasciiatus) is also more pronounced, but strangely continues to bother me only when I walk. Rolling my foot over a tennis ball usually relieves the latter pain, but now not nearly as much or as instantaneously.

If these issues do not go away any time soon, I may have to postpone my second marathon attempt until next year.