Assessing my running game

As a teacher, my colleagues and I probably throw around the terms assess, assessment, and evaluation far too much just to avoid the reality - that we are GRADING our students.  Gasp!

So, when I laced up my shoes today, I started to thinking about my run in terms of grades - would it be a good run (A-/B+) or kind of crappy (C range or below)?  I realize that some people use actual charts and data in order to evaluate their runs, rides or other active ventures, and I do have a garmin which gives me more data than I used to have.  But, I still prefer the inexact science of assessing a run or ride based on how I feel.  While heart rate monitors and lactic threshold training serve more serious athletes, checking in with my body and, lately, gauging the different aches and pains I've experienced, is probably better suited for my aging body.

Today, as I started out the run and nothing felt 'off' initially, I thought - wow, this might be a good run!  I might be at 90% today.  Woo-hoo - that is an A-!  I was a bit nervous about such optimism so early on (it's like reading an essay, of which I've read my fair share this weekend, and the opening paragraph is great but the rest of the paper just turns to shit), but the rest of the run continued at a faster clip than I've seen in ages and, even better, I felt really good for the entire four-and-a-half mile run.  This comes as a huge relief because, in recent weeks, I've spent far too much time worrying about my ability to continue to run in the short and long term.  The plantar fasciitis combined with the tailbone injury sidelined me, and the few runs that I managed to squeeze out were fraught with physical pain and frustration, and I would have given myself a C- for most of them.  So, to finally go out and enjoy a run a is a true delight!

Being injured, especially when it isn't something major but small yet debilitating issues (like plantar fasciitis), probably challenges the active individual more than any big event possibly can.  Perhaps I'm wrong there, but having to sit and wait and see is definitely not my strength.  For the PF, I tried as many different approaches that I possibly could, excepting acupuncture, and I'm not sure that it was ONE trick or another or if the multi-pronged attack worked.  But, after resting for about 3 weeks, doing lots of stretches with a tennis ball and a frozen water bottle, 2 sessions of active release therapy, buying two pairs of new shoes (one of which definitely works; the other pair, well, I may have just wasted a pretty penny on them), using the Strassburg sock, and, finally, getting custom insoles when I was Boulder, it seems that I'm finally running pain-free.  I do credit much of my recovery to the insoles.  I had read some articles that recommended insoles, other articles that recommended bare-foot running, so I wasn't sure about going the insole route.  However, over Christmas, I saw my cousin, who runs crazy ultra-marathons, and he advised me to get insoles.   So, I went to an insole store in Boulder, In-Step, and liked the owner who is a runner and had tons to say about plantar fasciitis.  I don't love running with the insoles, but they do seem to be helping, and I'll take whatever is working!

In limbo

While the religious definition of limbo does not describe my condition, considering the in-between quality of not quite being able to run yet not being injured, "limbo" seems like a fitting description.  After a mere two weeks of dealing with what is probably a mild flare-up of plantar fasciitis, I hoped that a run yesterday would prove productive and possible.  I was, unfortunately, quite mistaken, so I'm back to waiting around while still trying to be thankful that I can continue to be somewhat active (walking, spinning, swimming, probably biking if I'd get my ass on the bike).

I have scoured the interwebs with information about plantar fasciitis and have found zero consensus.  Probably the most fruitful discovery was that PF is often called "the vampire bite" of running.  I suppose, like a vampire's bite, there is no quick and/or easy solution - at least not for most people.  I've read dozens of sites, half of which advocate minimalist running shoes or barefoot running, the other half  advising a shoe with more stability.  Some people have success with PT, some don't.  For myself, I have yet to go the PT route, but am using a tennis ball (thanks ChezJulie!) to stretch/work the foot muscles.  I also invested in the Strassburg Sock and try to wear it when I'm hanging around the house after work, over the weekend and to also sleep with it at night.  I still suspect that my running shoes are the culprit - or partly - so I did go out and buy new shoes (which I can't wear yet!).  Finally, I've forked over money for two ART sessions (active release technique), and that has helped, but I'm not yet convinced that it is worth the money.  

In the meantime, I'm trying to be patient and look at this episode as a reason to take a break from running, with the hope that I'll be able to bounce back fairly soon.  I had considered some sort of a race in February - a trail race or a speedy-for-me half-marathon - but I've reconsidered that thought because I don't want to force the issue.  Not running has brought me back to the pool, which is never a bad thing, and although I'm not as dedicated as I would like to be, I've had several nice early morning swims and have amped up my yards a bit.  It's also been nice to opt for some lazy weekends, as much as I like getting out and doing 'stuff'.  Today, I chose baking pumpkin bread over swimming, and I can definitely live with that decision! Ideally, I'd like to return to running in January, but if not, I'll continue to focus on swimming and might reacquaint myself with my bike saddle.  Ooh, such a concept!

It hasn't been TERRIBLE not running.  Not yet.  Ask me in another month, but for now, my quality of life hasn't suffered, even though I miss the ease and convenience of walking out the door to do a loop around the neighborhood.  I do hope that the PF won't interfere with skiing as, for the short-term, that is more important to me than running.  I'd rather be able to ski in Colorado in just a few weeks and again Mammoth in January than run right now!  

Come February and March, I'll have a dramatically different take on the situation if it hasn't been remedied in one way or another, and you might find me in both minimalist and crazy maximalist shoes, in a desperate attempt to heal.

Conversations with my body

I'm not sure if other people "talk" to their body.  I hear/read about the importance of listening to your body, but most of my conversations tend to be pretty one-sided.  In fact, my gut reaction to the whole listen-to-your-body ethos is to roll my eyes.  Personally, I tend to talk, and I expect my body to listen.  This has probably been the case for a while, although the conversation has changed over the years (my adolescent conversations bemoaned typical adolescent themes, which I won't go into here).

As I've entered the almost-middle age period and try to maintain an active lifestyle, most of the conversations are bargains that I make.  They follow these lines: "Okay, just get through this training cycle and then you'll get a nice break!" or "I promise that I'll go to the chiropractor AND get a deep-tissue massage, so don't be angry with me!" or "Don't get a cold now, wait until it's more convenient, please!" or the biggie "Just get through one more month and then I'll go to the knee doc and get a cortisone shot".  So, yes, I wheedle, plead, cajole, and make deals so that my body stays functional.  Usually I follow up on the deals in one way or another, and it does seem that I have a nice team of people that keep me going.

I think, however, that 2012 has been a pretty high-intensity year for my 40-year-old body, and it's performed for me - with the exception of bonking on the 30K trail race, but that was a mental problem as much as it was physical.  At some point, I had promised myself to take a nice long break from running after the trail race, and I did take a week off before testing out my legs this past week.  The two runs went well - they felt slow but weren't terrible.  However, the aftermath of each run was not exactly pretty.  On Monday night, after a 5.5 mile run, my hip and back started hurting.  Hmmm....  So, I took a few days between and then went on a short run on Friday.  Again, I hammered out the miles without a big deal, but then the same weird hip/back pain flared up afterwards.

So, Friday night, I promised myself that I would get to the chiropractor within the next week and try to see what was going on, but I wasn't overly concerned.

That was until yesterday morning, when I woke up and could barely walk because of a stabbing pain in my right heel on the bottom of my foot.  What was this?!  Pain that continued throughout the day and allowed me to walk, but with a hobbled gait.  After checking out my symptoms on the interweb (always trustworthy), I self-diagnosed plantar fasciitis, a common yet, from what I gathered, fairly debilitating condition.  I know several people who deal/have dealt with it, and I'm aware that it is no light matter.  Maybe it's something else, but I'm about as sure as I've been about any self-diagnosis thanks to internet information.

So, fine, I'm officially "listening" to my body.  Yes, I'll take a break from running, and I'll pay much closer attention to stretching and icing, and I have an appointment for Monday afternoon to deal with my body in general (hips, knee, ITband, foot issues).  I had already planned to spend more time in the pool this month, so this gives me a good push to do so.

Taking a longer-than-planned break from running does not make me a happy camper, but I'll take it if I can run pain-free in the long term!

And, yes, it seems that I'm finally listening to my body.