Weekly stats - not as I'd planned

Last Sunday I was pleased to see that I had run my furthest weekly mileage since coming back to running, with 15.2 miles. This week I have totalled one paltry run of 3.1 miles. Hmph. I mentioned a pain in my foot in my last post, and unfortunately it is still giving me trouble and stopping me from running. The good news is that I don't think it's got anything to do with the PF injury, but I really have no idea what caused it. It almost feels as though I bruised it when I was asleep, becuase I have no memory of doing anything to provoke it - I'm not sure it was caused by running.

I had a great run of speed intervals on Tuesday morning, and then during Wednesday, I gradually felt a pain coming on in the left outside of my foot, under my toes. I can't put weight on the outside of my foot, and it hurts to flex it, so I've been walking with a bit of a limp. This in turn has lead to tightness in my calf muscle, which feels like cramp. I'm sure this has been caused by the way I'm compensating for the pain when I walk.

So it's all very frustrating. Last week I really felt that I was getting my fitness and speed back, and now I've had to stop again. The foot seems to be getting better, but it'll be a few days at least before I'll want to risk a run. Sad face.

So this week I've been back to the old cross-training. I went to the gym on Friday, and tried to use the elliptical machine, but I found that it hurt my foot, so I could only really use the bikes. Added to that, I've been out for 3 bike rides this week, so I've really been getting those quads working. Quite by accident, it seems that this has been my highest cycling mileage week this year!

Monday's bike ride was lovely and sunny, but it involved an almost vertical long uphill, which was really tough. I'll definitely be avoiding that route in the future. On Wednesday I felt tired, it was rainy and I'd forgotten to take my inhaler - yes a litany of pathetic excuses - so I only managed 6 miles. Today I had a really nice cycle on a cool, overcast morning, and it was a flatter route than usual. My speed was the fastest yet, averaging over 11mph! It seems that I am definitely getting fitter, and faster at cycling.




















Monday's cycle in the sun

My stats for the week are not quite what I'd planned, then:
Cycled: 24.3 miles
Run: 3.1 miles (flipping heck...)
Gym x 1 - 60 mins of cardio plus weights
Pilates x 1 class

Hopefully this foot pain will clear up soon. I'm not sure if I'll be able to run at all this week, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for a run next weekend, perhaps. Luckily I've really been enjoying my last few bike rides, so it'll be more of the same for now. At least this foot pain is stopping me from overdoing the miles as I come back to running, and aggravating the PF. Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise - in which case it's a really good disguise, because to be honest, it seems more like a total bummer!