Weekly Summary – Despite early glimmers of hope as I returned to running, my Achilles tendon injury flared up after a few days (and one attempt at quicker running). This led to the decision to take a few days of complete rest to attempt to let the injury get 100% healed before doing anything else w/ the goal of still competing at the Oct. 7 Mohawk Hudson Half Marathon.

By the time Sunday came, I could tell that the healing was going to take too long and my coach and I made the decision to call off my two mid-season races (the Mohawk Hudson Half Marathon and the Hartford Marathon) as even if I was able to run by the time those races came along, I knew in my heart that I wouldn’t be able to compete at the level that would be satisfying, beneficial to my training and recovery, or financially sensible.

Thus, I’m writing this weekly summary from an airplane headed south. As Jon told me, sometimes when you have a serious injury, the first real step to recovery is letting go of your short term goals so that you stop trying to rush yourself back into training and stop beating yourself up when things don’t go as quickly as you’d like.

One of the benefits of my work – both my running and my work w/ STRIVE – is that they’re fairly flexible. I’m a creature of habit and like to have a home base when I’m training hard, but I also have a deep wanderlust which I let drive usually only a few times a year when I’ve stepped away from the rhythm of training in pre-determined down-time.

Once I’d let go of my immediate goals, though, and accepted that I’d need to give my Achilles some time away from running and training, I realized there was no reason to hold that wanderlust back and – thanks to the enormous bank of airline miles I’ve accumulated – suddenly I saw the whole world as my oyster. I found myself checking the weather in Seoul and Copenhagen and La Paz, seeing how quickly I could get a flight to… wherever.

So, where am I heading? I’m flying to Miami, then onto oh-so-familiar Lima, Peru, and then onto the sunny, high-desert city of Arequipa in the southern mountains. Arequipa is a place I’ve been a couple times but not in many years and its bright sun and big, accessible mountains tugged at my heart-strings enough that – for the first time in my life – I made the extremely impulsive decision to book a trip leaving in less than 24 hours.

But, where am I heading in a Long Term sense? I’m hoping that my time in Arequipa will help bring me back to Boston mentally and physically ready for whatever lies ahead. Hopefully, the sheath around my Achilles tendon will feel fantastic and, w/ a bit of PT and rehab, I’ll be back to crushing miles and miles around the Charles River and looking ahead to a big race on December 2 and channeling the inspirational stories of Joan Benoit Samuelson and Carlos Lopez and the many others who’ve seen great success despite seemingly insurmountable issues in their build-ups.

And if I’m not there? If the Achilles isn’t healed? I’ll survive. I recently read a quote from pro-runner/film-maker Alexi Pappas in which, when asked how she balanced her busy life, said, “As with everything I do, I approach it with the attitude that it’s all [my] choice – so my energy is one of joy and gratitude, even if I have a few goals on my plate.”

I too, need to remember that everything I do is a choice and that running is something I pursue because I love the life and the opportunities it’s provided me. So, will I be happy if I’m still injured in 9 days? No, I won’t be; but I’ll try to remind myself that this is a choice – to pursue this crazy dream – and that w/ the highest of highs always eventually come the lows. And it’s those nadirs that provide the only times when you’re really able to figure out if it’s worth it.

 

 

Don’t forget, you can follow me day to day on Instagram and Twitter (@TylerCAndrews) and my daily training log on Strava. Oh and hey if you’re reading this and don’t know about STRIVE, you should probably check ’em out. I lead groups through the mountains of Peru on a  journey of running, service learning, and adventure. If you’re interested, join us next year for the summer of 2019, when we’ll once again have programs for High School and College students, and even 10-day trips for adults and families.

Lunes, 24 de Septiembre, 2018 – 08:30: 30’ on elliptical, ran outside. 20’ run out/back on river and then around the track to tack on. Felt pretty decent and achilles felt good. 5km in 20’30. Finished with another 30’ on elliptical w/ 7’ hard pickup at end. Total 80’ of work.

XT: Glutes (10x, ankle weights x4), toes

16:30: 30’ on elliptical, 10’ running on treadmill from 5’00->4’10/km. Felt pretty good. Another 20’ on elliptical to finish w/ 7’ hard pickup. At least I seem to be done w/ the stationary bike. Total work 60’.

XT: Toes

Martes, 25 de Septiembre, 2018 – 10:00: Late start after another gut-wrenching conversation this morning. 30’ on elliptical and then ran outside on sci museum loop, 8.5km in 35 – longest run in a while. Wish I could feel happier about that. Finished w/ another 15’ on elliptical w/ 7’ hard. Total work 80’.

XT: glutes (10x w/ ankle weights x6), toes

15:30: 30’ on elliptical, 20’ run on treadmill. Kept pace very slow ~ 4’50/km jogging and then ran quicker in the last 5’ from 4’00->3’07, all at 1%. Felt pretty reasonable. 10’ easy cool down on elliptical. Total work 60’.

XT: Toes

Miercoles, 26 de Septiembre, 2018 – Sparknotes: 5km in 16’12.

08:00: 10’ on elliptical to warmup and then 20’ jog over to track and around in circles. Foot felt okay but still could put normal shoe on ugh.

Did drills and 4x strides and 200m in 36.x and then went into it. Felt okay at the start 3’10-12 for the first 2km but felt pretty bad after that. Didn’t feel perfectly smooth today. Had to stop briefly to tie my shoe tighter and switched directions. Didn’t have much left and ran last 3k 3’17,14,17. Not ideal but given what the last couple weeks have looked like I guess I’ll take it.

Jogged 2km to cool down and then back to the stupid elliptical for 35’, picking it up after 10’ for about 22’ at a decent effort.

Total run 12km in 45’. Total work 90’.

XT: glutes (10x w/ ankle weights x6), toes

16:00: 30’ on elliptical, ran outside. Achilles felt best it has. Planned to do only 20’ but felt really good and so tacked a loop on around central square and stopped at CVS and came back. Total run 6km in 25’, total work 55’.

XT: Toes

Jueves, 27 de Septiembre, 2018 – 08:00: 20’ on elliptical. Ran outside on sci museum loop. Achilles slightly worse than yesterday which isn’t hugely surprising given faster and more running. Kept pace easy. Nice morning at least. Finished w/ 35’ more on elliptical w/ 7’ hard at end. Total run 8.5km in 35’, Total work 90’.

XT: Glutes (10x, ankle weights x6), toes.

16:30PM: Planned to run but Achilles felt quite a bit worse. Bad enough that it was bothering me even on the elliptical. Very frustrating but nothing to do except be smart and cut back. Ended up doing a combination of biking and then got back on the elliptical but honestly nothing felt great so called it short. Total 30’.

Viernes, 28 de Septiembre, 2018 – Decided to basically call it and take complete rest instead of trying to XT really hard until Achilles is 100%. Kind of a last ditch effort trying to think about Albany next weekend.

XT: Pedestal (8’, w/ 10x reps, 6x ankle weight)

Sabado, 29 de Septiembre, 2018 – Another day of complete rest. I did do a fair amount of walking as Mariana and I went to fluff-fest in the PM and then walked back which must be about 3km. Wore my ojotas which felt okay.

XT: Pedestal (8’, w/ 10x reps, 6x ankle weight)

Domingo, 30 de Septiembre – Today, after talking w/ Jon, I decided to shut everything down and set my sights on the longer term goal of getting to CIM healthy. I won’t race Albany or Hartford and emailed both RDs to let them know. Obviously not what I wanted or envision for this season, but it is what it is and you can only bash your head against the wall for so long before someone has to tell you to stop.

In positive news, I’m going to take advantage of this time to go somewhere cool, blow off some steam, get some sunshine, and really try to come back mentally and physically in a good spot. This has been one of the hardest months of my adult life (and not just being over-dramatic about running; there’s been a lot going on). I hope this will be a nadir and I can look upward towards brighter things to come.

AM: I did try to bike a bit but even that I could feel wasn’t great. Mostly I just needed something to get my HR up a tiny bit as I was going crazy w/o any exercise. I did 40’ at very low resistance in sweats and probably barely got my HR over 100.

XT: Pull-ups (10, 10, 8, 7, 7) – at least I’m getting stronger here