Flashes of Panic

I’m told I haven’t mentioned my foot for a while. I think I’m being cautious. But since it seems like everyone else is running (even beyond the usual suspects) maybe I should spill.

I wanted to wait until I’d been pain-free without running for a week or so. I had some bad days in December, but sometime in January I found myself lifting in the morning and looking longingly at the treadmills. I should have taken this as a sign of lunacy—nobody in their right mind likes a treadmill—but instead I got on.

I’m following something like a beginner’s schedule, specifically, running half-hour blocks where I alternate walking and running. I started walking two minutes and running one, and since then I’ve been reducing the walking time and increasing the running time. (I’ve managed a sub-30 5K this way, which would be more of a landmark if I hadn’t run sub-17 in 2002, my last good running year.) When I’m up to eight or nine minutes of running at a stretch, I’ll head outside.

The treadmill is a good place to start because not only is it a regular surface, if things start hurting, I can stop immediately and not have to walk home. I’m starting to feel like a pet rodent, though, which at least says good things about my sanity.

I sometimes feel aches in my foot, still. Sometimes during a run, sometimes afterward. So far, they haven’t stuck around. I figure some soreness is normal, coming back after a layoff this long. If soreness persists through a day or two, then we’ve got a problem.

Anyway, at one or two runs a week, I’m not really loading it yet. As long as I keep swimming three or four days a week, I can’t ramp up too quickly, which is probably good.

Now Playing: Litttle Man Big Man from Coil by Toad The Wet Sprocket