Adrienne Langelier Racing

Sometimes all it takes is a little good news to turn things about. After accepting moving about the world with my foot encased in plastic for one more week and performing speedwork while wearing a buoyancy belt (its harder than it looks, trust me;)) for a little longer, I received some unexpected news that provided a little morale boost.

Given Boston 2010 will be more of a vacation/research/cheerleading event for me, I attempted in vain to retrieve my entry fee by calling the Boston Athletic Association-I had a doctor's note and everything-and got likely an even better deal. While I will never again see my $130 entry fee, which is fine, I caught on to a policy that is in it's last year: qualifying time deferment. After giving the representative on the phone the proverbial "come again?", I couldn't help but be relieved upon hearing the news. What does this mean? Apparently less push to get back to racing too soon and re-qualify. This also means that all is not lost for my qualification this time around; as if I needed another reason to respect the B.A.A.

Rehab is going well, and today's relatively brief water running session felt efficient, I put in 35 mins. after a 15 min swim warmup. Intervals consisted of 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 minutes hard with a one-minute recovery. I've even made up a game or dodging the water aerobics class while spinning around the pool. Perhaps I can become the second-fastest aqua jogger in the world!! (all respect due to Mr. Wade).

Quite a week it has been. I have been working on promoting sports psychology, continuing to train hard in the water, continuing to heal and trying to plan out the next few months as carefully and flexibly as possible. When do I return to the road? Where to go next? What to do? These questions do not yield easy answers. I am currently trying to decide what to do with a round trip ticket to Boston in the middle of April. Should I go and take in the experience and gain knowledge firsthand of the event? Should I put it towards another race? When do I get to come back? These are some of the things I am trying to work out, and you can't rush healing.

Mentally, I am in a much better state this week. Things happen for a reason and are often beyond our control. I attended the Seabrook Lucky Trails Half Marathon yesterday morning, a race I was slated to run, and volunteered as a course monitor. Each time I volunteer, I enjoy the experience. According to many sports psychologists, staying "in the game", even though you are not technically playing, is injury rehab in itself-its nice to cheer on many of those who have cheered me on in other events.

Physically, I have been working a modified version of this program, designed by Pete Pfitzinger, MS, in training. In true Adrienne fashion, I have tacked on some extra minutes to these sessions, and put in a Friday "long run" of 90 minutes in the water (wow, talk about tired quads!!). I'm still getting used to how different the aqua running feels, but it seems to be getting the job done. My toughest workout to date has been intervals of 5 x 5 min hard then 15 minutes steady, then 4 x 3 min hard, and then about 30 mins steady with a warmup and cooldown. The plan is to ease back in needing only muscular re-adaptation to hard surfaces.

I go see the orthopedist again on Wednesday and will re-evaluate from there. The work continues...

All humor aside, I have struggled more with this foot injury than I originally would have hoped. After being relieved from impact for the next couple weeks (or until symptom relief), I have temporarily traded in my trainers and flats for an aqua jogger belt and goggles. I also picked up a new red suit in team colors, I guess!

Yup, it is time for water running; coupled with swimming for additional cross training. Actually, after the first session feeling weird, I am beginning to get used to the pool running sessions and their weightless glory. Initially I was skeptical about the quality of the workouts compared to on land (usually the aqua sessions are shorter due to eliciting a high heart rate), however, after a 55 min. "fartlek" workout, I left the gym more tired than expected.... I am still basically running, and my feet never touch the ground!

While it is difficult to remain positive with April 19th in jeopardy, I believe I can use this time to learn to roll with the punches a bit more, rest (or at least my version of the concept) and get stronger.

A typical week's workout during marathon training would look something like a goal pace run on Monday, easy work on Tues, TH, Fri., and some Sundays, with a lengthy track workout and 20-miler on Saturday.

Currently they more resemble 45 min aqua running, with intervals of 90 seconds to 5 mins hard and 30 seconds recovery; typically sandwiched by some freestyle swimming and backstroke. "Easy runs" are replaced by steady pool running or freestyle in the pool. I am actually liking how the swim stroke is progressing, but don't see the leap to triathlons on my radar.

In this sport we call distance running, these things are basically inevitable. While I have had a great year-long uninterrupted training sequence, I have been forced to take some days off here lately. I know that while I rather have been running this week, self-preservation takes precedence.

Coming off the 10k, my ankle/foot region rebelled and basically told me to lay off. After an emotional and scary day, lots of ice, heat, swimming, cross training and active release enough to bruise my leg all up, I am making progress, however, I don't plan to run for another few days. In the grand scheme of the Boston training schedule this may be a good thing, as I was thinking a break may be beneficial.

The culprit? Probably a combination of things: not enough rest days, improper footwear and rotations, and form/mechanics changes may have played a role. I have decided to switch out of wearing Launches for the bulk of training and return to the light stability Brooks Ravennas. If my theory is correct, I was pronating over time to a point where my paroneal tendon got wound up extremely tight (hence the active release per Julstro book).

At any rate, I don't know what this does to March's schedule and I have listed myself as day-to-day. I do know that I am staying positive and have not yet drowned in the pool! My workouts this week have basically consisted of swimming just short of a mile or one hour per day since Monday's super-yuck run. Discipline pays off, and I am doing my best to be patient. I received my Brooks ID uniform today, put it in the drawer, for I know I will be donning in sometime soon.


Waiting to Run Happy once again....