Weeks 13-14: Healing and Easing Back into Routine…
Plus My First Success in Bread Baking!
I must apologize for not posting my update last week as I had promised. I was honestly getting into a funk from not working out. Whenever I don’t get the exercise I need, I tend to get really tired, moody and easily frustrated. However, I’m finally out of my boot and easing back into my training, which makes for a much happier Stef! So, In honor of the return to running, I’ll provide you with a recipe for Maple Seeded Bread (for “carb loading”, of course 
) in addition to my normal training update.
Lots to report from the past two weeks, so I’ll try to be as brief as possible…
During Week 13, I was still “booted” but Mark was still chugging along with his training. However, his Achilles has started bothering him and didn’t want to “end up like me” (thanks hun…) and dropped down to do the Houston Half Marathon as well. So, he was still chugging along with training, icing after every run and taking care of himself as I was on the mend. I still managed my bake sale, baking “candy-corn” whole wheat sugar cookies, which got rave reviews from one of my co-workers who loves sugar cookies!
Last Monday was my follow-up with the podiatrist to see if I was ready for the boot to come off and ease back into my training schedule. Well, lo and behold, the swelling had subsided enough and the tendon was strong enough to start easy training again. He said that I would gradually get better over the coming weeks easing into my schedule and to ice after every run to ward off any inflammation (and ibuprofen as needed). He didn’t promise that I wouldn’t need the boot anymore, but with proper care, I should be able to manage my tendinitis.
That made me happy beyond belief but also a bit hesitant. I really wanted to start training again, but I’m also scared to death of injuring myself further. It is a bit of a brain vs. body battle for me. My brain really wants to get back to it, but not sure if the body agrees. In the past, my brain has told me pain is normal and the “no pain, no gain” mentality, so I really have to watch myself to ensure I don’t overtrain myself again.
With the blessing of my doctor, I went on a really easy 10 minute run (0.85 mi) that afternoon (with good stretching before and after). It was a bit awkward at first, as I had just gotten out of the boot and walking in a boot isn’t like walking in “normal” shoes, but I had no pain in my tendon! This was a great result! I iced my ankle afterward and watched like a hawk for any inflammation. Alas, no added inflammation! Maybe I was in fact on the mend?
Tuesday I took off training to rest up my ankle and prepare for a bit longer run on Wednesday. Wednesday was track day, time trial night! The half marathoners (Mark included) ran 3 miles for speed and the marathoners ran 4 miles. This time would be plugged into a calculator to calculate your pace for the whole variety of weekly runs (i.e. easy, tempo, long). I took it easy and ran ~1.5 miles (~18 min) at an easy pace in chunks to get some miles on my feet.
Thursday and Friday I again took it easy to rest up my ankle for my long run on Saturday (which officially started Week 15, so I’ll cover that later this week).
This upcoming weekend is the San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon, so Mark and I will be headed to San Antonio on Friday for a long weekend and some running. I haven’t decided yet how far to run in the half, but my goal is not to finish it. I just want to go as far as my ankle will allow me to without compromising myself for running a fast half at Houston (maybe 7-10 mi?, opinions welcome).
Unfortunately I didn’t have time for my weekly bake sale this past week (major review at work) and won’t have the opportunity this week as well (in an offsite training class). However, now that I’m back into training again, I’m back to “carbo-loading”, well not really, but I did bake a yeasted bread from scratch for the first time a few weeks back. This recipe was awesome and I was pleased that I was able to get such a nice “crumb” to the bread.
I got the recipe from cookingbread.com and made only a few modifications. My history of modifying bread recipes has been terrible, but with only a slight flour and seed changes, it still came out great!
Please go to their site for detailed directions and step-by-step pictures. It is very well laid out and produces an excellent tasting (and looking) bread!
Modifications I made included: substituting whole wheat spelt flour for wheat germ, including black sesame seeds in addition to white sesame seeds, omitting sunflower seeds (unfortunately didn’t have any in the house)
This bread is a great toasting bread, warm with apple butter (or regular butter for that fact…) and makes a great addition to any breakfast or most dinners. It is a bit sweet, as it’s maple sweetened, but it didn’t stop us from serving it with chili!
Please keep me and Mark in your thoughts as we go to San Antonio and run our first half marathon. This is a critical time in our training schedule and need all the help we can get! 
Go Team!
