My Miracle Cure - Rest

Like many type A people runners, I don't like taking rest days but after my Achilles tendon started bothering me over the weekend I realized that rest was my only option if I want to make it to the starting line in Boston. Well, loyal readers (hi Mom!), I am happy to report that rest seems to be working.

I've been icing my tendon twice day, taking ibuprofen (though I'm weaning myself off of that that since I started taking it 5 days ago) and taping the tendon using KT Tape (jury's still out on this one, I'll report back when the verdict is in). After an easy test run yesterday morning there was no pain. I can't tell you how ecstatic I was to be able to run 5 miles and feel, well, nothing!

Today I decided to give a long run a try with a run to work. If I run the most direct route it's 9.1 miles but there are plenty of subway stops near my run. I told myself if I felt any pain during the run I would immediately stop and head to the nearest train. Thankfully, there was no pain. In fact, after working a few cobwebs off (after three days of no running and one day of slow miles my legs felt a little unresponsive at first), I felt really good. I managed a few marathon pace (MP) miles midway through the run.

As I got closer to my office I decided to keep going. Since I work in the Financial District where Manhattan comes to a point, I can easily add miles to my run by continuing down and around instead of taking the first turn-off for my office so that's what I did. The result, 12 pain free miles! I could have jumped for joy but I didn't want to push my luck.

Now I'm not naive enough to think I'm completely out of the woods--whatever was wrong with my tendon is not completely healed--so I'll be playing it safe for the next couple of weeks. I may even throw in some extra rest days, but for now I'm just thankful to be able to run!
______________
Today's Run: 12 miles at 7:30 pace. It was super foggy this morning:

What Happened to Winter?

I'm not complaining, but it almost seems like winter forgot New York this year. Sure we've had a handful of cold days, but we've had almost no snow and plenty of above average temps. Last year it seemed like we had the winter that would never end. I remember being forced into quite a few treadmill runs simply because the road was too icy. This entire week, however, it's been near 40 when I've hit the pavement.

This lack of snow and ice has removed one of the biggest downsides to winter running and the other, perpetual darkness, is on it's way out. It's finally starting to get light early enough that at least part of every run has some sunlight. That's a big improvement over earlier in the winter where I could do my entire run in darkness and only see the sun between my apartment and the subway--it was gone by the time I finished work.

The good thing about this mild winter is that I'm not spending every moment complaining about the cold and wishing for summer. The bad thing? It has me worried I might be pushing my luck. I've run Boston the past two years and have been extremely fortunate with the weather both times. However, Old Man Winter still has plenty of time to rear his ugly head. I just hope he doesn't decide to come back from vacation just in time for Patriot's Day!

What do you think? Do we still have a dose of winter on the way?