6.18.2012

I'm....back?

Back to "running" - although it involves a lot of walk breaks and some playtime with my gait/stride/whatever you call running form. I got the official word that Dr. A was in fact, totally incorrect and a grade-A moron, and I never, at any point, had a stress fracture. Cool. Although I had massive amounts of tendonitis in pretty much every foot joint, so I had needed to take the time I did off anyway. My foot feels fine, about in line with the rest of me, which pretty much feels like death on all runs of any distance these days.

NYC Half 2012: how to have terrible form and  make your feet hate you.
I'm pretty sure feet are not naturally supposed to point that way.

It's frustrating - I lost a lot of conditioning over the last two months. But I have to keep reminding myself that Rome wasn't built in a day, and let's be real here, even on a good day, I'm not exactly Kara Goucher. So here's the game plan for the next couple of weeks: get in 3 runs of 30+ minutes a week. Walk breaks as necessary. Hill work is fun. Maybe keep doing it. I have no idea what I'm doing form-wise, so I should probably stop obsessing about it. Order supportive insoles (check) and try not to BUY ALL OF THE SHOES. Keep working with Dr. Happyfeet to get custom orthotic insoles that will hopefully correct my foot issues so that I'm not overpronating and twisting my foot like a crazy woman. (Can you tell that I'm obsessed with the fact that my running form is terrible? I'm guessing that has a lot to do with why I'm so. freaking. slow.) And I'm still so paranoid that the foot pain is going to come back, I overanalyze everything I'm doing and it takes away from the whole "running is relaxing" component of working out. Pass the cookies. Advice/benzodiazepines also welcome.

(Hartford training starts July 1st!! I'm freaking out that I can barely run a full mile!)

7 comments:

  1. Ever thought of putting some $$ forth towards a running coach - a couple of lessons on form? I've thought about it but haven't made the financial commitment! Welcome back - don't get discouraged!

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    1. I have thought about it, but the whole not having a job yet puts some restrictions on doing something like that. I'd love to do something like that eventually though!

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  2. Try not to get too discouraged! I'm sure the orthotic insoles will help. Good luck :)

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  3. Oh my gosh, I do the same thing when I'm tired and slack on my form. Glad to know I'm not the only one who does the weird foot turn to the side!

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  4. It will come back quickly! Hopefully things feel better with the orthotics. I would be over-analyzing every little twinge too. One of the girls in my running group just had some tendonitis/stress fracture confusion too...after going back and forth over which it was, they told her she had both (CYA?) and she had to wear a boot for 4+ weeks. You might be able to get some free tips on your form if you can find a running store near you that does group runs. In my experience, people at running stores are friendly and want to help. My running store had a workshop recently on form and it was much cheaper than hiring a coach.

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  5. So glad you are back! It sucks to have to start over again, but I bet you'll build back endurance a lot faster than you think. I would totally be obsessing/paranoid too, but that will fade in time! Trust your body!

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