Running at Midnight.

Ok, So I exaggerate a little.. I was actually done before midnight.

[caption id="attachment_1204" align="alignright" width="300"] Here is a picture of a puppy. For no reason at all.[/caption]

Having been up late (hey! 11 is really late for me! I'm old!) the night before, there was no chance of getting up in the morning to work out.  I had every intent of working out right after work, but I had forgotten it was my son's night for his school open house. With It being middle school, this meant we got to follow his schedule and go from 15 minute class to 15 minute class as the teachers gave us their syllabus and told us all about how great our kids were.  Over all I was impressed with all of his teachers but one.  We showed up to her class, and she started a conversation with one mother for 5 (remember there is only 15 available) minutes.. Then expected us to stay past the time to move to the next class, so she could finish her speech.  It bothers me when people expect respect, but don't respect you..  But that is a whole other story.

My wife had promised the kids frozen yogurt after, so a cold treat it was!  Needless to say it was after 9:30 when we got home.   Since I had skipped out on my run the night before, it was NOT an option last night.  I didn't relish the idea of running through the streets of my town at 10pm.  I don't know that it would be unsafe - but it seems silly to take that chance.  My kids deserve to grow up with a father after all! (Did you notice the subtle pull at your heartstrings there?)

A couple of runs, and a boy returns!

Another beautiful week begins!!!   I can't speak for everyone out on the interwebs, but for me - it was a great weekend.

4 Miles on Saturday, 3 miles on sunday and my son got back from Bermuda!

Saturday:

I went with a simple out and back course, so I didn't have to worry about dodging cars on roads with no side walks.  (My four mile loop has a mile with no sidewalks and very little shoulder!)



I saw plenty of runners..

Never sore where you think

[caption id="attachment_2831" align="alignright" width="300"] Me resting after using the bowflex.... (ok...ok.. the image MIGHT be from http://www.bowflex-help-online.com/is-a-bowflex-home-gym-worth-the-money.html )[/caption]

Last night I hit my bowflex for a nice workout. My thought is that by swapping days of running and lifting, I give my Plantar Fasciitis a chance to heal (in theory), while working on the upper body/core that I have spent years ignoring. It seems like a good way to develop a balance that I have been sorely lacking.

Now, the thing that surprises me with the bowflex, is that I am usually sore in different places than I expect. With out giving you all the details of last night's workout (imagine how exciting THAT would be... I pushed.. relaxed.. pushed.. relaxed..,) I was sure that today - I was going to be facing some seriously sore triceps. SURPRISE!!!! The Arms are fine, and your back is letting you know it was a great workout!

I'm certainly not complaining, as I know it was a good workout either way.

Running and Rolling

So, my last couple of posts have glossed over any training - while focusing on my fundraiser/giveaway.  Rest assured, I have still been working on my training!

Last night, I went out for an easy 3ish miles (I accidentally gypped myself .14 of a mile.. so it is 3ISH not 3...).  I demonstrated the previous taping technique I was using, with great results.  I have tried a new one, as that taping method is not water-resistant.  KT Tape (You may recall that I used this back when I made a habit of pulling calf muscles) had helped me in the past, I thought it was worth trying now! (Plus, in the interest of full disclosure, my wife went and bought a roll for her knee pain..)

[caption id="attachment_2824" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Screenshot from KTTape.com. Click to go to their page to see the video![/caption]

#Juneathon Day Something or Another - The Treadmill and Bowflex

So I had this thought.  Now it was partially born out of the fact that I didn't have clean running shorts, and my manpri pajama pants were awful comfy, but it was still a thought.

If impact levels make a difference to Plantar fasciitis (to be fair, I couldn't remember if they did or not), and a treadmill has more give than the sidewalk.... Would running on a treadmill hurt less?  See how well I rationalized not going outside?  So with this thought, I went downstairs to the dreadmill.  I set the speed at 7.6, figuring if I was going to torture myself with two miles on the dreadmill, I should at least do it at a sub-8 minute mile.  Then because I felt guilty being on a treadmill, I set the incline to 2.5.

#Juneathon Day 11 - A nice (short) run.

The inclusion of the word short in the title above, in no way represents any sort of insult or negative connotation toward short people.  For the record, some of my favorite people are short. I believe that a person's height has no bearing on their having reasons to live, or their honesty.  I enjoy having short people 'round here.

So my alarm went off at 5:30 am.  (It seems some idiot has set their alarm for this ungodly hour.)  I had planned better the night before, and knew right were all of my running gear was. 

#Juneathon Day 7 - Pending

So, my Plantar Fascia was a bit sore this morning.  To be clear, this wasn't suprising as I was hobbling yesterday - starting an hour or two after my run.  I don't know if it was from the run, or the walking around on concrete  - or most likely a combination of the 2..

Due to the down pouring rain - riding a bike is out.. So I am not sure what to do.  It has to be something that will go easy on my plantar fascia.. Any suggestions?

 

#Junathon - Day 5 and 6 -Stretching, and a return to my normal pace.

So, I am again combining two days into one posting.. I'm such a slacker.  To be fair, I did set the tone with my first posting that was 2 days late and ended up covering 3 days.

Yesterday morning, I was simply too tired to be able to find the motivation to get up and out of bed to run.  This meant a nice evening run was in store - but my wife had to go see the doctor about some knee issues.. That turned yesterday's workout into stretching and foam rolling!

[caption id="attachment_2759" align="aligncenter" width="490"] picture from gypsy-fit!
http://gypsy-fit.com/foam-roller-exercises/[/caption]

I really need to do more foam-rolling...  Very nice, but not to interesting to blog about.. .so we will move on to this morning, which involved running!

#Junathon Day 4 - further testing and improvement of plantar fasciitis

So, bright and early, my alarm went off at 5:30 for this morning's Juneathon run.  Before getting out of bed, I did some ankle rolls followed by some stretching of my foot.  I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of intense pain!  In fact, my foot felt better than it had the previous morning!  Now, I don't want to lead you astray into thinking I am pain-free.  That is definitely NOT the case.   I however, am not greedy.  I will take "less pain" and "able to run without a limp" and remain very happy!

Knowing that yesterday's 1.5 did have increasing levels of foot pain, I decided I would only jump up to 2 miles today.

[caption id="attachment_2752" align="aligncenter" width="490"] I actually started and stopped where the green dot is. I think I got gypped a tenth of a mile..[/caption]

Its time for #Junathon - Day 1, 2 and 3...

Well, I'm not off to a good start on the blogging portion, now am I?  Here I am, according to the "Rules" of Junathon - supposed to exercise and blog every day, yet I am already combining my blog-postings into one, instead of three!

That's ok though, because this weekend was awesome enough that NOT blogging simply has to be forgiven.    Coinciding with Junathon - my wife and I are doing an "almost no bad food" month.  (It would be a NO bad food month, but our anniversary is this month.. There is no way we aren't celebrating that!  9 years of marriage and no murder-charges? YES!)  So, in order to start this off right - we headed out to the Anne Arundel Farmers market.  I love farmer's markets.  The people selling things they grew/made, the people buying the local items.. Fresh Air.. Fresh Produce.. Whats not to love?

[caption id="attachment_2739" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Photo from the Anne Arundel Farmer's Market Facebook page.[/caption]

In fact, it is partially in thanks to that wonderful market that my day's food looks like:

Spinning the wheels on the 'ole antique.

The logical follow-up post to yesterday's blog is.... I went for a ride last night!

[caption id="attachment_2717" align="alignright" width="180"] I felt all zoomy - like this.[/caption]

The first thing I noticed... Is my seat is very, very hard.  I think  my butt may be bruised today.  Now fortunately, the part of your but you sit on a bicycle seat with, is different from the part you sit in an office chair with, but still.. I need to figure out a remedy to THAT problem.

The second thing I noticed, is that cars are a lot closer to you..  When I run, I am safely up on a sidewalk ignoring the existence of cars.  Well, ignoring the existence except for the occasional Dodge Viper that goes by...  When bike riding, they are much, much closer.    Yet I did find that after the first mile or 3, I didn't notice them.  Now I do have to add that when I would come upon parked cars, I would look over my shoulder to see what was coming - but I do that running as well. 

Birthday Run

I have read (on blogs and in other stories online) of runners that celebrate their birthdays  by going out and running their age in miles.  Well, I don't think I am up to running 38 miles.. or even 38 kilometers.   So I headed out my door yesterday with the goal of running 38 meters (plus a bit extra) in celebration of my birthday.

[caption id="attachment_2690" align="aligncenter" width="490"] My wife made me a home-made German Chocolate Cake![/caption]

Last Run of the (choir) Season.

Last night was the end of choir season.  At  the end of the season, the Maryland State Boy choir hosts a festival that draws kids from all over!  Members of the  Newark Boy Choir,  the Ann Arbor Boy choir and many others have come to Baltimore for this year's fun.  While this is an awesome thing, it means that the usual waiting room is unavailable for the parents.  No biggie for the beginning of the evening, as I had plans to go running, despite my ongoing foot pain.  You heard me right.. Foot pain.  My plantar fasciitis has been quite bad lately.  Bad enough that I even tried wearing the odd boot in bed to see if it would help!

[caption id="attachment_2684" align="aligncenter" width="490"] I needed a picture here. I liked this one.[/caption]

Despite that, I was all set to run and had plans to meet up with my running partner! 

Fixing the foot strike

So, One of the things I began to work on when I switched to minimalist shoes, was my foot strike.  My goal was to move from being a heel striker, to a fore-foot striker as many of the websites I read, assured me that this would reduce injury and they can't put anything on the internet that isn't true.

[caption id="attachment_2547" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Look at that heel hit the ground![/caption]

Now, if you change HOW you run, you aren't going to change the amount of force that your body receives - so the reality is that you just change the sorts of injuries that you are risking.  This is a topic that Craig Payne, a podiatrist from the land down under, wrote about on his site "Running Research Junkie".  His writings are an interesting change from most running sites, as he relies on (gasp!) facts.  (as a side note, I can totally support his "Calf-Strain" on the forefoot running, as I went through several of those as I transitioned!)

Plantar Fasciitis Treatment - an excerpt from Craig Payne posted on the Podiatry Arena

This is an excerpt from a posting by Craig Payne - Senior Lecturer at La Trobe University in Australia from the Podiatry-Arena forum.  It is reposted with his permission.  Special thanks to Peter Bird for bringing this forum posting to my attention.  Pictures were added by me, to help illustrate.  The original posting had no photos or illustrations.


Ok, Mr Runner, you have got plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis occurs when the load in the plantar fascia exceeds what the tissue can take, so we have only two things we can do. One is reduce the load and the other is increase the ability of the tissues to take the load. Reducing the load is easy and is something we can do today. Increasing the ability of the tissue to take the load is more difficult, takes time and is not something we can do in the short term.

[caption id="attachment_2329" align="alignright" width="300"] Low Dye Strapping -  photo from http://conejofeet.com/patients-guide-heel-pain/[/caption]

I know you have a marathon to run in 4 weeks. Is the plantar fasciitis interfering with your preparation for that? If it is, then we will use low dye strapping today to get a more acute effect of reducing the load. At least that will help the symptoms and start the healing process while we keep an eye on that marathon preparation.

The Plantar Fasciitis Trials - Part 3 - The Podiatrist

So.. Picking up where I left off on part 2 - Off to see the podiatrist.

First, lets look at my thoughts/views/experiences regarding podiatrists.  I had never been to one (that covers experiences.)

I love research, so I had googled everything I possibly could in regards to  Plantar Fasciitis and (when I first got them) Vibram Five Fingers.  This had led me  to several Podiatry forums.  I read everything I possibly could on both topics - after all, these were the foot experts right?   Before I looked into Plantar Fasciitis and had been researching VFFs, I noticed a really common theme.  Podiatrists hated them.  This wasn't a huge surprise, after all Christopher McDougall had said the same thing in articles and in his book.  It was amazing to me the outright vehemence that the Podiatrists posted about them. The more common viewpoint seemed to be that any form of "minimalist" shoe was simply a horrible injury waiting to happen, whether you did "too much too soon" or not.  In fact, the whole idea of "too much too soon" as a problem was ridiculed.

The Plantar Fasciitis Trials - Part 2 - The pain.

To pick up where my story left off (while providing enough "Catch up" info for anyone that didn't read part 1), I had stepped on a rather sharp rock in my worn-down (not that there is a whole lot to wear down, but there is a difference) Vibram Five Fingers, while trail running.  I think that under the circumstances,  most people would assume, as I did, That I had bruised the bottom of my foot.

[caption id="attachment_1465" align="alignleft" width="300"] My ice bottle under my desk at my former job![/caption]

The pain really wasn't horrible at this point, in fact I would call it relatively minor. I avoided running (because slamming a bruise into the ground over-and-over for several miles didn't strike me as "fun,") and used an elliptical for a few days.  I was even bright enough to avoid running until the pain was pretty much gone, with only a residual tightness remaining.  (In hind-sight, I've never had a bruise cause "Tightness."  At the time I did not know what this could be indicative of.)  While not running was frustrating, I was pleased with myself for learning from my previous year's experiences. 

The Plantar Fasciitis Trials - Part 1. Background

So, I've recently had several discussion regarding my experiences with Plantar Fasciitis both in comments on my blog, and with several people in person.  This made me realize it might be worth taking the time to really take a look and explain what I have done, and why!  I'll start with the background.

[caption id="attachment_2188" align="alignright" width="210"] My first pair of Vibram Five Fingers[/caption]

It all started with my switching over to Vibram Five Fingers.  I didn't know at the time that it could contribute, or why.  Looking back, I suspect that a big part of it is the old "too much too soon" problem combined with my complete lack of flexibility.  I don't know that moving into the five fingers slower would have prevented this - but had I been stretching my calves/Achilles/hamstrings - the additional time would have helped.  But I might be getting ahead of myself.

Blogger in Binghamton... And some other stuff.

What an odd week. This morning's bizarreness started (not counting the odd dreams) with reading the morning blogs... Not unusual - except one of them actually mentioned my old home town - Binghamton, NY - and the Santa Run 5K that I would have run had I still been living there (it was totally worth missing it - to be living in a better place!) IT seems "fueledbylolz" had driven down there - Crazy!

[caption id="attachment_1895" align="alignright" width="300"] fueledbylolz is in the pink - Picture courtesy (stolen from) Vince Kelly - posted on TCRC Facebook page[/caption]

Did a total double take as I had been reading about the race on Facebook, and looking through the pictures of the race! One cool part - I was able to post a link to two pictures of her running from the Triple Cities Running Club face book page.

I expect to see my friends posting about the formerly "local" races - but not another blogger!  Awesome!  This picture was actually taken about 5 houses down from where I lived.  All she would have to do is take a quick right and she could go say "Hi" to the people who bought my house!   Small world!

Mr. Potato Head.

Getting out of work early means I can get some of that exercising in BEFORE it is 8 o'clock at night!  Now really, I don't mind (most days) working out at night.. its kind of nice to exercise and do yoga (followed by a MUCH needed shower of course) to end the day out.  It really does let me go to bed stress-free. (Well, except when my wife was hoping for a back rub, and the reason she didn't get one was the treadmill and yoga...)

[caption id="attachment_1888" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Random Picture - with a Random Fact![/caption]

I decided I wanted to see if the Yoga was making any immediate difference.  As you are no doubt aware, I have been using it to stretch out after my runs.  Last night, I didn't. I did my usual calf-stretch, but immediately jumped through the shower afterwards - no Yoga in sight.