Form and Function

I discovered the problems I was/am having with my hip are directly related to the fact that I have been purposely working on correcting my posture and running form. What sort of world does THIS make sense in? Start CORRECTING your running form, suffer unbearable pain and agony. It's so totally unfair. I know I'm doing the right thing and all but at this point, I am so sick of injuries and pain, I'm almost willing to scrap the whole running thing for good. OK, not really but still. It sucks.

To combat the parts of my body that are resisting change for the better, I'm seeing a massage therapist named Glenna. And I think she is quite possibly The Good Witch of the West. This woman works some CRAZY magic! The first time I went to see her with this hip pain, she discovered the problem was a cluster of muscle fibers in my SOLAR PLEXUS of all things. I'm not kidding, she is amazing. I've been working with her for a few weeks now and my body is slowly but surely starting to realize that those days of lazy posture and poor running form are behind it. Good things to come!

Today I went out for 7 mile run, and ended up with 9 instead. Hip pain? Yes. But for the first time in a long time, NOT significant. Yeah!!

Renewal

It's time for the Spring training season again! Yeah! I realize I've skipped alot of entries here and I would apologize if I thought anyone but me was reading this. But anyhow.....

During the last spring training season, I had so many injuries and setbacks that I just needed to get through the season and finish. Which I did. During the fall season, I was able to train strong and finish 3 marathons, but ended up with pain at the end because of changes I made to my running form/stride. Now? I'm still having pain issues, but I'm treating everything aggressively and I'm ready to start over - stronger and faster this time. THIS time? I'm setting a time goal. THIS time? I want to finish a marathon in the spring in under 4:30. I can do it. And I will. And I'm going to use this blog as a form of accountability.

Seriously.

Pounding Pavement

I'm a bit nervous about my shoes. When I first started running, I was told by someone who clearly knew nothing that I had a neutral stride and could wear whatever I wanted. Three sprained ankles later, I learned I am an extreme supinator, running almost exclusviely on the outsides of my feet. After much discussion with a footwear specialist, I settled on a pair of Brooks Lady Dyad and never felt better. Oh, and some custom orthotics.

After my last marathon, I ended up with severe IT band strain. During therapy, I was told as a supinator, I have very high arches and need a cushioned shoe. Both my ortho doc and my podiatrist ADAMANTLY insisted that I need a motion control shoe. I elected to take the advice of the physicians and ended up with a pair of Nike Ariels. Nice shoes, just fine.

No problem until about 2 months ago when BAM! Another flippin' ankle sprain!! I can't blame the shoes, I'm sure, but I can certainly question them under hot lights. So now as I ramp back up to marathon distance wearing an ankle brace, I notice that my feet hurt more than usual after pounding the pavement for a few mile. It goes without saying that your feet hurt after running 17 miles, but this seems to be unusual. I'm wondering if this is related to the fact that my motion control shoes don't have the same cushion that my beloved Lady Dyads have.

With a bit of skepticism, I'm going to lace up my Brooks' for the 20-miler this weekend. With the ankle brace keeping my stable, I'm curious to find out if the cushioning will help ease the pain. But as I said, I'm nervous. There are few things as disheartening as an injury this late in the training season.

The Great Snowbowl Run

How crazy do you have to be to run 17 miles in the middle of winter? If you're not crazy enough to do it in 7 degree weather on snow packed/icy streets which are so slick and full of ruts that you have to literally watch every step - and to do it on a 1 mile street (i.e. back and forth for 17 laps), you're not crazy enough. Throw in an ankle brace for the sprain you've been nursing for the past too months and you've got to be downright looney. And I am proud to say I am just that crazy. Got the screaming hamstrings and blisters to prove it.

When you're training for a marathon, it's the TRAINING part that totally sucks. Some days I think "Once I hit the 26 mile mark, I'm never tapering again." Some days I think once I get there, I'll just stay there. A marathon each month with 3 ten-mile runs in between. That is not crazy, my friends, that is just efficient. As long as you treat each marathon as a training run, no problem. At least that's what I tell myself on days like Saturday, 9 miles into my 17 mile Snowbowl Run with 20 of my craziest running friends.

But here is how it inevitably plays out.... I plan a slow marathon as a training run, I realize I'm making good time and see if I can PR. Whether I actually do PR or not is irrelevant because by the time I'm done, I'm good and sore. Meaning the SECOND marathon, the one I was actually HOPING to run well, I have to take it easy and make it a slow recovery run. And then I'm even more sore and need to take some serious time off before starting all over.

It's a vicious cycle, but I love it. I do. I love it. Even in the tundra.