This week was 62.5 miles of running and 6000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.
This was a sort of cut-back week. By which I mean that I took an extra rest day, but didn't otherwise reduce mileage or intensity. Actually, I ended up running a bit more in a 4 day period from Thursday-Sunday than I usually do - Thursday is usually a very easy low mileage day for me, but I upped it some this week since I took Wednesday off.
As for why I took Wednesday off? See pic.
No, nothing unexpected. If you've been following along at home, then you know I've had multiple bouts of PRP to stimulate healing in various places (on 11/1/13, 12/17/13, and 5/1/14).
On Tuesday afternoon I got prolotherapy in my ankle and groin to give a "booster" to the PRP stimulated healing of a small chronic tear in my right groin and the stretched out ligaments in my right ankle. For the heck of it (that's the medical term of art) we also did some shots in a neuroma that I have between my 3rd and 4th toe on my right foot.
What is prolotherapy? Basically it's shots of sugar water to stimulate a healing response. Like PRP, but a bit weaker (and significantly cheaper). There were a few other differences also.
Difference #1 - it hurt a heck of a lot less. I went in for my appointment fully prepared for a great deal of pain - multiple shots of PRP in your ankle hurts like heck. Nope - they explained to me while I was on the table that it wouldn't be nearly as bad, for two reasons.
First, their type of PRP is slightly more acidic than the body's natural pH, while the prolotherapy solution isn't. Secondly, while they don't include any painkillers in the PRP for fear of diluting the solution, apparently that's not as much of a concern with prolotherapy. So they include lidocaine in the prolotherapy. Woo.
The prolotherapy itself felt just like a bunch of bee stings. Which sounds painful. But trust me, that's a cake walk compared to the PRP. I didn't even need the squeeze toys.
Difference #2. You recover a lot quicker. On Tuesday, Dr. Wagner repeatedly assured me that I was totally fine to do a track workout on Friday. I was skeptical, and grilled him on this. He repeated: there was no need for me to spend two days sedentary post injections. I would be sore, and he recommended that I take the day after the injections off from running, sticking to cross training. But running was fine for Thursday, and no worries about doing a workout on Friday.
The only restriction was that I couldn't go in the pool for 48 hours afterwards - he was worried about the rick of infection from the pool water and the injection sites. I have to admit, I didn't quite get this (honestly, I swim all the time after getting shots or blood drawn), and I was disappointed because I had slotted Wednesday as a swimfest. But, doctor's orders are doctor's orders.
And yup, the pain played out just as he projected. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, after the lidocaine wore off, my foot was very sore and swollen, like I had sprained it all over again. Another hobble/crutch fest.
Though Dr. Wagner was OK with yoga, cycling, or arc-trainer on Wednesday, I ended up just taking the day off, except for some quick upper body strength work. But....by Thursday morning, I was good enough to do a pair of cautious easy runs, with everything feeling better as I ran. And... Friday morning I showed up for track, started to jog my warm-up, and discovered the injection sites were essentially pain free. Woo.
This was a sort of cut-back week. By which I mean that I took an extra rest day, but didn't otherwise reduce mileage or intensity. Actually, I ended up running a bit more in a 4 day period from Thursday-Sunday than I usually do - Thursday is usually a very easy low mileage day for me, but I upped it some this week since I took Wednesday off.
 |
| Deja vu all over again. |
As for why I took Wednesday off? See pic.
No, nothing unexpected. If you've been following along at home, then you know I've had multiple bouts of PRP to stimulate healing in various places (on 11/1/13, 12/17/13, and 5/1/14).
On Tuesday afternoon I got prolotherapy in my ankle and groin to give a "booster" to the PRP stimulated healing of a small chronic tear in my right groin and the stretched out ligaments in my right ankle. For the heck of it (that's the medical term of art) we also did some shots in a neuroma that I have between my 3rd and 4th toe on my right foot.
What is prolotherapy? Basically it's shots of sugar water to stimulate a healing response. Like PRP, but a bit weaker (and significantly cheaper). There were a few other differences also.
Difference #1 - it hurt a heck of a lot less. I went in for my appointment fully prepared for a great deal of pain - multiple shots of PRP in your ankle hurts like heck. Nope - they explained to me while I was on the table that it wouldn't be nearly as bad, for two reasons.
First, their type of PRP is slightly more acidic than the body's natural pH, while the prolotherapy solution isn't. Secondly, while they don't include any painkillers in the PRP for fear of diluting the solution, apparently that's not as much of a concern with prolotherapy. So they include lidocaine in the prolotherapy. Woo.
The prolotherapy itself felt just like a bunch of bee stings. Which sounds painful. But trust me, that's a cake walk compared to the PRP. I didn't even need the squeeze toys.
Difference #2. You recover a lot quicker. On Tuesday, Dr. Wagner repeatedly assured me that I was totally fine to do a track workout on Friday. I was skeptical, and grilled him on this. He repeated: there was no need for me to spend two days sedentary post injections. I would be sore, and he recommended that I take the day after the injections off from running, sticking to cross training. But running was fine for Thursday, and no worries about doing a workout on Friday.
The only restriction was that I couldn't go in the pool for 48 hours afterwards - he was worried about the rick of infection from the pool water and the injection sites. I have to admit, I didn't quite get this (honestly, I swim all the time after getting shots or blood drawn), and I was disappointed because I had slotted Wednesday as a swimfest. But, doctor's orders are doctor's orders.
And yup, the pain played out just as he projected. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, after the lidocaine wore off, my foot was very sore and swollen, like I had sprained it all over again. Another hobble/crutch fest.
Though Dr. Wagner was OK with yoga, cycling, or arc-trainer on Wednesday, I ended up just taking the day off, except for some quick upper body strength work. But....by Thursday morning, I was good enough to do a pair of cautious easy runs, with everything feeling better as I ran. And... Friday morning I showed up for track, started to jog my warm-up, and discovered the injection sites were essentially pain free. Woo.
Dailies
Monday: Yoga and upper body strengthwork in the morning, foam rolling at night.
Tuesday: In the morning, 13 miles, including a workout of 7x800 (workout was 6-8x800). Splits were 2:59, 2:57, 2:57, 2:53, 2:55, 2:52, and 2:50. Followed with injury prevention work, and 1500 yards easy swimming. Got prolotherapy around 1 in the afternoon.
Wednesday: In the morning, a small bit of upper body weights. Massage at night.
Thursday: In the morning, 5 miles easy (8:42) to yoga, and then another 6 miles after (8:25). Foam rolling at night.
Friday: 12 miles, including a four mile tempo on the track in 26:13 (6:44/6:35/6:32/6:22) Followed with injury prevention work and 1500 yards easy swimming. Foam rolling in the afternoon.
Saturday: 10 miles easy (8:34); followed by some upper body and injury prevention work. 1800 yards easy swimming and foam rolling in afternoon.
Sunday: 16.5 mile progressive long run, split as 8:44 for first 3, 8:15 for next 6, and final 7.5 at 7:06 (and yes, I do now wish I had just run past the finish point at Fletchers to add in the extra 1/2 mile. At the time, my top concern was the bathroom at Fletchers). Followed with injury prevention work and 1200 yards easy swimming. Restorative yoga and foam rolling in the afternoon.
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