Statistics:
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 33:03
Observations:
Well, I finally couldn't wait any longer, and I went for a 3-mile run tonight. Oddly, I don't have much to say. The run felt good. My feet didn't hurt inordinately, at least not any more than my legs. In other words, I'm a little sore following my first run after not running for two and a half months, but hopefully that's all.
Pace-wise I did great! I was right on my 11-minute per mile pace. I wasn't pushing it to stay at that speed, it was just my natural speed. So that's a positive thing. I'll check in with my foot tomorrow and make sure it's ok.
Next:
The tentative plan is to go for a run on Saturday morning. I'm thinking 4 miles. Then re-assess and see about building up some mileage in the next few weeks. If I'm going to do the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon in February, I don't have tons of time to coast, so hopefully I can be aggressive and careful at the same time. We'll see...
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Injury update, shoes, long-term plans
It's been a while since I've updated here, mostly because there hasn't been much to update. But now I do have updates, so here they are.
I still don't feel like my foot is 100%. It's definitely better than it was a few weeks ago, but every now and then, I'll notice something not feeling quite right. I'm still taping it up every day, though, and I think that helps.
I have a follow-up doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to seeing the ultrasound to see if things are better on the inside.
I went to Fleet Feet on Friday to get new running shows. My doctor had given me a list of shoes he recommended for my foot type, so I took that in. We went through the list and I tried the different brands on. Most of them didn't feel like they fit my foot right, except for one style of Saucony that I liked. Unfortunately, they didn't have that style in my shoe size (I have wide feet). They had to special order them and it's going to take a couple weeks to come in. So I'm going to take that extra time to let my foot recuperate that much more before I start running again.
Well, taking that extra time off means I don't have enough time to train for the Monster Half-Marathon I was planning to run on October 31st (it was going to be pushing it to be ready for 10/31 as it was if I could have run this week). There just aren't enough weeks for me to get back to 13 miles after losing my conditioning during this injury. But, this leaves me with a certain clarity of purpose. My ultimate goal has been to run the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon in February. So once I get my new shoes and my foot is better, I'm going to make that day 1 of training for the marathon. Once I figure out my training schedule, I'll get that posted up here. Wish me luck!
I still don't feel like my foot is 100%. It's definitely better than it was a few weeks ago, but every now and then, I'll notice something not feeling quite right. I'm still taping it up every day, though, and I think that helps.
I have a follow-up doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to seeing the ultrasound to see if things are better on the inside.
I went to Fleet Feet on Friday to get new running shows. My doctor had given me a list of shoes he recommended for my foot type, so I took that in. We went through the list and I tried the different brands on. Most of them didn't feel like they fit my foot right, except for one style of Saucony that I liked. Unfortunately, they didn't have that style in my shoe size (I have wide feet). They had to special order them and it's going to take a couple weeks to come in. So I'm going to take that extra time to let my foot recuperate that much more before I start running again.
Well, taking that extra time off means I don't have enough time to train for the Monster Half-Marathon I was planning to run on October 31st (it was going to be pushing it to be ready for 10/31 as it was if I could have run this week). There just aren't enough weeks for me to get back to 13 miles after losing my conditioning during this injury. But, this leaves me with a certain clarity of purpose. My ultimate goal has been to run the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon in February. So once I get my new shoes and my foot is better, I'm going to make that day 1 of training for the marathon. Once I figure out my training schedule, I'll get that posted up here. Wish me luck!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Injury update - my new doctor!
I met yesterday with Dr. Chin from The Running Institute, recommended by my coach, Jenny Hadfield (who also happens to be a writer for Runner's World magazine, so she knows what she's talking about).
I'm so happy I went there! The first podiatrist I saw, back in July, gave me about 5 minutes of his time, told me to buy inserts, and that was that. In contrast, my visit to Dr. Chin involved an extensive history so they could understand the likely causes of my injury. My foot was then thoroughly examined by hand. Then he did an ultrasound and was able to see that I didn't have plantar fasciitis at all, but a muscle contusion. My plantar fascia tendon was not inflamed, but normal size. But there was a knot of muscle that should not be knotted when I flex my foot, and we could see it on the ultrasound as I flexed my foot. Very cool! I forgot to ask if it was going to be a boy or a girl, though.
Then Dr. Chin taped the arch of my foot with this super-sticky athletic take, Leukotape, that would help spread the impact of my foot across the whole arch as it struck the ground. Then he had me run on a treadmill and filmed it, so we could watch my gait in slow motion. We could see how my foot hit the ground and what my shoes were doing to/for my feet.
As it turns out, Fleet Feet didn't give me the right kind of shoes for my feet, which surprises me, given their supposed expertise. They'd given me stability shoes, when Dr. Chin said a neutral shoe would be best. My previous shoes were apparently giving me too much support in my arch. Thankfully the new pair of shoes I bought are still within the 30-day window, so I can return them. Then when my foot is healed, I can get the right kind of shoe for me. He gave me a list of shoes specifically for me.
My healing regime is three-fold. 1) Tape my foot up every day like he showed me. 2) Massage my foot, especially the heel, to work out that knot. 3) Stretch out my calves, which are apparently fairly tight. I now have a sort of rocking chair cradle for my foot that I stand on that helps me stretch out my calves, one at a time. I'm supposed to do this ten times for each leg, for 20-30 seconds each time. And if I do all that, I should be 85-90% healed in the next two to three weeks and can start running again.
I've got a follow-up visit in a month so Dr. Chin can evaluate my progress.
All in all, I was very pleased with the amount of time and attention that Dr. Chin gave me. In retrospect, it's clear that the other podiatrist I'd been to didn't want to spend the time to properly diagnose me and give me the right advice. So, if your doctor isn't doing everything that Dr. Chin did, find another doctor!
I'm so happy I went there! The first podiatrist I saw, back in July, gave me about 5 minutes of his time, told me to buy inserts, and that was that. In contrast, my visit to Dr. Chin involved an extensive history so they could understand the likely causes of my injury. My foot was then thoroughly examined by hand. Then he did an ultrasound and was able to see that I didn't have plantar fasciitis at all, but a muscle contusion. My plantar fascia tendon was not inflamed, but normal size. But there was a knot of muscle that should not be knotted when I flex my foot, and we could see it on the ultrasound as I flexed my foot. Very cool! I forgot to ask if it was going to be a boy or a girl, though.
Then Dr. Chin taped the arch of my foot with this super-sticky athletic take, Leukotape, that would help spread the impact of my foot across the whole arch as it struck the ground. Then he had me run on a treadmill and filmed it, so we could watch my gait in slow motion. We could see how my foot hit the ground and what my shoes were doing to/for my feet.
As it turns out, Fleet Feet didn't give me the right kind of shoes for my feet, which surprises me, given their supposed expertise. They'd given me stability shoes, when Dr. Chin said a neutral shoe would be best. My previous shoes were apparently giving me too much support in my arch. Thankfully the new pair of shoes I bought are still within the 30-day window, so I can return them. Then when my foot is healed, I can get the right kind of shoe for me. He gave me a list of shoes specifically for me.
My healing regime is three-fold. 1) Tape my foot up every day like he showed me. 2) Massage my foot, especially the heel, to work out that knot. 3) Stretch out my calves, which are apparently fairly tight. I now have a sort of rocking chair cradle for my foot that I stand on that helps me stretch out my calves, one at a time. I'm supposed to do this ten times for each leg, for 20-30 seconds each time. And if I do all that, I should be 85-90% healed in the next two to three weeks and can start running again.
I've got a follow-up visit in a month so Dr. Chin can evaluate my progress.
All in all, I was very pleased with the amount of time and attention that Dr. Chin gave me. In retrospect, it's clear that the other podiatrist I'd been to didn't want to spend the time to properly diagnose me and give me the right advice. So, if your doctor isn't doing everything that Dr. Chin did, find another doctor!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Gotta (re)start somewhere!
Statistics:
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 33:35
Observations:
Since my foot was hurting with the old inserts, on Saturday I went back to Fleet Feet and got re-assessed and ended up getting new shoes and less extreme inserts. So I decided to take them out for a test drive last night. During the day yesterday, I was thinking six miles, but at night I decided that four would be a little smarter for my first run in two weeks. The extra two miles wouldn't do that much for me, and might just make things worse. So I aimed for four miles. After two, my stomach was cramping up, I think from late lunch/early dinner, so I decided to cut my run to 3 miles.
My feet felt pretty good. My foot isn't 100% better yet, but I just couldn't stand to sit around anymore. Of course, I had an old blister on my big toe that wasn't quite healed, apparently, and the run re-aggravated it. I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another. I hope that heals quickly. Neosporin and band-aids to the rescue!
In other news, I signed up for the October 31st running of the Monster Half Marathon! It sounds like a lot of fun, and a good bridge to keep me in shape as I transition to training for February's Mardi Gras Marathon!
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 33:35
Observations:
Since my foot was hurting with the old inserts, on Saturday I went back to Fleet Feet and got re-assessed and ended up getting new shoes and less extreme inserts. So I decided to take them out for a test drive last night. During the day yesterday, I was thinking six miles, but at night I decided that four would be a little smarter for my first run in two weeks. The extra two miles wouldn't do that much for me, and might just make things worse. So I aimed for four miles. After two, my stomach was cramping up, I think from late lunch/early dinner, so I decided to cut my run to 3 miles.
My feet felt pretty good. My foot isn't 100% better yet, but I just couldn't stand to sit around anymore. Of course, I had an old blister on my big toe that wasn't quite healed, apparently, and the run re-aggravated it. I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another. I hope that heals quickly. Neosporin and band-aids to the rescue!
In other news, I signed up for the October 31st running of the Monster Half Marathon! It sounds like a lot of fun, and a good bridge to keep me in shape as I transition to training for February's Mardi Gras Marathon!
Friday, August 13, 2010
I haven't disappeared
I'm not being lazy about blogging. It's just that I haven't run since the half-marathon.
I was feeling good after about a week and was ready to start back, and then my foot started hurting, in the heel. I haven't been doing anything strenuous, just the walking that's required to get through the day. But the front part of my heel, where it meets the arch of my foot hurts now and then, kind of like a bruise, but there's no bruise visible.
So I am waiting for that to go away before I start back. It's one month until the second half-marathon, so there's still time to get some good training in, but I want to not hurt my foot any more before the race.
Sucks!
I was feeling good after about a week and was ready to start back, and then my foot started hurting, in the heel. I haven't been doing anything strenuous, just the walking that's required to get through the day. But the front part of my heel, where it meets the arch of my foot hurts now and then, kind of like a bruise, but there's no bruise visible.
So I am waiting for that to go away before I start back. It's one month until the second half-marathon, so there's still time to get some good training in, but I want to not hurt my foot any more before the race.
Sucks!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon
Statistics:
Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 2:46:33
Observations:
Well, my goal was to finish, and I did. After missing almost a month of my training because of my foot injury, I knew that I was going to have to revise my time estimate and goals for the race, so really, my intention was to finish. I knew that I was going to have to push myself, and that the prudent thing to do would be not to run, but I made a decision that I wanted to do it, so I did.
On Sundays, the brown line starts running at 5:00 AM, so there wasn't any need to get up earlier than 4:30. I'd arranged all my clothes and gear the day before, so I wouldn't be scrambling last-minute for stuff. So all I really had to do was get dressed, eat breakfast, and go.
I caught the train on time, and switched to the red line at Belmont, which was packed with runners. I was lucky to get a spot on the train, because at the next stop, the now-full train stopped taking riders. Anyway, I got down to Grant Park and met up with everyone at the CES tent, checked my gear, and got situated.
I went over to my start corral, where I met up with a few other CES people who would be running with the CES pacers. I was going with the 2:30 pace group, which I knew might be a little aggressive, given my lapsed training, but I wanted to see how my legs would hold up. If they did, I'd stick with them. If not, I'd drop back and take it a little slower.
I struck up a conversation with a guy I'd met during training named Hirsch, and so he and I ran together, following the pacers when we got to the starting line.
I could tell pretty soon that I wasn't going to be able to keep up that pace for the whole race. It's interesting - some days my legs feel good and I can settle into a state of modest bodily discomfort, with the knowledge that I can keep that up for however far I need to go. And other days, I can tell not long after I start running that my legs are tired and the energy is going to have to come from somewhere else. Unfortunately, race day was the latter. After about 2 miles, my legs were either going to wake up and let me run, or they were going to stay feeling like they were still waking up. And they felt like they just weren't waking up.
One cool aspect of the race was that they had bands playing at every mile. My favorite was at mile 4. The guy was a tall Norwegian blond guy, dressed in tight white pants, white button-down shirt, and pink tie, singing Queen's "Another one Bites the Dust". While I think I'd have felt differently at mile 12, at mile 4 it was an amusing song to hear, and a real character singing it.
Despite my tired legs, I kept up with Hirsch and the pacers until a little after mile 5. Then I decided that I was going to walk for a minute or two, and told Hirsch that. He was glad, though, because he was thinking the same thing. So we walked together, then went back to running.
We kept that up until about mile 6.5 - the half way point. I needed another walk break, so I told Hirsch I was going to walk, but that he should keep running if he wanted to. So he kept going and I walked. I revised my plan to walking for a minute every mile or two, as needed to give my legs a little rest. So that's what I did. I'd walk through the water stations, get plenty of fluids, cool down with water on my head and down my back, then go again.
Right around mile 9 I made an unpleasant discovery. My nipple guard covering my right nipple had come loose, and I started to feel chaffing. There wasn't anything I could do about it. It didn't really hurt much. I just knew it would hurt later when I showered. But like I said, nothing I could do, so I just kept on. You can see the effect if you click here. Warning, it's not pretty. Sidebar - it looks worse than it actually was. Yes, it stung while showering, and it's kind of tender the day after. But it's not a disfigurement or anything.
I ended up catching up to Hirsch just before mile 10. He'd had to start walking as well, so I guess we equaled it out on time. So we started running together again. We got to about a little after mile 11, I think, and he wanted to walk some more. I was still feeling ok as for running, so I kept going.
About a half mile later, I started to feel some foot pain - right in the bottom of my feet. Not muscle cramping or anything like that. Just...pain. Basically, it felt like someone had been punching me in the feet for two and a half hours, which I guess was pretty close to the truth. Remember, this is the farthest I'd ever run. My previous longest run was 10 miles, so it wasn't unexpected that I'd have some issues with the longer distance. Anyway, I had to do a decent amount of walking for the last mile and a half. I stretched out my legs and feet a bit during this part, and that helped some. Also, a random CES member, a girl named Amy, stopped and walked/ran with me for a little while. We talked, and that helped distract me a bit from my feet.
Finally, I was rounding the bend by the Adler planetarium, which meant I was very close to the home stretch. There was one last uphill climb, which I decided to walk, and then the turn to the finish line. So I made the turn and ran it in to the home stretch. It was a great feeling to cross the finish line. But really, after the initial elation of finishing, I was just focused on recovering. I grabbed my finisher's medal, a bottle of water, an orange wedge, Clif bar, popsicle, and an iced towel, and proceeded to start bringing my body back to normal. My feet still hurt, so I was glad to get back to the CES tent and sit down to stretch for a while.
I have to say - one thing that really helped was running with Hirsch. While I am sure I'd have been able to do the race on my own, it definitely helped having someone with me.
One thing I did well was manage my fuel intake and hydration. The race only offered Cytomax and water, and I always trained with Gatorade. They say you shouldn't try something new on race day, so I wanted to avoid the Cytomax.
So I filled my fuel belt with 32oz of Gatorade (4x8oz containers). And I took 2 packets of Gu with me as well. So basically, at the water stations, I'd drink water and pour water over my head, and between stations, I'd drink about 4 oz of Gatorade. Then when one fuel belt container was empty, I'd fill that with water at the next water station, so I'd always have fluids with me.
I took my first Gu packet around mile 5 and the second one around mile 10. I ran out of Gatorade around mile 9 and just drank water after that.
That seemed to work pretty well for me.
What really sucked was the walk back to the train. When I finished the race, I think the endorphins were still kicking in, helping me ignore my feet. But after resting, I was walking pretty gingerly to get to the red line.
Anyway, that's about it. I'm glad I did it. I'll be more glad to finish recovering and get back to my regular training schedule. I've got my next half marathon in 5 weeks, and I want to be better-trained so I can finish faster and finish in better bodily shape than this time.
Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 2:46:33
Observations:
Well, my goal was to finish, and I did. After missing almost a month of my training because of my foot injury, I knew that I was going to have to revise my time estimate and goals for the race, so really, my intention was to finish. I knew that I was going to have to push myself, and that the prudent thing to do would be not to run, but I made a decision that I wanted to do it, so I did.
On Sundays, the brown line starts running at 5:00 AM, so there wasn't any need to get up earlier than 4:30. I'd arranged all my clothes and gear the day before, so I wouldn't be scrambling last-minute for stuff. So all I really had to do was get dressed, eat breakfast, and go.
I caught the train on time, and switched to the red line at Belmont, which was packed with runners. I was lucky to get a spot on the train, because at the next stop, the now-full train stopped taking riders. Anyway, I got down to Grant Park and met up with everyone at the CES tent, checked my gear, and got situated.
I went over to my start corral, where I met up with a few other CES people who would be running with the CES pacers. I was going with the 2:30 pace group, which I knew might be a little aggressive, given my lapsed training, but I wanted to see how my legs would hold up. If they did, I'd stick with them. If not, I'd drop back and take it a little slower.
I struck up a conversation with a guy I'd met during training named Hirsch, and so he and I ran together, following the pacers when we got to the starting line.
I could tell pretty soon that I wasn't going to be able to keep up that pace for the whole race. It's interesting - some days my legs feel good and I can settle into a state of modest bodily discomfort, with the knowledge that I can keep that up for however far I need to go. And other days, I can tell not long after I start running that my legs are tired and the energy is going to have to come from somewhere else. Unfortunately, race day was the latter. After about 2 miles, my legs were either going to wake up and let me run, or they were going to stay feeling like they were still waking up. And they felt like they just weren't waking up.
One cool aspect of the race was that they had bands playing at every mile. My favorite was at mile 4. The guy was a tall Norwegian blond guy, dressed in tight white pants, white button-down shirt, and pink tie, singing Queen's "Another one Bites the Dust". While I think I'd have felt differently at mile 12, at mile 4 it was an amusing song to hear, and a real character singing it.
Despite my tired legs, I kept up with Hirsch and the pacers until a little after mile 5. Then I decided that I was going to walk for a minute or two, and told Hirsch that. He was glad, though, because he was thinking the same thing. So we walked together, then went back to running.
We kept that up until about mile 6.5 - the half way point. I needed another walk break, so I told Hirsch I was going to walk, but that he should keep running if he wanted to. So he kept going and I walked. I revised my plan to walking for a minute every mile or two, as needed to give my legs a little rest. So that's what I did. I'd walk through the water stations, get plenty of fluids, cool down with water on my head and down my back, then go again.
Right around mile 9 I made an unpleasant discovery. My nipple guard covering my right nipple had come loose, and I started to feel chaffing. There wasn't anything I could do about it. It didn't really hurt much. I just knew it would hurt later when I showered. But like I said, nothing I could do, so I just kept on. You can see the effect if you click here. Warning, it's not pretty. Sidebar - it looks worse than it actually was. Yes, it stung while showering, and it's kind of tender the day after. But it's not a disfigurement or anything.
I ended up catching up to Hirsch just before mile 10. He'd had to start walking as well, so I guess we equaled it out on time. So we started running together again. We got to about a little after mile 11, I think, and he wanted to walk some more. I was still feeling ok as for running, so I kept going.
About a half mile later, I started to feel some foot pain - right in the bottom of my feet. Not muscle cramping or anything like that. Just...pain. Basically, it felt like someone had been punching me in the feet for two and a half hours, which I guess was pretty close to the truth. Remember, this is the farthest I'd ever run. My previous longest run was 10 miles, so it wasn't unexpected that I'd have some issues with the longer distance. Anyway, I had to do a decent amount of walking for the last mile and a half. I stretched out my legs and feet a bit during this part, and that helped some. Also, a random CES member, a girl named Amy, stopped and walked/ran with me for a little while. We talked, and that helped distract me a bit from my feet.
Finally, I was rounding the bend by the Adler planetarium, which meant I was very close to the home stretch. There was one last uphill climb, which I decided to walk, and then the turn to the finish line. So I made the turn and ran it in to the home stretch. It was a great feeling to cross the finish line. But really, after the initial elation of finishing, I was just focused on recovering. I grabbed my finisher's medal, a bottle of water, an orange wedge, Clif bar, popsicle, and an iced towel, and proceeded to start bringing my body back to normal. My feet still hurt, so I was glad to get back to the CES tent and sit down to stretch for a while.
I have to say - one thing that really helped was running with Hirsch. While I am sure I'd have been able to do the race on my own, it definitely helped having someone with me.
One thing I did well was manage my fuel intake and hydration. The race only offered Cytomax and water, and I always trained with Gatorade. They say you shouldn't try something new on race day, so I wanted to avoid the Cytomax.
So I filled my fuel belt with 32oz of Gatorade (4x8oz containers). And I took 2 packets of Gu with me as well. So basically, at the water stations, I'd drink water and pour water over my head, and between stations, I'd drink about 4 oz of Gatorade. Then when one fuel belt container was empty, I'd fill that with water at the next water station, so I'd always have fluids with me.
I took my first Gu packet around mile 5 and the second one around mile 10. I ran out of Gatorade around mile 9 and just drank water after that.
That seemed to work pretty well for me.
What really sucked was the walk back to the train. When I finished the race, I think the endorphins were still kicking in, helping me ignore my feet. But after resting, I was walking pretty gingerly to get to the red line.
Anyway, that's about it. I'm glad I did it. I'll be more glad to finish recovering and get back to my regular training schedule. I've got my next half marathon in 5 weeks, and I want to be better-trained so I can finish faster and finish in better bodily shape than this time.
 |
| From Drop Box |
Saturday, July 24, 2010
quick update
No run this morning. I got up, got dressed and went out in the rain, only to get to Fleet Feet right as they decided to cancel the run due to rain and the impending more rain and possible lightning.
With the half-marathon a week from tomorrow, I'm not going to be doing any major runs between now and then, Probably just a four-miler tomorrow.
With the half-marathon a week from tomorrow, I'm not going to be doing any major runs between now and then, Probably just a four-miler tomorrow.
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