Methods

My two mile easy run last night was uneventful. Though my leg felt a bit tight from toe to hip, I warmed up in the second mile and didn't experience any soreness on the run or afterwards. Still, I feel like I've lost a bit of momentum. I'll probably shorten my Thursday run by a mile or two, and maybe my Sunday long run as well. I know I should be pleased that I'm running at all, rather than nursing a dull ache in the leg, but I can't help feeling impatient.

Besides the Internet, my two sources of running information are Andy and our housemate Keith. Andy played juniors and college tennis, and his response to most athletic questions is to work harder, push through, do a little more. He has trouble watching me skip a day of my training schedule, even for "injury." Keith, by contrast, is the kind of natural runner who rarely suffers setbacks, and never had to learn to run. When I asked him about his foot strike a few days ago, I watched as he summoned a mental picture of his stride. He moved his foot ever so slightly. "Heel," he finally said. He once had a shin splint, but could not identify its source. He took a week off from running, then returned to his usual runs (he seems to run 6-8 miles on average).

So I'm trying to walk some kind of line between internet advice (some of which recommends taking as much as 3-4 weeks off) and Keith and Andy's advice, which would like to see me on a 7 mile run this Sunday (but not before, according the Keith). It seems to me that a little bit of running helps build muscle strength and prevents having to start from the ground up again, but that too much will continue to stress the weak area. So far, the soreness has been very minor, more of a threat than a full fledged problem, so I think it's safe to test some different approaches.