Restless In Rehab!

It's been 3 whole weeks that I haven't been pounding the roads and I'm getting extremely restless to pick up some mileage. The stress fracture that I acquired before the Gold Coast Airport Marathon is slowly but surely on the mend, though I wish it would heal a hell of a lot faster. Patience is really not my strong suit. I've still got at least a minimum of 3 more weeks before I can even think of lacing up and start the slow, long road back to fitness.

The wife has been keeping a sharp eye on me to make sure I don't sneakily lace up and hit the roads. I'm not even allowed to buy a new pair of shoes till I'm healed (I've got my eye on you, Vazee!) and as much as I'm tempted, it would be foolish to attempt to run right now.

But that doesn't mean I've been sitting idly waiting for the day I can run again. To keep myself from ballooning up during this downtime, I've made a change to my diet and eating habits and am keeping strict control of what I put into my stomach. No more binging on junk like I used to do pre-GCAM.

To maintain some form of my fitness and make the transition back to training a little easier, I've put my efforts into a program of indoor cycling and a core routine that I religiously do every single day without fail. Since I can't swim, this looks like the best I can do to maintain some semblance of fitness.

I actually dislike having to sit on a stationary bike staring at the wall or doing any sort of indoor training/workouts but for now that works and even the wife is surprised at my tenacity to keep my fitness in check. Let's hope this will help a wee bit when I finally get to lace up again.

I'm looking at a mid/end August comeback and right now the signs are positive. I have two races I've signed up for in September, a half marathon and a 10k which I won't be fit enough to run. I've decided to downgrade myself from the half marathon category to the 10k category and run with the wife instead. It'll be a while before I can attempt longer distance races and I'm a lot more cautious now.

I'm not getting any younger and as enthusiastic as I am to get back to my pre-injury fitness, I have to take it slow and really re-look my training plan to stay away from any further injuries. I cannot afford another round of downtime as I have some plans for next year being cooked up. I really do not want to be sidelined again. It's not a nice feeling not being able to run while all your buddies are out there hitting the roads and trails.

The wife as always has been a pillar of support. She's even decided to take some downtime along with me and not run until I'm recovered so that I won't feel so bad being stuck at home with no running. On the plus side, the break has given my body and legs a chance to heal and repair itself. I'll at least come back to running with a relatively well rested and refreshed body and legs.

For now though, I'll just have to satisfy my running fix by reading the exploits from the rest of my running buddies on Facebook :D