Training Log Archive: Bash

Ontario Orienteering Championship Long course
Tyandaga/Sassafras Woods

Yes, I know. I'm supposed to be taking a break from running to deal with my foot injury but I'd already paid for this one race and it was pretty short so I told myself I would hike most of the course. Naturally, I didn't. That's why I dropped out of Raid The Hammer; my will power in such matters is feeble.

It was a cool, late fall day with some vibrant autumn colours, especially in the undergrowth. It was perfect for orienteering, once I'd warmed up.

I looked back at my training log and noticed that all but 23 minutes of my orienteering this year took place on snow! My last race was the Eliminator in early March. So I felt rusty today.

I often mess up the first control on a course and I did it again. I totally forgot that the start triangle was up the trail from where we started so my route to #1 was not what I'd planned - probably less distance but I spent more time in slow terrain. It was a 30-60 second error. After that, things went pretty well. I was running at a decent pace and making reasonable route choices.

That all changed as I was running from #4 to #5. I was on a flat, wide trail, focusing on stable weight shifting of my injured right foot: heel, big toe, heel, big toe - just like Dr. Bell taught me. Then CRUNCH, I cranked my left ankle hard because I wasn't thinking about it at all. A brief but enthusiastic stream of profanity ensued as I hobbled down the trail in pain. A grandfatherly-looking man with a map came around a bend toward me and I couldn't tell from his expression whether he'd heard me. Whoops.

I left the trail early and veered too far east between #5 and #6, losing 2 minutes due to the extra distance in rough terrain.

It was a pretty good run for me and enough to defend my Ontario championship. Goose and 'Bent ran Peak-2-Peak together in the same area and finished tied as the top Masters! Great to see so many friends out.

Long Course 3 - Splits

Hermes, Hank and I enjoyed a beautiful, chatty autumn hike around the Loree Forest loop. Actually, Hank isn't that chatty but he's adorable. We topped it off with buttertarts and lattes in Ravenna. Fun to catch up! My foot was pain-free although there were some small twinges later at home - nothing like last weekend, fortunately.

I didn't wear my Ambit today but here's the route.
https://ar.attackpoint.org/sessiondata.jsp?session...

I saw Dr. Thumbs-of-Death today about the pain on the medial side of my right calcaneus (heel bone). He says what I'm feeling is bone pain at the location where the Achilles tendon is attached. The medial side of my soleus muscle is really tight, which pulls on the Achilles, which pulls on the bone. This has pulled the foot over to one side, and the bones in the foot are mashed together. The difference in flexibility between my feet is easy to see and feel. I remember it being the other way around four years ago.

He agrees that I should take a short break from running, do physio exercises, manually work on the tight areas (and let him do some of that) and ice any inflammation. He doesn't think it will take long to get things working properly. Phew.

The treatment was excruciating so I guess I got my money's worth.

Hard Core Live with Caron

Class built around foam rollers and tennis balls - good stuff!

Boot camp - only had to modify one exercise to make it low impact.

As much as I've hoped it would fade away, it's official - I'm injured. It feels very much like the problem I had 4 years ago - a burning pain on the side of the heel bone when I step up onto my forefoot. In 2013, it was either an Achilles insertion problem or retrocalcaneal bursitis. The name of the problem wasn't as important to Dr. Bell as improving my running mechanics - which worked but it started with not running for awhile. :(

Last time the pain was on the outside of my left heel, which has traditionally been my gimpy foot due to a bunch of ankle sprains over the past 20 years. This time it's the inside of my right heel and there is a hard bump at the painful spot. It's bigger than the bump I remember on the left heel, which seems to be gone. That's encouraging because I thought it was permanent bone so maybe there's hope for this bump too.

Ugh. But I'm optimistic that if I can avoid running for awhile, do my physio exercises and see a sports chiro, it will improve. Last time I was loathe to stop running, which undoubtedly delayed my recovery.

Up early to get ready for more tradesmen to make a mess in our living room. The good news is that the inside work is done now. We're now ready to offer BASE jumping out our new patio door.