So today this happened:

http://www.strava.com/activities/153785079

It was not what I had planned. My plan was to enjoy a nice ride to Merrickville. I got up at the crack of dawn and was out the door by around 7. I lasted around 20 minutes before I turned around….

I’ve got a running injury – two very sore achilles tendons. I’m guessing it is achilles tendonitis (hoping to get in for a physio appointment tomorrow). I haven’t run since Tuesday – I’ve been icing, foam rolling, using compression, stretching, and rubbing in Voltaren. I’m starting to think that my achilles tendon’s are feeling better – but I’m not sure….

On Saturday I got out on my mountain bike for the first time. I didn’t do a real technical ride – just a nice steady and somewhat hilly ride from Champlain Lookout to the Fire Tower. I thoroughly enjoyed this and my achilles felt really good. So today the road ride made sense. Well, I think my road shoes must fit more snuggly than my mountain bike shoes and this put some pressure on my heels – which caused this dull nagging pain.

The kind of dull nagging pain that a few years ago (likely even last year), I would have ignored… but this year I’m trying to be smarter. You see I’ve got the Ultimate XC coming up in a few weeks. On June 28 I’ll be running 21 km over rather rugged and technical trails. I want to be ready for this. I’ve done the training – got in some good long runs., some excellent back-to-back long runs, been working on technical running skills, been running up lots of hills, practicing fueling and drinking. So I’m ready. Except for this little problem. I know it will work itself out and I’ll be there on the 28th, but the waiting and the resting is really hard to do.

I’ve got lots of other stuff I want to do this summer – a couple more local trail running events, mountain biking, some cyclo-cross riding, more road rides, and I’m looking ahead to doing another 21 km or so trail race in the late fall. So I guess now is the time to heal up and get recovered.

(Yes, feeling a bit frustrated with this entire thing. But I’ll take being injured over being sick anyday.)

Oh and it’s Father’s Day!! Happy Father’s Day Dad!