Urban Cramp?

With the Urban Cow half marathon approaching (Sunday), I find myself in a bit of a bind. After last Tuesday's team practice (hill repeats in Fair Oaks), I suffered some serious soreness in the area around my achilles and ankle.

I attribute the soreness to a number of unscientific factors. First of all, I arrived to practice a little late, and didn't complete my active stretches before starting my in-and-out strides. To compound that, I hadn't completed hill repeats on this particular course in nearly two months. To compound that, I hadn't completed my new workout group's reps on that course (faster times and another repetition). The workout went really, really well, but it goes without saying that I probably pushed too hard for too long. As a result, my ankle was a bit creaky through the remaining mileage of the week.

I continued running despite the pain only because the pain didn't affect the running. On Sunday, for example, I ran a fast 18 miles in Folsom, embedding 5 miles of marathon-pace tempo miles in the middle of the long run. I was at (a previously scheduled appointment in) the physical therapist's office Monday, swollen and sore.

My mind and my style are cramped. First, I have weekly mileage goals for my marathon schedule, so I don't want to lag on the totals heading in to October.  Second, I don't want to hurt myself because Sunday's half remains extremely important to me. Really, I want to break my own record. I've worked hard, and want to confirm what I know to be true--it has paid off. And yet, I don't want to jeopardize my overall health and strength for the marathon.

So, my foot is in a bucket of ice. I take Tylenol in my lunch. I run if it doesn't hurt, even if it swells. I sleep in compression socks.  We'll see.