A Holding Pattern

Things are slowly starting to come around. I take my marathon recovery pretty seriously so the slow part is to be expected. It's not so much that I need the physical break, although it is nice to let all these little aches and pains heal a little bit. However, the real reason that I take my recovery so serious is because I need the mental break. Right now, the body is willing, but the mind is still a little weak. I figure now is the time to recharge the mind and get that feeling back. You know the one, where you actually look forward to your runs. It is not very often that I can have guilt free slack time, so I'm taking advantage.

That's not to say that I've been doing absolutely nothing. The week following the marathon, I managed to log 4 whole miles. And it only took me one run to accomplish that feat too. This week the goal has changed to at least get out there and do something every day. I'm thinking I need to get the body back to thinking that it is going to sweat at least once a day from now on. With the taper and the recovery, I think I forgot how that feels. So this week, I have done 6 miles each day on the treadmill at lunch. There will most likely be a lot of treadmill running from now on. It's getting cold out and I'm a wimp. The runs have all been comfortable and I usually wind up topping out at 9.5 MPH for at least 4 of those miles. Things feel, hmmm, good. I'll take it, although I still wonder how I managed to run 26.2 at a 6:02 pace though. I couldn't have lost that much fitness already could I?

I finally took the plunge and made an appointment at a podiatrist for next week. I'm really curious to see what they say is wrong with my toe. Like any good runner, I've self-diagnosed the injury, and determined that it must be hallux rigidus (or stiff big toe for those of you who don't know latin). Treatment options are basically nothing or surgery. I'm guessing I'll go with the nothing option but I guess we'll see. Why am I even paying the $10 copay? I've already diagnosed the thing and come up with a treatment plan. I'm in the wrong business.