Hurricanes

Since the pain in my achilles area still hadn't gone away, but had instead spread to my right leg as well, I decided it was time to possibly try a different shoe style. I have been wearing Mizuno Wave Creations for quite awhile, and have always liked the firmness of them, but a little reflection helped me realize that maybe this was the problem - especially considering the weekly mileage that I have been averaging.
I went to the store last night in search of something with a little more cushion and some moderate pronation control (I slightly overpronate at best, but figured a little support in this area might help the pains I've been having). I came out with a pair of Saucony Hurricane 10's. I already put 20 miles on them this morning and couldn't be happier with my decision to switch to them - I didn't know what I had been missing all this time. I felt great the entire 20 miles, finishing stronger and faster than at any other point during the run, and had none of the achilles area pains that I had recently been experiencing even on shorter runs. The area is a little tight right now, but nothing like before and no more than what I would normally expect after 20 miles. If the family weren't waiting for me a tome to get to church, I would have liked to have kept going longer today - the extra cushioning in these shoes compared to what I was used to really helped keep my legs fresh.

Next week I'll get an extra early morning start and go for 24-26 miles, then I'll probably go down in mileage for a rest week before building the mileage back up again.

Running is an all-weather sport

I logged 18 miles yesterday in single digit temperatures, and during the 2.5+ hours that I was running, I had plenty of time to contemplate my sanity. Not sure that I came to any definite conclusions, but I knew that I was happy to be running despite the icicles forming from my eyelashes.

Actually, it really wasn't that bad - I was slightly overdressed and working up quite a sweat (an odd sensation when the temps are that cold). For my upper body, I wore a long sleeve tech-T, a long sleeve 1/4 zip heavy tech-T, and my new running jacket with fleece vest liner. For the legs I wore tights with running pants on top, regular running socks with thin dress socks over them (mainly to ensure I had something over my ankles), light gloves inside a pair of my hunting mittens, and a face mask. I put Aquaphor on the exposed portion of skin around my eyes.

Normally, if I overheat, I would just shed a layer, but due to the extreme temps, I was afraid of shedding a layer and then exposing sweat dampened clothing and figured that wouldn't be very good. Fortunately, I was able to get used to the extra clothing and monitored the situation by lowering/raising the zipper on my jacket - it's amazing how much heat can be released or retained by doing this. I was also afraid to pee behind a bush as I normally would from a real fear of a mid-stream freeze possibly leading to even more troubles.

Aside from the shear weight of all the extra clothing, the mask also made for very labored breathing. It has holes in the mouth and nose area, but still obstructed the air from flowing freely. My water bottle froze too (guess I should have been able to predict that), but luckily my route looped back by my car a little past midway where I had another bottle that was still in liquid form.

I didn't really want to be out in the cold yesterday, but not running would have made me very grumpy, and I didn't think I could last that long on a treadmill. As I told Mendy, "I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't get my run in." Oh well, I guess there are worse hang-ups to have.

Back in Action

Finally! After 8 days of virtually no running (1 mile total for the duration) I couldn't take the rest for my ankle any longer and decided to try it out this morning on the treadmill. Despite a dull, but tolerable pain in the trouble area, all went well. I had been nervous that I might start losing my running fitness soon, and I had a ton of anxiety from not running for this long. The anxiety wasn't because I wasn't exercising, I have been doing plenty of other cross training for that aspect, but just from not being able to do something that I so enjoy.
After a few minutes warm-up, I started running at a fairly conservative 8:30 pace. As I realized things were going well, I ended up turning the 5 miles into a progressive run and accelerated a bit every 1/2 mile to an ending pace of 7:20.
Funny thing is, prior to the injury, I had just decided to start working on developing more of a mid-foot strike as opposed to the slight heel strike that I currently have. As I employed some of these techniques this morning, the slight lingering pain that was still there seemed to improve and lessen with the mid-foot strike...all the more reason to keep working on it I guess. It's too early to tell for sure, but as this was the first time I had consciously tried working on this while on a treadmill, I could tell a noticeable difference in the ease of speed when using the mid-foot. It was apparent that I was running slightly faster - without more effort - because I would creep toward the front of the belt clipping the frame with my toes every time I did it for a while.
I've got my new bike set up on a trainer next to treadmill, so I hopped on it after the run for about 10 miles of cycling.
I need to remember to be cautious and take a couple more easy sessions as there was still a little discomfort, but I am thrilled to be back in action.

Itching to Run

I haven't been able to run since last Sunday's 12 mile recovery run after the the Gobbler Grind. Everything felt fine during and even immediately after that day's run, but later in the day I started developing a soreness in the tendons on the back of my left leg below the calf. I don't remember any specific twist, turn, or otherwise damaging event, but the pain developed none-the-less. I've laid off the running all week to give it time to heal as it may simply be from over use, but I'm getting really sick of this. It doesn't hurt anymore to walk around throughout the day, but as soon as I start the running motion is when it kicks in. This past 6 days has been the longest stretch I've gone with zero running in a long time and I really miss it. I'd rather be a little cautious now and let things heal correctly than risk some sort of more serious injury that could have me out for awhile.

This forced week off did help me decide to definitely not run the Fat Ass 50K on January 1st. My early '09 schedule is getting pretty full and I had been debating the merits of trying to squeeze this run in and whether it would be too much to try and be ready for in just a few weeks, and then have time to recover and be ready again for another 50K in February. Without this week for training - the deal is off for that event, which is probably for the better in terms of the long term plan.

I did have some fun this week with some cross training to offset the lack of running. In addition to adding some leg work back into my weight routines, I started swimming. My first day was a total disaster. Kid lessons were being given at the pool so there were a ton of parents (in street clothes) sitting around the pool watching. Needless to say, I felt a bit subconscious walking amongst all the fully clothed people, and even more so as I flailed along the length of pool gasping for air as 10 year olds passed me with ease. My stroke resembled more that of a golden retriever than the dolphin I had anticipated in my mind. The second day went much better - I went early morning so there were no kids and parents, and I was able to gain a little more confidence in my stroke. I am determined more than ever now to become a good swimmer, I'm even going to take a couple of private lessons because I really have no idea how to swim properly. The only down side to going to the pool early morning is the abundance of naked old men in the locker room...