mmmmmkay!

My doctor seems to be able to listen to my symptoms, watch me run on a treadmill, and know exactly what I need to do to get myself back on the road. The problem is that when he's trying to tell me....all I hear is this....



This week we looked at video of me running. What we've decided is that I ramped up my mileage too quickly. The only way my body could cope was to revert back to primarily using my cycling muscles. In cycling I spent hours and hours heel down, using my quads more than my calves. So it seems when I'm running now I'm not engaging my calves enough and I'm turning in pigeon toe'd and not getting the push off I need. That turning in is putting strain on my achilles at an angle it's not used to. Anyways, I've been doing these exercises. Dr Wong is a truly exceptional doctor for runners...mmmmmkaaaay!!!

Now that I'm back on the right track my new orthotics have arrived. My knees are hurting from the old ones but I've been able to run 4 days in a row. I'm a bit afraid to throw something new into the mix, but the orthotics I currently have are just horrible. Wong would rather I run without them, but we're both pretty certain my feet wouldn't hold up above about 50miles per week...so we're experimenting.

One thing is certain. My body sure doesn't like antibiotics. I felt like crap for nearly 3 weeks on them. Every run just didn't feel quite right. Two days being off of them and I'm running great again. Makes me want to blame that horrible race on them. Perfect storm of antibiotics and achilles I guess.

This weekend I did a 10 mile run. I'd already ran 2 days completely without pain. My plan was to do an hour and see how it felt. It'd been so long since I'd run feeling good, so at 4 miles when I was feeling really good I said screw it and let loose. I ran then next 4 miles just as hard as I possibly could. I went over and ran Hunters Station hill....ooof that's brutal. Then I swung over and ran Birdfoot Hill. Birdfoot is steeper but it's under 2 minutes so you can kind of tough it out. After that I went full out for the next mile. No idea what sort of pace it was but it was great to do it.

Now to start all over again with the new orthotics and building up my mileage. Looking over my posts as I delete them I see that by now I thought I'd have my base built and be on to gaining strength and speed. Seems I'm stumbling and bumbling and still at step one. Meh...I'm enjoying the journey. So it is what it is. Glad spring is here and I can get out everyday and sweat.