It’s almost two weeks since I fractured the bone in my foot and I’m starting to go nuts. Kim’s surprised I’ve not gone mad already. I’m trying not to think about it.
Six weeks in plaster and six weeks out of training is the least of it. As I can’t put any weight on my foot I’ve no idea if it’s getting better, and there’s no change in the pain on that side of my foot. Healing bones is a fairly slow process. If I saw repair in an x-ray I’d be happier. Six weeks in a cast will be followed by around six weeks of limited run/walking, and that’s if all goes well. It could be worse. When the cast comes off at least I’ll be able to get in the pool, so maybe my swimming will become awesome. That’s something I’m looking forward to, and I think five days a week in the pool or sea is a real possibility.
If I can at least get a cycling shoe on and spin on the bike I’ll be a very happy cyclist. Having cycling replacing much of the running this year helped my running. I wasn’t sure if this would happen but in January I was running easy at 7:15 min/mi pace, and 7 min/mi pace was at the upper end of zone 2. I only reached that pace for effort as I was approaching the marathon last year, so that’s an excellent sign for under 50km of running per week. If I can get on the bike I’ll be ok. There will be a lot of rehab for my left leg though so I’ve no idea how I’ll perform.
So all the races I’d planned this summer will be for fun and experience. I enjoy the complexity of multisport and I love to compete. If I can complete the early races I’ll be doing well. A couple of weeks after the cast comes off I think I’ll start my training all over again, starting the long endurance building period from scratch before I add real intensity. My long term goals require endurance, and that takes years to build so I don’t want to short change this one. At least my high mileage weeks should be in the summer rather than March!
Trying to plan the months ahead is a little depressing, particularly when I think about the uncertainty of it all. I need to find something to focus on to take my mind off it all.
