“Good idea or crutch?”
That was the whole question. I had an extra pair of inserts in my hand and a running problem I could not quite locate.
The pain had started around my calf. I was waiting for an MRI result, but the pain and location were changing. It also felt like it was healing much slower than I wanted.
Six days later, I was supposed to run the Snickers Marathon in Albany, Georgia.
At the start of the month, I had introduced myself to North Brooklyn Runners and told them what was on my calendar. The Georgia marathon was first. An ultra was coming in May. By summer and fall, I wanted to care more about the 5K and start doing speed work.
They had runners training for everything from the 5K through the marathon. That was why I had reached out. I wanted people to train with, especially once I moved away from long race preparation and back toward speed.
It was a full plan. The calf did not care.
I pulled out of the marathon. I wanted to get healthy before trying to run a fast one, and this no longer felt like something that would clear up because I wanted it to.
I kept the appointment I already had. Missing the race did not change that part. If anything, I wanted more regular help instead of waiting around.
I did not want to stop doing everything. I asked to put one or two physical-therapy sessions on the calendar each week through the rest of the month. Then I started looking at the inserts.
I had used the same kind for cycling and had an extra pair. They were supposed to help with over-pronation. I wanted to know if they were useful while the problem settled down or if they were just a crutch.
There was no pain on the inside of my foot from running. That made me less interested in adding something to my shoes for no reason. I was willing to try them, but I would rather avoid them if they were not necessary.
I had not even walked the four-miler that weekend. I had just been spinning.
The marathon was off the calendar, but I was already doing the math on another way into New York. I figured I needed to run a 1:21 half marathon that year and get in through the time standard.
The new target showed up before I could run again. If one race went away, I wanted another number to work toward.
That was quite a jump from spinning in the apartment with a calf that kept changing where it hurt.
The inserts were still sitting there. I had appointments on the calendar and a bike I could ride. Albany was out. The 1:21 was still in my head.