Real David H.

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It’s now been more than two weeks since my last run. Whenever I post something to Twitter or Instagram about it, I get the responses of “hang in there” or “that would drive me crazy.” 

Funny thing, though … I’m not sad about it and I’m anything but crazy. After very few breaks in 13 years of running, taking two weeks off has been surprisingly refreshing. My previous longest break was about two weeks in 2006 after I dealt with a knee injury. THAT drove me crazy, but I returned six months later to an awesome experience in the Shamrock Half Marathon.

In my last injury in late 2010 and early 2011, I would often take a week off during a period of a couple of months, but I would still get a run in during a calendar week. (For example, I would run on a Tuesday, but then take a week or so off and not run again until a Thursday more than week later.)

This has been different though — taking a break was something I’ve been thinking about for more than a year, but haven’t had it in me to just stop. I had too many commitments with races and didn’t want to start piling up a lot of “did not starts.” 

After learning my lessons of trying to run through injuries, I knew I HAD to stop this time. It just didn’t feel right. 

I officially have a diagnosis of a strained calf and plantar fasciitis. The calf is of very little concern; the plantar fasciitis, though, is another story. My plantar fascia is inflamed a little farther away from my heal than normal and it’s an issue I have to fully take care of before I can run again. 

If I tried to run through it, my issues will only travel up my body and a year from now I’d be injured again with some other issue in my knee or hip. (If you don’t understand the kinetic chain, it’s important to know that one pain in your body is connected to other parts of your body.)

I’d rather take a few weeks or a month or so off, ride my bike, do some other cross training and just not run until I know I’m ready both physically and mentally. 

Also, here’s a brief thought I recorded a couple of nights ago: 

Quick update on my injury. #runchat #plantarfasciitis #grastontechnique