Broken Toes and Training Woes

Okay, so there's only one broken toe -- but "toe" doesn't rhyme with "woes," hence the title.

I realized today that I have seven and a half weeks until the half-marathon. That does seem like it should be enough time to get back up to snuff, but I'm a little worried now about the three weeks of training I missed from being sick (one week) and having a broken toe and a play to produce (two weeks). If I'm being honest, the broken toe was a nice excuse to not train so I could focus on the play (if I ever get around to posting pictures on here, I'll post some of the set, too), but now I've got to get back at it.

I was worried about the break not healing correctly and also about running, so I went to the doctor yesterday, about two and a half weeks after kicking the table leg....I mean, breaking my toe whilst simultaneously saving a puppy from a tree and a cat from a well. The doctor confirmed that it was indeed broken, that it seemed to be healing alright, and that, although it still hurts, I'm okay to run as long as I can handle the pain. That's a fun diagnosis. Oh, and it will take six months to fully heal -- just in time for the full marathon!!

So I took the go-ahead to run to heart today and got back out on the road. It felt GREAT, but I know I've got to make up for some lost ground. Surprisingly, my toe didn't hurt too bad on the run. I've just gotten back, so I'll have to mention on my next post how it does tomorrow. I started with the intention of doing my two mile route, but it felt so good after half a mile that I turned and did my three mile route instead. I made excellent time, actually, and the only pain that was close to making me stop was in my left knee on the opposite leg of my broken toe. Of course, my left knee is also what has given me IT band problems in the past.

So, as I've already said, I went my three mile route (3.18 to be exact). My total time was 36:00, and I had a perfectly even split, resulting in mile times of 11:20. All things considered, it was a pretty successful run. I'm going to try somewhere between 4.5 and 5 miles on Thursday, and see where I can get for my long run on Sunday. I'm not sure exactly where I'm supposed to be in my training, but I am assuming that I'm pretty substantially behind, especially for someone who didn't run regularly to begin with and was expecting to use the full sixteen weeks of the training plan to build endurance.

But at least the toe feels good.