So it's been two weeks since my last post. For me, those two weeks have mostly meant pretty consistent...
...pain. In my right foot. In my previous post I mentioned my training regimen had already resulted to something, and that that something was a lower-back pain that nested in my right buttock, but radiated (and still radiates) to the whole leg, especially outer side of my right calf. Presumably this is some version of the spinal disc herniation.
That pain is something that I've never ever before experienced. Its most intense when I stand up after a longer period of sitting, especially in the car, and it just simply stops me doing anything and everything until it slowly levels down. And believe me, having this for almost three weeks now has had me thinking different options, e.g. putting the leg on e-bay for sale or to be replaced by a wooden stick, or anything that would just provide a way out of the situation. I actually already contacted some medical help too, and got instructions to take a inflammatory/pain -medication daily for a week or two and see if the pain goes away (apparently this all is caused by a septic (inflamed?) muscle pressing on the main-nerve for the foot, so the inflammation needs to be healed before a real recovery can start).
But anyway, as I've gotten so scared of this situation A) continuing and/or B) returning at some point in the future, I've not trained at all for the past two weeks. Unless some walking with the family can be seen as training, and for me, that is not. Fun it is, but not training.
I've also started to wonder if I actually should really listen to this body of mine... I recall one situation like this from my earlier years, where a change of shoes and running style caused an infection on both of my calves (shin splints), so I was unable to run downhill at all. Naturally, this meant that at some point I just decided to stop running for a while. After finally accepting the situation then, I decided to engage a stretching routine to be done daily, and actually carried that out for several weeks. The results of that are present even now, as previously I was not able to touch the floor with my hands when standing with straight legs, but now I can tap my palms to the floor if I want to. But that change in the approach to training required quite a leap mentally, especially as at that point when I had only trained for marathons (=running) and nothing else...
So maybe I should actually use this downtime to something useful? Last time I mentioned not having a plan, and that bothering me to some extent. Now I need to have a plan, but totally different from the one I thought I'd have. I need to plan how to gradually level up my fitness even if I'm unable to run (at least for longer distances), and how to avoid this present situation at all costs...
The more irritated I got about this situation, the more it actually made me think. For instance, I have nearly one yard of books on my shelf dedicated only to the "mastery of endurance". Those include guides for planning your season, planning your training in all the three disciplines, books on nutrition for endurance athletes, Yoga for athletes, strength training etc. Why the hell won't I just sit down and not think of what I can't do, but think of what I can, and start from that?
So, as it seems that an extra-strong core will be a main factor in NOT getting this pain back again, I opened the Triathlete's guide to strength training and Sage Roundtree's "the Athlete's guide to Yoga". I created myself a core-routine for the next three weeks, and after that, I'll see if I need to add something to the routine (I was not able to carry out all the moves, so I have the possibility to update when I get my fitness back :)).
And, I've decided to start swim training again next week, probably two morning sessions per week at first and we'll see how the things develop from there. And finally, I'll follow the advice of M. Fitzgerald' to "say yes to the good stuff", in other word's, I'll gradually start to change my nutrition habits to reflect my caloric needs daily and stop eating like I was training several times a day as I really am not.
So I guess I'm now on the process of getting over a speed-bump. It took me a while, and I apparently needed some butt-kicking before that, but it's happening now... Let's see if after next week I actually have something good also happening training-wise and not just these negative thingies :D
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