Back to training

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A little background: I ran the virtual Providence Marathon in November 2020. It was my first marathon experience, and I loved it! Then, of course, I had to do more of that, but something a little more challenging. Please don't get me wrong; the marathon wasn't easy. The day I ran the marathon, I was supposed to run 20 miles, then I would taper down the following week; finally, 15 days from that day was the marathon day (https://www.womensrunning.com/training/road/go-couch-marathon-training-plan/). So, I did some research and landed on the racingthepanet.com page. "Yes! That's what I want to do!" and I started my training 15 days after the marathon, slowly increasing weekly mileage. By February 2021, I was at the 40-50 miles/week range, and I started to feel a "pain in the butt," literally.

I was limping after 2-5 mile short runs and couldn't sit after run days. So I stopped running, hoping it will go away. A friend suggested that I see Dr. Blauwet at BWH (https://www.cheriblauwetmd.com/), and I did: aversion tear at the proximal hamstring tendon and severe tendinitis. So my therapy began at Spaulding; my PT Kester Cotton, any athlete's dream, Dr. Elson's shock therapy, the Cycling Medicine Clinic staff's suggestions for my bike (a different story I might write about sometime) and saddle. All of this care and therapy brought me to June 18th, 2021. That morning all I needed was a push, and my wife gave it; I mostly walked, ran a little with my wife by my side. That day I felt I could start getting prepared for my ultra. Now I'm on my second week of training, taking it easy, running very slow (average pace ~ 13:00 min/mile). As of today, 452 days to Atacama Crossing Race, September 25th, 2022 (https://www.racingtheplanet.com/atacamacrossing). I'm very grateful to my wife, son, and Dr. Cheri Blauwet and her team at Spaulding Rehab.

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