Still on the DL

Yes, I am still on the disabled list, but I am hoping this coming week will see me back pounding the pavement again.

In doing my part to promote economic stimulus, I've now paid for and deferred two races to next year. The first race I passed on this year was the St. Andrews Father's Day Road Race, due to something freakish happening with my shoulder. The second race I deferred was the half marathon in Saint John in the Marathon by the Sea today, due to a more traditional running injury - an injured foot.

The foot has now been a problem for a week. I ran a few miles mid-week, which was probably a mistake, as it didn't take me long to realize it was still too sore. I held out hope even until Friday night that I might run the half, but when Saturday came around it was obvious I was not up for it. We still spent the night in Saint John, since we had a non-refundable hotel coupon. For future reference, perhaps I will no longer buy non-refundable nights in hotels for races, as I can never be certain of the health situation.

I did get to meet up with my friend Mark from Halifax, and I saw him finish his second half marathon this morning. I attempted to get a picture of him, but the best I could do was the cropped version below. It looks more like a picture of the clock, with Mark in the foreground.


The lack of running, especially knowing that the marathon is so close, is driving me nuts. I think the foot is getting close to being better, but I'm hesitant to start running on it again too soon. According to my training plan, tomorrow would normally be a rest day. I'm hoping to pick up the schedule on Tuesday, right where I would normally be. This is the first taper week, but in my schedule it still calls for over 40 miles, and I'm keen to get them in. If running is still a problem next week, I will be quite concerned.

I had planned on doing a 10k in Perth Andover this weekend. I think I may pass on this. I don't know if the 10k last weekend contributed to my foot problem, but in case it did, I don't want to take the risk of it happening again this week, just two weeks out from PEI. Then again ... if the week goes well ... who knows?

I spoke to Alex Coffin (who finished second in the marathon today) in one of his shops yesterday, and mentioned my foot issue to him. He spoke of getting on the bike (which I have done ... but probably not enough), and he also suggested water running - here is a Pfitzinger link on that topic. I think I would have to be desperate to do such a thing, but Alex says he does it three days a week. I would guess he does a crazy amount of mileage per week, and throws these sessions in to avoid injury.

See Mike's post for an update on his most recent long run - another very positive sign for him. He has signed up for PEI, which is great. He has been nice enough to offer to pace me in PEI, but if it looks like I'm going to drag him down to a personal worst in the marathon, I hope I can be persuasive enough to convince him to sprint ahead of me! Hopefully I'll be there to give it a go, and not just cheer on him and Faith Ann.