Bust the Rust: 10K Race Report

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been struggling with Posterior Tibialis Tendonitis. This injury was the result of wearing the Nike Vaporfly Next% during the California International Marathon in December. I did not have the issue at the start line, but my arch was killing me immediately following the race.

As a result, I only ran 159 miles in January, where I planned to run around 260-270. Most of these miles were run at any easy pace. I did spend a fair amount of time pool running and swimming, but

there is no true substitute for actual speed work. I have been religious about doing my physical therapy exercises twice per day and as a result, my foot is feeling a lot better.

I didn't want to miss out on the For The Love of It 10K that was on my schedule. My coach and my physical therapist told me I could go ahead and run it. It would be a good test of my fitness, although possibly a humbling experience.

Background
This 10K course is hilly and challenging. It's one of the most challenging 10K courses in the local area, and yet it's my PR course from 2017. Back in 2017, I was just four weeks out from the Myrtle Beach Marathon and I was in excellent shape. I ran a surprisingly fast 41:51, which I could not believe at the time. I ran three 10K races last year, all on faster courses when I was in peak condition, and still failed to beat that time. None of those courses had great weather, though. The trick is to get good weather, a fast course, and to be in good shape all at the same time. That's when PRs happen.

We had lovely weather this morning but I was not in my best shape. It was 35 degrees with winds of around 8 mph and party sunny. Before the foot injury, my goal was to PR and I believed I could crush my 2017 time. My revised goal was simply to push hard throughout the race and be proud of my effort. I hoped to break 43:00.

Regarding footwear. I really wanted to wear the pink Vaporfly Next% because they were pink and it was a Valentine's themed race. But of course, this is how I got my tendonitis so those shoes were out of the question. I wondered if I should wear my bulky stability shoes to ensure my foot wouldn't hurt, but my physical therapist said that firm, low-cushioned shoes were good. Thus, I turned to my trusty adidas adizero adios. A lightweight racing shoe with a firm ride and a touch of bounce.

Before the Race
Everything went smoothly before the race. Logistics were extremely easy, as the parking lot was just steps away from the school where we got our bibs, and the start line was right there too. This race has a history of being very cold, so it's helpful to have a school at the start and finish line. When I ran it in 2017 it was in the low 20s. Last year (when I did not run it) it was around 10 degrees and there was ice on the ground.

Anyway, Greg and I arrived at 7:20, got our bibs, pinned them on, and I took a small swig of Generation UCAN before starting the warm up. We only had time to run 1.6 miles for the warm up because we also had to use the bathrooms. 15 minutes before race start, I took a caffeinated Maurten gel for some extra pep.

We found Hannah, did a bit more warming up with her and then arrived at the start line with just two minutes to spare.

Miles 1-2
Since I had no idea what kind of shape I was in, I had no idea what pace I should go out at. Back in 2017, my first two miles were both 6:48. Due to my lack of volume, I wasn't certain I could hold that kind of pace so I thought somewhere around 6:55 would be good.

As the race started, I noticed that the pace felt controlled and smooth, and more like half marathon effort. Even though the first two miles were net uphill, I felt strong and I didn't feel like I was straining too much. I reached the first mile in 6:58 and I thought that would set me up well for the rest of the race. I told myself not to compare my splits to my 2017 splits, but since I knew what they were, it was hard not to do that. So as of mile 1, I was 10 seconds behind.

Mile 2 was also mostly uphill and it was hard. I focused on my form, engaging my glutes, using my arms, and staying mentally engaged. I didn't look at my watch but I felt really good. When it finally beeped, I saw that I had run a 7:13 mile, which I simply accepted as my fitness level. I was running hard and doing my best, so I didn't get discouraged by my pace.

Miles 3-4

End of mile 3, photo by Cheryl Young

These miles are the fastest of the race. I was able to pass a woman during the third mile, but a different woman passed me during the fourth mile. I had no idea how many women were ahead of me but I knew it was a competitive field for a local race.

Back in 2017, these miles were in the low 6:30s, so I was expecting a full downhill ride. Nope! Even though they were NET downhill, they had their fair share of ups!

During this portion of the race things got really tough and I started to wonder if I would be able to maintain this effort. I was giving so much of myself and I didn't know if it was sustainable. I refused to back off, though, because I knew that in that moment, I could do it, and I would do it as long as I could. These miles clocked in at 6:47 and 6:45.

Miles 5-Finish
I was mentally prepared for mile 5, which was my slowest mile back in 2017. I know-- I kept thinking about 2017! And I wasn's supposed to be doing that. But that was freakishly perfect execution and I was inspired by my former self! The hill was actually not as painful as I remembered it to be. I think I am generally a stronger hill runner now than I was back then, but it still created a slow down in my pace. 7:12. Okay, at least it wasn't slower than mile 2. This meant that I was maintaining my pace and not falling apart, as I feared I might.

The fact that I was definitely still holding on to both my effort and pace was a huge pick-me-up. I guess if you set the bar low and think you might bonk later in the race when it's mile 3, you get really excited to not be bonking at mile 5! I was exceeding expectations!

The final mile was painful. I gave it everything I had and did not back off. It started uphill but then had a nice downhill. And the last 300 meters were on the high school track. Oh the joy of a flat surface after constant rolling hills! I ran mile 6 in 7:04 and the final 0.26 (by my Garmin) at a pace of 6:36. Nobody was around me as I finished so I made sure to smile big for the photographer and really

Greg in the background!

take in that moment. There's nothing like that finish line feeling and I finished strong, knowing that I had given this race everything I had.

After the Race
My lungs were on fire for about 10 minutes after the race. I was so beat that I sat down on the field. It was a satisfying feeling, though! I reunited with Greg and Hannah. Greg ran 41:03 which was about 10 seconds slower than his time from 2017. No PR cake tonight, unfortunately. I also got to meet someone who I had been following on Strava for years, Bonnie. She introduced herself to me and it felt like we already knew each other! We all cheered Lisa in, and then we cooled down for 1.3 miles.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
My official time was 43:43, which is far off from my sub-43:00 hope and very far off from my 41:51 course PR. But I wasn't as discouraged about this as I thought I might be. If someone had told me before the race that I would run 43:43, I would have been bummed out. But the fact that I held it together so well and didn't fade makes me believe my endurance is somewhat intact.

I was first place in my age group (40-44) out of 32 runners. I was the 13th overall female, which shows you just how competitive this race was for a local 10K. I am almost always one of the top 10 women in this race series by Potomac River Running but not today. I'm 41 now, and it won't be long before some fast ladies start entering my division, so I need to take advantage of this while I can!

Based on how the race felt, I think my speed has suffered from the lack of workouts but my endurance not as much. I would have expected it to be the other way around because my mileage was low, but my deep water running workouts were really intense. I believed I was maintaining my VO2 max, but letting my endurance slip.

I think that regular speed work is important for getting the legs to turnover quickly. I had run a 5K tempo on Monday at an average pace of 6:54 and I felt like I could have maintained that for longer, but not necessarily have gone any faster. On Wednesday, I had done some 1-minute and 2-minute Fartleks and those were a big strain--much more than the tempo run. So I did have some indicators going into the race that my endurance was strong but my speed was lacking.

The good news is that I can get my speed back relatively quickly. 3-4 weeks of work should do the trick and today was an excellent workout.

My foot held up really well! There were times when I could feel there was something there, but it never "hurt". Toward the end of the cool down it started to get a bit unhappy, so we stopped running after 1.3 miles. That was a sufficient cool down anyway. I logged 9.2 miles for the day, which is more mileage than I had logged since January 6. A good step forward.

I am happy with my pacing, execution and endurance. I just wish I could have run faster. Next up: The One City Half Marathon on March 1st. My half marathon PR pace from November is 6:55 (faster than today's race) so if I can come anywhere close to that, it will be good progress. Thank goodness February has an extra training day this year. I'll need it!

Finishing on the track, photo by Bidong Liu

Posterior Tibialis Tendonitis

In 18+ years of running, I certainly have made the rounds of all the different types of tendonitis!

Patellar Tendonitis: Spring of 2008
Peroneal Tendonitis: Fall of 2009
High Hamstring Tendonitis: Summer 2013
Achilles Tendinitis: Fall of 2017

I can now add to the list Posterior Tibialis Tendonitis. Here's how it happened.

December 8: CIM

Before CIM. No tendonitis!

Upon completion of the marathon I noticed a pain in my arch. It hurt as I walked back to the hotel, and when I took the Vaporfly Next% off of my foot- OUCH. It was a burning pain of about 6 out of 10 on the pain scale. It seemed as if the shoe had been rubbing against my foot in a certain way to cause this arch pain. It bothered me for the rest of the day and and into the following day.

December 9 - 15: Marathon recovery
The pain went away completely two days post marathon. So much so that I forgot about it.

December 16 - 20: Easing back into running
I resumed running with short, easy runs of 30-50 minutes. I didn't have any pain in my foot.

December 21: First post-marathon symptoms
I did an 11-mile long run and the arch of my foot started to hurt about halfway through. It was maybe about a 2 on the pain scale, so I wasn't concerned. As I walked around on it for the rest of the day, I noticed that it felt off, kind of like a tight muscle.

December 22 - January 9: Blissful Ignorance (or denial)
I continued to train, doing hard workouts on the track and long runs of 10-13 miles. I even ran a 5K on New Year's Day without any problems. My foot would bother me a little, but it was more of an annoyance than anything else, never getting above a 2 on the pain scale.

After my long run on January 4th, my foot hurt more than normal, which caused concern. It was mostly okay during the run, but afterwards it was about a 3.5 to 4 on the pain scale for the rest of the day. Very tender to the touch and I could feel it with each step. That's when I realized I would probably have to address it. I continued with my training plan and track workouts until I could get in to see my physical therapist on January 9.

Diagnosis!
It didn't take long for my PT to diagnose me with posterior tibialis tendonitis; I had classic symptoms. The two areas of pain were on the bottom of my foot, where the tendon connected, and on the side of the foot, about one inch forward from the ankle bone, and one inch below. He told me I would need to take some time off running to let it heal. Not the news I wanted.

Area of pain - feels like a sore ache

This issue wasn't caused by "overuse"-- it was caused by my shoe rubbing the wrong way during the race. So how does that result in tendonitis?!  My PT had a theory that it could have been because the shoe had an 8mm drop (as opposed to the 10mm I normally wear) and it was extra bouncy, causing my foot to pronate, where it normally does not pronate. Or, it could have been rubbing against my arch the wrong way, which irritated the tendon, and now it's going to take a while to calm down.

So. . . couldn't I just train through it like I trained through Achilles tendonitis? He said that this was different and I needed to ease up to give it time to heal. Of course, in addition to doing exercises. He was concerned that I took a week off post marathon and it came back. And he said that this is a nagging injury and tends to come back unless you treat it with the exercises over several months.

January 10 - 13: No running; pool workouts only
I took four full days off of running, but I went to the pool every day. I mainly did deep water running with a floatation belt, but I also added in some swimming to save myself from boredom. And I simply enjoy swimming. I would do it all the time if it were more convenient.

January 14 - now
After my four days off, I started running again, but only 3-4 miles per day. And that's where I am at now-- I just finished a 3.5 mile run in the snow. And of course, I have been religious about my exercises. Rest alone won't heal this; I need to load the tendon with weight.

I'm now at a point where I don't feel any symptoms while walking around during the day, which is a big improvement. However, after about two miles of running, I do start to feel some soreness on the bottom of my foot. Since I'm only running 3-4 mile easy runs, this pain has been about a 1.5 to 2 on the pain scale, and I am back to being symptom free five minutes after stopping.

I also bought a pair of the Mizuno Wave Inspire-- a shoe I stopped wearing over a year ago when I was told I was a neutral runner. I am a neutral runner, but the added stability will reduce the load on the tendon as I recover and the firmness of the shoe will help too. My PT told me that cushiony, bouncy shoes were bad for this injury.

Looking ahead
I'm trying not to look ahead and take this one day at a time. I have no idea how bad this is going to be. Once I start increasing my mileage (next week) will the pain come back while walking around during the day? Will it become more painful so that I can't run? My PT said that I can let it get to a "3" on the pain scale. But anything above that and I need to stop running and go back to a reduced load. Thankfully, I haven't felt a 3 or above since the day of my long run two weekends ago, and I want to keep it that way.

If this had happened a month out from Boston, I probably would have continued to train through it at full intensity and waited until after the race to rehab it. But since Boston is still over 12 weeks away, I feel like I can get away with easing up on the mileage now and still run a strong race.

How I feel
Of course, this sucks. I'm generally optimistic because as I said above, it wasn't like I was overtraining or anything. It was caused by the Vaporfly during a marathon, so once it calms down it shouldn't come back. I'd be discouraged if my normal running routine caused this.

I basically have some loathing of CIM, though. I tried to be positive about my experience there, but now I just look back on that race with regret. I had a perfect training cycle and I was in the best shape of my life. I went into that race healthy and with no issues. I ended up having a difficult race, missing my goal time, not getting a PR, and ending up with an injury.

My primary positive takeaway from that race was that I had such a great training cycle and it would set me up well for my Boston cycle. But now just the opposite is true. The race set me up to start my training cycle off with an injury. If CIM had been the race I had hoped to run, I wouldn't be as peeved about this. I would have been "worth it." I'm glad CIM is behind me, and I'm never going back there and I'm on the fence about ever putting my foot in a Vaporfly Next% ever again.

Phew! Glad to get that off my chest. I am sour, but I have been distracting myself with my pool workouts and focusing on the healing process. So generally, I am in a good spot mentally. I still think I will be able to run well in Boston, and at least participate (if not run fast) in the races I have signed up for this spring.