End of February

Okay, so it's the end of February, and I need to get religion.  I finished the summer in the best shape ever, after a a Half Iron Man in June and an Olympic Tri in July, and plans to run the Philadelphia Marathon in November.  I also had what seemed like a slight case of tendonitis that I thought would resolve in the ordinary course.  By mid-September, I'd concluded that the Marathon was off the table, as the heel was still sore and not getting better.  I focused on swimming and spin class (no time for longer rides), and ran intermittently, hoping that the darned thing would just go away.  It hasn't gotten better.  It hasn't gotten worse either.  It feels better when I swim and bike.  It feels worse when I run or do nothing . . . Stretching helps.  So does tape.  It just won't go away.

What has slipped is my conditioning.  My weight is up.  My speed is down.  My hips are tight.  Worse yet, I don't know what I'm aiming for, so my intensity is down.  My current thinking is shorter tris in the spring and summer, followed by the NY Marathon in the Fall (or maybe the Hamptons Marathon with Spencer, depending on how the training is going).  Even with the sore heel, I can manage a 10K, though the results might not be pretty.  So, maybe that's a plan.  Grumble, grumble.