I ran a combined 70 miles in the months of April, May, and June, all part of attempts to slowly come back. This is about equivalent to my average weekly mileage during Winter Break, so this is likely the least amount of running I've ever done in at least 5-6 years or so. This also makes this the worst injury I've ever had. For whatever reason, despite icing and stretching and taking a lot of time off, every time I tried to come back, I was greeted with pain. By the 5th attempt, I was home and going to physical therapy and that combined with using stability shoes (awkward yet effective) finally got me running comfortably and on the road to real mileage.
Then on June 7th, while attempting a faster run, I messed up my achilles big time. I knew for a while that I may not be able to race until at least Mid-June and may not be in shape either by then, but the Achilles injury was massive step back as it happened about a month ago and I'm still not even cleared for jogging. I basically lost the summer, at least for running with that injury, as now it's basically impossible for me to put up respectable times at Blessing or Beach to Beacon. I'm also pretty disappointed about all the missed hiking opportunities as the summer is really the only time I can hike.
In the meantime, I've done some cross training. I find it tedious but can still enjoy it somewhat. I remember absolutely hating biking in the past and I now I enjoy it a little. Swimming, on the other hand, is both more boring and difficult than I remembered but it's still nice to be out in the water. Here are my totals for all 3 sports for the year so far:
Running: 750 Miles
Biking: 420 Miles
Swimming: 4,000 yards (?)
I haven't really been that much of a sad sack about this injury. I find that I'm more bored than anything. I also haven't properly run in so long that I don't really have the itch to do so anymore. Supposed to go to the doctor again Monday, where I'll likely get cleared to do very low mileage at a jogging pace w/possible walking in between. I'll probably have a week or two under 20 miles, then hopefully I can start at 30 and build 5-10 miles per week as needed from there. It'll take so long to get in shape/to respectable mileage that there isn't really any point in me racing seriously this summer but I should be healthy enough to still compete in Cross Country, even if I'm not in very good shape at first.
Running-wise, I don't really have any specific plans/races coming up. If I surprise myself and get into decent shape sooner than expected then maybe Beach to Beacon is a possibility. I'll more than likely at least race the Bottone Mile because there's really no harm in that.
After being told I couldn't hike two weeks ago, I wasn't sure whether to continue to be patient or whether to scrap all future hiking plans for this year and wait until 2019. Losing a full 5 weeks will mean I won't be able to do a lot of the smaller day hikes I had considered. My grander plans of a Pemi Loop and some highpointing aren't off the table just yet, however. If I can get a couple big hiking trips in plus a day hike or two I'll at least be able to salvage something for my hiking summer.
I'll continue to bike and swim at least a little until I can actually run full-time. I've done so much more biking than usual this year that I'm considering doing the Niantic Bay Triathlon. Anyway, I should be cleared to run again next week even if it's in depressingly low quantities. Will have more updates on strava/blog to come.
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