Training Week 53
My next race is the Clear Water Outdoor’s 6th Annual Turkey Trot: 10K on November 20.
Day 365 | October 18, 2010: 3 m run
I ran a few miles on the treadmill to try out my new shoes (Asics Cumulus). They feel much more “cushiony” than the Brooks Adrenalines. I can feel the extra cushion under the ball of my foot, and I can feel that I am landing more on my midfoot. It feels good! I did notice that my toes felt a bit numb from miles 1-2, but I wiggled them around and they felt fine. I wonder if the cushioning raises my foot and puts extra pressure on my toes.
That looks like overpronation to me… ugh, why is this so confusing?
The run was easy, but boring. Treadmill running = snore. And it gets so hot in our bedroom! I need a fan.
Distance: 3.0 | Incline: 1.0 | Time: 30:29 | 1: 10:20 | 2: 10:09 | 3: 10:00
Day 366 | October 19, 2010: rest
Day 367 | October 20, 2010: 5.5 m run
Steven and I headed out to the Rollins Savanna so I could run and he could bike. I also asked him to take photos of me running so I could see how my feet land. Verdict? Mid foot striker… but still landing out the outside. So, outside midfoot striker. Do you think it’s okay that I land like this? It just looks painful, right? It doesn’t feel painful.
You can see some more examples of how I land in the gallery below (if you click on them they open in this window).
It was really a gorgeous run. We had wonderful spring-like temperatures, and full sun. The wind really killed me on my fourth mile though! I felt like like someone was pushing me so I wouldn’t move forward.
Distance: 5.5 | Start Temp: 67° | End Temp: 68° | Time: 55:40 | Avg Pace: 10:07 | 1: 10:13 | 2: 10:16 | 3: 10:20 | 4: 10:31 | 5: 9:50 | 6: 4:28
Day 368 | October 21, 2010: strength + yoga
Strength + Stretch (done during my lunch break):
| 1 Hip Abduction: 3 x 15 @ 115 lb | 5 Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb, 15 @ 130 lb |
| 2 Hip Adduction: 3 x 15 @ 55 lb | 6 Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb |
| 3 Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb | 7 Arm Curl: 3 x 15 @ 25 lb |
| 4 Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb | 8 Pectoral Fly: 2 x 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb |
I did the YogaWorks Beginners DVD in the evening. It was my first time doing yoga after the marathon and it felt SO GOOD. My body has been feeling so tight, and yoga really loosened it up.
Day 369 | October 22, 2010: rest
Day 370 | October 23, 2010: 10 m run
Erin and I met up at the Half Day Forest Preserve and ran 10 miles (an out and back) on the Des Plaines River Trail. I really love running on this trail in the fall! The trees are so beautiful!
The run was easy and just flew by, probably because I was enjoying our conversation so much. I really love running with Erin! I wish we lived closer to one another.
I felt great throughout the run. My new shoes felt good, and I could have kept going, despite it starting to rain between the 6th and 7th miles (and raining until we stopped)! I did start to get a weird stomach cramp around 9.5 miles, but that was not related to running.
Two notes: wearing a visor is so nice for keeping rain off my face! And, the temperature actually started to drop after the run, because of the rain. Good thing we started running at 8:00!
Run stats: I wore the Asics Cumulus 12s. I drank about 16 ounces of water during the run and had 6 or so jelly beans. We walked a bit during mile 5.
Distance: 10.0 | Start Temp: 59° | End Temp: 59° | Time: 1:45:09 | Avg Pace: 10:29 | 1: 10:44 | 2: 10:41 | 3: 10:35 | 4: 10:51 | 5: 12:02 | 6: 10:20 | 7: 10:21 | 8: 9:52 | 9: 9:55 | 10: 9:30
Day 371 | October 24, 2010: yoga
I did the YogaWorks Beginners DVD. Truth – I always have to force myself to do yoga. I find it pretty boring. On this day, I put my yoga clothes on as soon as I got up to make sure I would do it! Of course, I felt better after I did, since my body felt so tight, especially my quads.
Week Summary: 18.5 miles
This was a pretty good week. I feel like I am still trying to find a good post-marathon routine, but I will figure that all out soon. I was really happy after the 10 mile run – it encouraged me that I will be able to keep up a higher mileage this fall/winter.
An article to share: Thinking about getting new running shoes? This article says the expensive ones are over-hyped and may not help you at all! The article brings up an interesting point that people are more “less cautious” in new shoes because they trust the new technology of them. Interesting! Have you ever felt overly optimistic about a new pair of shoes?
I know I have – this week! Ha!
Themocracy
Matt Damon…
I hate the “wondering if the shoes are the right ones” feeling. I thought long and hard after your last post, and I decided that if I could get through marathon training and a marathon without any shoe specific injuries, I may as well stick with what’s working.
I’m subscribing to “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” But I still wonder/obsess about it a lot. (Maybe if my feet weren’t SO HAPPY every time I put the darn things on, I’d feel differently.)
your outside mid foot striking down look painful but I think it doesn’t look as bad as it did in those race pictures your posted! I guess as long as you feel ok while running you are ok. It would prolly be really hard to change how your feet hit while running.
The treadmill photo doesn’t look like overpronation to me at all. Landing on the outside of your foot does look painful and I wonder if you do that out of habit (maybe you unconsciously changed your gait back when you were injured and it’s now just habit for your body) or if you have a muscle imbalance of some kind that makes your foot do that. Is it just your left foot or does your right foot do that, too?
When I get weird and new aches and pains in my legs I like to think a new pair of shoes will cure them. I guess that’s being overly optimistic 🙂
And I really liked running with you and the trail we ran on Saturday. So much fun! We should try and do that at least once a month to keep us accountable!
I wonder if I accidentally changed my gait too. I should see if I can find old photos from the first WI half marathon… I just looked at my official photos and it’s hard to tell! (jeez, those photos really sucked).
But yeah, both feet do it. My left foot slightly more though. Good observation! Steven made a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv4cKL2sLlQ), and you can see that I do it more on the left (Do you know how to watch a video in slow mo? The programs on my computer don’t seem to do that, so I just had to stop and pause over and over).
We should make AT LEAST one monthly running date. I wouldn’t be opposed to more though! Maybe they plow your trails in the winter? The snow is left on the Lake County trails and they are used for cross country skiers.
P.S. I wore my corn maze run shirt today and got a lot of comments/questions. Have you worn yours yet?
P.S.S. I edited the HELL out of those photos from Saturday to show how vibrant the trees really were (I plan to post before and afters on Tuesday). Let me know if you want any originals. The facebook pics look fuzzy on my netbook, but my netbook does that from time to time!
I showed your pictures to my husband, who is a cross-country coach. He said that some pronation is normal to cushion the impact of hitting the ground. You are supposed to land on the outside of your foot like that and roll inward. Overpronation means your foot rolls in past the midpoint. It doesn’t look like you are doing that, it just looks like you have a little too much turnout of your toes.
Oh cool! Thanks for showing him Jen. The way you explained it actually makes a lot of sense to me. I think I finally get “overpronation” now! 🙂
Eeeeek, you are RIGHT. That does look like it hurts. But I guess as long as it doesnt??
I really wish that I had some advice to provide, but all of my experience is with pronation not supination. 🙁
Great 10 mile run, especially after running a marathon a few weeks ago! You are awesome. Glad to hear you are enjoying the new shoes. Hope they are the right ones for you and the extra cushioning helps. Sounds like you had a great weekend, hope your week is just as good!
Thanks Laura! I think they are the right shoes… for now!
How was your walk?
That trail of your 10 miler is beautiful!
Thanks for sharing that article. I don’t talk about it much on my blog but I always buy inexpensive shoes, usually from Kohls. I just ordered a new pair of running shoes from them a few days ago. It was a huge ordeal and maybe when I finally get them in the mail I’ll explain. haha.
We’ll have to go running on it whenever you come out to Chicago. Hee hee 😉
Can’t wait to hear your story. I hope it has a happy ending!
Congrats on your great run! And on signing up for another race!
I was way too optimistic about my last pair of shoes and am kind of excited to replace them after all this marathon training.
I’m also thinking I may need to consider a different shoe than the Adrenaline so I’d love to hear what you think after a few weeks in the new ones.
Thanks!
And I will keep you all updated on the shoes. So far, so good. Every once in awhile, my ankles feel a bit sore, but only for a second, so I am not sure if that is from the shoes or not. Either way, they are quite a bit different and my legs need to get used to them!
Glad the shoes are working out! It does look painful, the way you land, but if it feels okay to you, perhaps it’s not a huge problem?
I’m wondering how you haven’t had an ankle injury? To try and change your gait is very difficult. I wonder if you did some exercises to make your foot/ankle more stable if that wouldn’t give you a more sound foot strike? You might want to check with a good sports med foot doc or PT and see what they have to say. BTW, for old running shoes, wash ’em up and donate them. I’d never wash a pair that is still being used but once I retire them I always throw them in the washer. They look like new and are fine for wearing day-to-day.
I haven’t had any ankle issues! I think when I have more money though, I would like to have my gait analyzed by a professional coach to see what they say.
Thanks! I will wash my shoes before I donate them!
When I can run again, I’m going for a free gait analysis at our orthopedic institute. Apparently, they also do them at some running stores. Any in your area?
Yeah, I have had them done a few times and this is the shoe they recommend… but I land more funny on the trails than on the treadmill so it might not be showing up as well!
Hi Kim! Thanks for mentioning the Turkey Trot, we’re happy you’re coming! The turkey costume got here today. Really, I’m not kidding. We’re dressing up Luke from our staff as a turkey and giving him a head start. As you run by pull out his feathers and there’s coupons for the store attached. HINT: Don’t go for the easy grabs, the good coupons will be down by his legs. We had to talk him in to it… anything for charity right?
Here’s a coupon code for the website (www.clearwateroutdoor.com) that you or any of your readers can use to get supplies for the race. Good luck with the training and let us know if we can help.
Code: TURKEY2010
Ha! My first question was going to be “are you kidding?!” That sounds so fun! I hope I catch him! And thnk you for the coupon code!
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the way you land, or rather, I don’t know what exactly you could do about it. I think that the important thing is having the shoe adjust for the extra motion once your foot is in contact with the ground.
The forest preserve run with Erin makes me jealous. I wish all three of us lived closer together!
Thanks for your input. I feel okay so far and have been landing like that for a long time. When I try to adjust my gait it feels weird!
I wish we lived closer too. You won’t be up for a run when you come for the wedding, will you? It will be the week after the half anyway!
Running on a treadmill is going to look different than running outside. On a treadmill you’re jumping and outside you’re running forward. Since it seems like you try to be outside more – focus on that the most.
You’re definitely supinating, and that’s not a problem at all. The new shoes won’t push you anywhere at all. Since you really have no clue what your legs and feet want to do (well, so clue, but yeah) I’d say stick with the neutral shoes and your feet / legs will develop as they want to.
And no matter what, the first 3-4 times I wear a new pair of shoes, my feet go numb. So that’s totally normal too. Give them at least 100 miles, and then reassess what you think (unless they break your leg in half of course).
Thanks for your reassuring input! 🙂 I love my running store friends 🙂
I like your new shoes. I’m going to be going soon to get another pair of Asics Gels for me. My current pair is starting to wear out, mostly from all the walking I’ve done this year (which isn’t nearly enough, but it’s better than nothing). They are very comfortable. I took my current pair to Disneyland recently and while my feet were hurting at the end of the day, it would have been so much worse with a regular pair of tennis shoes or my Timeberland hiking shoes.