Well, I decided to see the chiropractor on T's hockey team. They had an appointment on Thursday morning (I'd need 2 hours) and T happened to be taking the morning off to see the boys at sports camp. We talked at length, I was thoroughly x-rayed. In his opinion, the root of my problems is my flat feet. Having almost no arch makes my knees turn in, they track wrong, it hurts. The good news is that on the x-rays, my feet, knees, back, etc. all look good--I haven't been doing damage.
I got ultrasound on my knees, a few adjustments, a relaxing 10 minutes with e-stim and heat on my knees while I dozed on a table with rollers moving up and down my back. He put Rocktape on my knees, and I decided to order orthotics. They were $300, but they last for 4 or 5 years, and if they work, they'll be more than worth it. I'm excited to get started in them.
The Rocktape comes in many colors. My first thought was red, but red came with a big garish logo all over. So I thought black would go with everything... as it happens, it couldn't be more obvious. Oh well. The good news is that I ran 6 this morning and felt really good. I don't know if it was the tape, the extra day off, the treatment or all three, but my knees feel like I didn't run at all!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Well, here we are at the end of July...
In May, I tried buying a pair of shoes from Universal Sole, since I'd gotten a coupon from them in a goody bag. I was just thinking of getting the same old Brooks Adrenaline, which I have no complaints about (other than that they're not the Brooks Trance 7), but they didn't have 7.5. I just wanted it done, as everything was hurting in the old pair, so I decided to try a pair of Mizunos that were lighter and less stability that the guy there recommended. Bad idea! Maybe I could someday wear them for a short run, but they were wrong. I wonder if the guy doubted that I need the big girl shoes that I do since I'm not such a big girl, but my loyalty to Fleet Feet has been cemented, despite the free t-shirt they gave Pavel for his birthday (which I am now wearing--it's that big). I went down to Fleet Feet, and got a new pair of Adrenalines. A young guy who fitted me suggested I get an 8, based on how the 7.5 looked on me. After he did a fancy lacing, they have been just great--no black toenails, and much less in the blister department as well.
Training went swell until Mats got out of school and we went to Cape Cod right away. Cross-training has pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird. I miss riding with Pavel on the tagalong.
Yesterday was to be the Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10-mile trail race, but torrential rain (7+ inches out by the site!) and lightning called it off. I got a nice shirt. The director e-mailed a profuse apology and hopes to reschedule--I hope I can do it if/when that day comes. Out there I ran into a woman whose son is in the same hockey class as my boys. I see her practically every week--it's a small world, after all.
My fear about the 24-week plan was that mentally I would tire out early. I do feel that I'm in the doldrums, and the extreme heat and humidity of the past month has really stomped on my morale. I've had a couple of long runs in which I've been soaked to the skin. I do not look forward to runs as I did when it wasn't in the 80s with high humidity by 7 a.m. I worry that this will continue right into race day and I am not enjoying it.
I had a really crappy run this morning, despite the fact that it was a rare cooler day (but still plenty humid in the morning). I spent my whole run (13.3 of a scheduled 18--boo) thinking through what I need to do to get to race day and finish with a time I can feel good about. I know I can't control the weather, but I've been telling myself that this miserable weather is preparing me for whatever comes my way on race day.
My ideas:
Stop thinking about the weather. It doesn't do any good. Nothing can be done. Deal with it.
Do more of the PT exercises from 2 years ago. (I do some of them around 2x a week.)
Do more general strengthening--lunges and squats, etc. as well as core exercises, which largely left with the cross-training.
Modify training plan--there will not be three 20-mile runs. Not sure if there needed to be.
Try to do some cross-training, by the way.
Go back to Dr. Natarajan (and Novacare)? To the chiropractor who's the partner of T's teammate (and whom I think I met back at National all those years ago)?
Stop cutting corners on stretching, icing, etc. Ice baths are a reward in this weather!
Straighten up the nutrition!
Sleep more... yeah...
In May, I tried buying a pair of shoes from Universal Sole, since I'd gotten a coupon from them in a goody bag. I was just thinking of getting the same old Brooks Adrenaline, which I have no complaints about (other than that they're not the Brooks Trance 7), but they didn't have 7.5. I just wanted it done, as everything was hurting in the old pair, so I decided to try a pair of Mizunos that were lighter and less stability that the guy there recommended. Bad idea! Maybe I could someday wear them for a short run, but they were wrong. I wonder if the guy doubted that I need the big girl shoes that I do since I'm not such a big girl, but my loyalty to Fleet Feet has been cemented, despite the free t-shirt they gave Pavel for his birthday (which I am now wearing--it's that big). I went down to Fleet Feet, and got a new pair of Adrenalines. A young guy who fitted me suggested I get an 8, based on how the 7.5 looked on me. After he did a fancy lacing, they have been just great--no black toenails, and much less in the blister department as well.
Training went swell until Mats got out of school and we went to Cape Cod right away. Cross-training has pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird. I miss riding with Pavel on the tagalong.
Yesterday was to be the Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10-mile trail race, but torrential rain (7+ inches out by the site!) and lightning called it off. I got a nice shirt. The director e-mailed a profuse apology and hopes to reschedule--I hope I can do it if/when that day comes. Out there I ran into a woman whose son is in the same hockey class as my boys. I see her practically every week--it's a small world, after all.
My fear about the 24-week plan was that mentally I would tire out early. I do feel that I'm in the doldrums, and the extreme heat and humidity of the past month has really stomped on my morale. I've had a couple of long runs in which I've been soaked to the skin. I do not look forward to runs as I did when it wasn't in the 80s with high humidity by 7 a.m. I worry that this will continue right into race day and I am not enjoying it.
I had a really crappy run this morning, despite the fact that it was a rare cooler day (but still plenty humid in the morning). I spent my whole run (13.3 of a scheduled 18--boo) thinking through what I need to do to get to race day and finish with a time I can feel good about. I know I can't control the weather, but I've been telling myself that this miserable weather is preparing me for whatever comes my way on race day.
My ideas:
Stop thinking about the weather. It doesn't do any good. Nothing can be done. Deal with it.
Do more of the PT exercises from 2 years ago. (I do some of them around 2x a week.)
Do more general strengthening--lunges and squats, etc. as well as core exercises, which largely left with the cross-training.
Modify training plan--there will not be three 20-mile runs. Not sure if there needed to be.
Try to do some cross-training, by the way.
Go back to Dr. Natarajan (and Novacare)? To the chiropractor who's the partner of T's teammate (and whom I think I met back at National all those years ago)?
Stop cutting corners on stretching, icing, etc. Ice baths are a reward in this weather!
Straighten up the nutrition!
Sleep more... yeah...
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