So I was able to get to the doctor last night for my “1000 mile maintenance” .. which is how I referred to it with my doctor (of course he chuckled, I have a cool doctor). Thankfully, nothing major going on, however, I am being treated for a sinus infection, and Achilles tendonitis along with peroneal tendonitis. I have a black toe on my right foot which will go away on its own I hope … there is no miracle cure for the tendonitis according to the doctor, there isn’t even much he can do except to tell me to take NSAID’s (ibuprofen and aleve), stretch it out, and take it easy for a few more days. He didn’t tell me not to train, just not train as hard … which to me means more cross-training for now (low-impact) if possible. I don’t intend to run until maybe the weekend … maybe get a few miles in, but we’ll see.

As far as being sore, most of the major soreness is gone, however my hip flexor and lower quads are still quite sore (actually painful at times). I think another day of no-impact crosstraining and moving around it should do the trick and i’ll be good to go.

The important thing is that I don’t have a disabling injury at this point, however tendonitis is like luggage, you can potentially keep it forever (chronic). It may heal up in a week, a month, 6 months, but it can always come back at anytime. I took the liberty of ordering an Achilles tendonitis strap while I should have by the weekend. Apparently, this helps give me proper support and heel strike so it doesn’t inflame it as bad.

All my aches and pains have not stopped me from looking to achieve my next goal, which is to break a 4 hour marathon in the spring (and do multiples also). I have in my sites the Ocean Drive Marathon on March 25, 2007 and then 4 weeks later, the New Jersey Marathon on April 29, 2007. At this point I am looking to do Pfitz’s 18/55 plan in prep for the first marathon, and then Pfitz’s plan for 2 marathons within 4 week between them. Much of this will depend on how my legs feel … I’m being smart and taking the time off now to take it easy. Its been a long summer .. 18 weeks is a LONG time to train and the intensity will be kicked up in the next training cycle.

I intend on working on the site here sometime this week to update it since Steamtown has now passed. Thanks to anyone continuing to read on with my struggles through running. Hopefully if you’ve read through this you’ll see i’m an average guy trying to manage training in my busy life. Its a lot of fun, and looking back on my struggles is actually pretty neat. I hope anyone out there agrees.