Two Halves do not make a Whole!

After a bit of a hiatus from training, I am back on the roads this week. I was getting good running success with the Postural Restoration therapy that ended in February, but as I continued to run (and faithfully do the exercises) things started to slowly fall apart again. I was back to a point in my training where the left side of my body and the right side of my body were doing two different things. I noticed my mileage going down from 50 a week to 40. Then it was down to 30 and then 20. Each run was taking longer to recover from as I got more and more imbalanced and as my hip hurt more and more after most runs and there was not much fun in it at all. The racing was even worse! Finally last week, I only ran twice: two 5k races. At the end of both races I was limping on my left hip. The last race was the Hollis Fast 5K. As I limped back to the awards ceremony, I had the feeling that something "more" was wrong with my hip. It hurt. I seemed to be "protecting" it more as I ran and I had such a terrible stride as I tried to run faster that it was no fun to even race. I thought to myself that "something" must be more wrong with that hip then I could figure out and I felt that the next step must be to go to a doctor and get it looked at. Maybe it was a labral tear that wouldn't let the femur fit properly in the pelvis. I did not feel like running any more as each training run was leading to a day or two of problems and I was uncomfortable running at any speed.

Before calling up a doctor, I also was thinking that no matter how hard I worked on my exercises and strength work I was just strengthening a dysfunction and not correcting it. I had already gone back to the postural restoration therapist last Monday (on my own dime), hoping to see if she could see what I was doing wrong with my exercises. I was shown the ones that should work best for me, but there were no new revelations. The only thing that was confirmed is that when I run my left stride is slower that my right. I was wondering about this and that is probably why that my legs get worse as I try to run fast. I still believe that the Postural Restoration work is very valuable for me, but until I can figure out and straighten out the root cause of my imbalances that nothing will get fixed. It does give me good strength work and can help with working on positioning and muscle balance, but it seems to help me more for basic walking and standing and I haven't got it to work yet for running (fast running in particular). That left me again frustrated at the end of the Hollis race and asking myself, "What is wrong with my body causing it to work so incorrectly."

I started thinking that before I call a doctor to check for an injured hip and socket, I might want to try one more time at seeing if there are restrictions in my hip that may be causing the failure after all the exercises I have been doing. Maybe it was time to call an ART (Active Release Technique)doctor. I was very high on ART back about 10 years ago when I first went to Boston to have treatment done. The doctor started fixed my psoas muscle that had been giving me back pains for years (due to triathlons). He got rid of the scar tissue and the results were pretty dramatic (the first thing that worked on me in over 15 years). However when I went back to see this doctor a few more times to see if he could help with my hips, he did little and seemed real disinterested in the whole process and in even helping me (I believe he no longer practices). I had wanted to try ART with someone else, but I could not find anyone local who took insurance. Maybe it was worth another shot, so I called Dr. Steve Barooby of Artful Chiropractic in Manchester. I had talked to him on the phone a few years ago, but never went in to see him (I did Rolfing instead). Dr. Barooby has lots of certifications in ART and I had heard good things about him. I gave him a call and was even more happy to find he takes insurance now. I have gone in three times this week. I told Dr. Baroody that my body was a puzzle and there had to be a way to figure it out. He has discovered some missing puzzle pieces that I have been trying to get answers on from so many other people I have seen and there is even names for these things that are wrong with my feet.

He did a lot of listening and asking questions and then he got tolooking at my feet. I have been trying to figure out why my left foot does so many strange things during my stride and I have tried all sorts of remedies on my own to figure it out and fix it. In fact, that is how I got the referral from my doctor last fall. I simply wanted to ask a PT about my foot and ankle. He asked if I have ever damaged my left foot with a severe sprain. He said my left heel was "inverted". I have asked many other therapists about this heel that seemed "out of position" before and could not get an answer. I think that what he means by inverted is that it is rotated inwards. Maybe this is why my forefoot also everts out. I don't know. He said this inverted heel causes my heel to suppinate. He also said that I have something wrong with my front toes. It is called "functional hallux limitus". Basically on the left side, the toe and its metatarsal does not work. That is why that foot rolls over onto the inside trying to connect to the ground. In other words, it pronates heavily. So, my left foot suppinates at the heel and pronates from the forefoot. It is trying to do two opposite things at once! Is that it? I have been thinking my imbalances stem from the left side of my body being different from the right and not equaling a whole. However it might simply be the back part of my left foot not playing nicely together with the front part and creating havoc on the left side of my body and messing up my running and alignment throughout my body.

Dr. Baroody has been softening up my feet by mobilizing my stuck joints as well as using ART on my heel area to work on the "fixing" of my heel. All of a sudden my running is easier again (not perfect) but I ran 8 miles on Tuesday, did the track workout on Wednesday (800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800 first laps in 90 sec. each lap after that in 91 sec. Mike Ward started pushing the pace on the last 1200 and we did that in under 6:00 mile pace, and then I ran the last 800 in 2:52- certainly a decent workout). My hip didn't hurt at all during or after the track work, and I ran 8 miles each of the next two days. Still no hip soreness (I have been getting ART treatment on the Psoas muscle along with the foot work). So far that is good progress.

The interesting thing that I now recall is that during the two months of Postural Restoration work, the PT twice mobilized the bones in my left foot. The PR exercises helped, but it was after the mobilizations that my mileage started going up in the winter. I could get the left toe metatarsal on the ground after those mobilizations and I could run so much more easily. I think it lasted for awhile, but the joints got stuck again and that is why my running got worse and worse each week. I felt the same "working" of that first metatarsal after the mobilization work this week. When I ran yesterday, I tried to "listen" to my feet (after learning more about this "functional hallux limitus"). On both of my feet, the first metatarsals are now touching the ground as I run. However on the left foot, the big toe does not even touch the ground at all during my stride. As I run it goes "heel-first metatarsal" and that is how I push-off the ground. There is no involvement of my toes. On the right foot it is the same thing, except the big toe does touch the ground, but it doesn't exert much force. This also gives me a scary reason for my having a "pins and needle" toe joint pain on my right big toe knuckle for the past 3-4 months after my runs. That toe joint is very stiff and I notice that there is a further condition that many runners develop where that toe joint becomes rigid. Oh, No! I don't want to go there!

Anyhow that is more than anyone needs to know about my feet. I am again getting closer to figuring out my stride problems and I think this doctor has some interesting solutions. Today, I ran with Dr. Scholls insoles that Dr. Baroody advised me to try. He showed my how to cut out the area under the first metatarsal so that it "dropped" the toe joint down and "hopefully" cause it to function correctly. I didn't like the bouncy feel of the arch on the insole, and I am not used to it yet at all (basically I used it as soon as I cut up the insole), but it really shook things up in the way my stride and muscles worked today. I don't know if this will help in the end, but it is certainly worth a shot! The next few weeks should be very interesting!

Picked up my Boston Marathon Number

My daughter Hannah accompanied me down to Boston to pick up my Boston Marathon number and to go the the marathon expo. My number is 9600, but I am not running it this year, so it ended up being a very expensive t-shirt that I received for my entry fee. When I told I told the BAA officials that I was not going to run, they wanted my number and chip back. I had been told I could keep them earlier. I wanted to show my class on Monday, plus I paid for them, why should I give them back? The BAA will not use the chips next year, so they are letting people keep them after the race this year. I remember the first year that they were introduced into the race, I had volunteered for the expo and had received the job of showing people how to use the chips and to screen them for the correct info. It was a lot of fun as it was brand new to everyone at the time. Anyhow, they  finally said I could keep my number and chip as long as I didn't give them to someone else to use during the race. That is the last thing I would do! I have been asked by a few people if they could use my number, but if I did so I could be banished from the race forever. Not only that, but the race is very public in Nashua and the results in the paper would say that I finished, even when everyone knew I didn't run.

I always enjoy going to the expo, although nowadays I have seen just about everything that someone is trying to sell and the shoe displays just don't interest me anymore. I did catch up with a few people and Hannah likes getting autographs and free food and stuff. I did pick up a some Illuminite shirts, tights, and gloves that were really cheap for next winter and found another massage trigger point tool that is new to the market. It is a really strange looking tool called the Muscle Angel. It looks like it dropped in from another planet, but I checked it out and particularly liked the foot massage that it gave. I have tried just about everything else on the market so why not try this out, too? It works like a tennis ball, or even a tennis ball in a sock (if you get the sleeve that goes with it) but has a much firmer and targeted massage. When I used it on the bottom of my feet, it easily hit the right muscles with the right amount of control and pressure. It was not too soft like the TP Massage ball and rollers can sometimes be. I will have to test it out on other muscles to see how well if does. Aw, what's another tool? My house is full of stuff like this. The Muscle Angel -- Combo-Pack Bundleis also sold on Amazon, but I don't see any reviews up just yet. It might go well with books like Muscle Medicine: The Revolutionary Approach to Maintaining, Strengthening, and Repairing Your Muscles and Joints and The Permanent Pain Cure: The Breakthrough Way to Heal Your Muscle and Joint Pain for Good that tell you how to use a tennis ball of other objects to do ART (active release) type work on your muscles. I did reviews of these books in previous posts: Facilitated Active Stretch Technique: FAST Self Massage , Stretching Your Fascia Using "The Permanent Pain Cure, and How to Release Your Hamstrings with a Tennis Ball.

 
At the Boston Marathon expo, I felt the tuggings to just jump in and run the marathon on Monday. I think for the first time in my life, I am getting smart enough not to rush into races just to do them. Things are going well on the running front and I am sure I could pace my way through Boston, but I think it is better to keep building than to risk another injury. The good marathon will come in the fall! I'll be ready. Plus, I have to be in school teaching on Monday!
 
I have found my muscles and some joints to be getting really tight as I push up the mileage. I started reviewing all the things I have tried through the years to see what I should add back into my routine. 10-15 years ago I was doing active-isolated stretching just about daily. I had a video put out by Runner's World and the Whartons, that was lent out and never returned, but I still know the stretches. They can also be found in their book The Whartons' Stretch Book I had found the stretches really loosened up my muscles back when I did them, but they did not help my hip problems and muscles asymmetries. Now that I am doing the Postural Restoration routines to deal with my imbalances, I think it should be the best stretching routine to help my tight muscles and I started doing them again mid-week. Here is a Runnng Times article on some of the stretches.
 
I would like to give best wishes to all my friends who did qualify, train, and remained injury free for the Marathon. I hope you all have a great race. I will be enthusiastically following you all on Monday. So to all my old running friends, the Gate City Striders, and internet running friends, be smart and have a great race!
 
Speaking about Boston Marathon numbers, I really enjoyed this video from Boston.com that has an MIT student giving improbable answers to strange number questions about the Boston Marathon.
 

Stretching Your Fascia Using "The Permanent Pain Cure"

If you have muscle and joint pain then I have found a new book that might interest you. I read a review of "The Permanent Pain Cure" by Ming Chew in a magazine and then checked it out on Amazon. I decided to buy it at a local bookstore so I could read it quicker rather than waiting for an Amazon order to arrive. It has some very good stuff in it, is easy to read and follow, and explains a method of restoring lost physical function in a way that is different from other books out there. Ming Chew calls his therapy "The Ming Method". He works on professional athletes but has written this book for the rest of us. What I found in the book was a mix of different therapies and an organized plan as to how to use them.



The target of Ming's pain relief is to work on the body's fascia to improve movement and bring pain-relief. Fascia is often a misunderstood or unrecognized source of many problems that athletes suffer from. Unless you get plantar fasciitis or have problems with your ITB illiotibial band you don't hear much about the body's fascia. Yet fascia is all around you (literally). It is sheets of connective tissue that wraps around all of the structures of the body: muscles, nerves, organs, bones, and blood vessels. They hold together these body structures and separate them from each other. It also connects the body together as it runs through it like a web. I notice the effect of this when a shoulder problem affects my opposite hip or a pain somewhere is relieved when I press or massage another muscle far away from the pain. I was first introduced to what fascia is when I went through rolfing sessions a couple of summers ago. Rolfing is where your fascia is stretched and molded back to its original or optimal placement so that your body works in its ideal position. It removes tightness in your body and gives your muscles and joints "space" to move correctly. It worked wonderfully for me, but unfortunately I was given no idea of how to keep my fascia in good health or how to keep my body in the great posture I had achieved after the Rolfing sessions were over.

When I saw there was a book that was dedicated to working on the fascia I decided it was worth checking out.

Here are the seven components to the Ming Method:

1. Hydration (the fascia needs to be hydrated fully)
2. An anti-inflammation diet (bye-bye sugars and trans-fatty acids)
3. Supplements to improve joint health (bye-bye money!)
4. Spinal decompression stretches to separate the vertebrae and release pressure on compressed nerves (I thought my gravity inversion table might do this but the book explains why these stretches do something different).
5. Fascial stretches
6. Strengthening exercises (he likes the use of kettlebells)
7. Self-therapy techniques

I started with the hydration last night. I am drinking a ton more water than I usually do. This might become problematic at school when I can't leave my class some days for over 4 hours to use the restroom. The dieting is sound advice, but the supplementation may be something I just ignore for the most part. Ming Chow suggests you do these for over 10 days before you begin the stretching as you have to get your fascia in a healthier state. I did try some of the spinal decompression stretches to see how they went. They are tough but you did feel whole body stretches as you lengthen your fascia.

The fascial stretches look similar in form to other stretching techniques but the directions help you get the correct positioning while stretching. In order to stretch the fascia it has to be anchored at both ends of the muscle (this is not static stretching). I like the resistance stretching I am doing so if I like this it would be in conjunction and not instead of resistance stretching.

The strengthening exercises would come into play later in the program as your fascia and body should be in the correct posture or otherwise you would be strengthening an imbalance. This makes sense as I enjoyed doing kettlebells last winter but noticed that if my hips were off then I felt imbalanced and did not enjoy the routines. I have kept away from the kettlebells because I didn't think they were helping my inefficiencies. I would like to be balanced enough to do them again.

The self-therapy techniques are really good and worth the price of the book (even though there are only a few and this section is very short). I believe these are based the ART (Active Release Technique) and the author did study under and credits Dr. Michael Leahy, the founder of ART, in this book.

The hamstring release shows you how to use a tennis ball to release the hamstring. His techniques is not just rolling your loose hamstring on a ball or foam roller. It involves moving the leg as in an ART treatment. The ITB release shows you how to use the foam roller to release the ITB band. Again movement from the involved leg is required not just a rolling over the ITB. The quadriceps release shows you how to use your own elbow to hold the muscle and fascia in place so as you move your leg you can target and stretch the fascia. This is all good stuff and I liked the effect they had on my leg. There is also a sole of the foot release that I have not tried yet, but will as the bottom of my right foot has been stiff and sore for months.

The book is an easy read. The directions are clear for the stretching (there could be more pictures of each stretch) and I particularly like the "What it should feel like" box that goes with each stretch. I think the fact that the book makes it easy to understand the role of the fascia in the body and details a method to easily improve your fascial health makes the book unique among all of the books I have seen or read. Doing his techniques and program should not take that much time out of your day. He says about 15-20 minutes. This book is informative and I intend to continue exploring it further.

I have not had a good week of running. Wednesday I started feeling a little off and did my first treadmill run of the year (3 miles on a treadmill seems like forever!). Then I think I had a minor fever or infection. It wasn't bad but kept me from running. Today, however, I went for an 8 mile run on my usual loop. I ran one minute faster than my best time of the year. I wasn't even running hard. My legs were feeling loose. My stride felt long. I didn't even push. It was an easy run. What happened? Was it a break from running? the water I had been consuming? the hamstring release I tried last night? I think the biggest difference was the quadriceps release from the book. I did it right before the run.

Since doing the resistance stretching my muscles have become much looser. The problem has been that my left knee continues to buckle in. I think it is tightness within my inner hamstring, but for a few weeks I have had a tightness in my outer left quadriceps too. I can't seem to stretch the tightness out. I did the quadriceps release and it felt so much better. Maybe this helped make my left leg stretch out better on today's run? Anyhow it was a great run that felt very effortless.

As this running year draws to a close I feel that I have some good techniques in place to get my body to the point where I can have great runs most of the time and not worry about imbalances and tight muscles and joints. Maybe next year I will have a year of running where everything goes right and I can hit the times I know that I can run if my body works correctly. I will use resistance stretching to get my muscles loose and strong. I will use the sacrum adjustment when my sacrum gets stuck (I have found this doesn't seem to be a daily adjustment-it works when needed though). This is what Kalidasa wrote me in regards to how the release works:

"The sacrum release on that video uses the piriformis muscle. It attaches to the sacrum and to the top of the thigh bone. When you draw the back leg hip is drawn forward the piriformis is pulled and so is the sacrum. The arch picks up the sacrum where it is (out of alignment) and moving forward brings it along with piriformis."

I am going to continue to check out "The Permanent Pain Cure" and work on stretching the fascia and keeping it healthy. I need to make a concerted effort to work on my diet with the "Precision Nutrition" and not eating too much this winter and to eat healthy. I need to keep my left leg, knee, and hip in alignment (this is the toughest one) and then just keep running. Hopefully the coming winter will bring me more ways to to recover my stride.

Things that are making me run better: a heel lift, ART (Active Release Technique) and also more on the Tibialis Posterior

I went to Boston for my third Active Release (ART) appointment today. I was feeling good since my run on Tuesday, but didn't run yesterday as I spent a couple of hours in a dentist's chair before celebrating 20 years of marriage!

Today the I had a quick treatment on the back of my left hip and my left adductors (I didn't tell him that this was bothering me on Monday). The ART therapy never hurts me and I don't feel a thing but it does do something. He has me check my balance doing lunges and of course my left side is awkward when I do these. He gave me a hamstring strengthening exercise. I am to lie on the floor on my back with me knees at 90 degrees and my heels resting on a bench at knee height. I am to press my heels into the chair and lift my rear off the floor. I am to do this until tired (maybe 50 times), rest a minute, then repeat. I am to do these once per day. He doesn't say anything when I mention I am working on the tibialis posterior.

Here is a video where an Active Release Technique therapist explains the process. The second technique he does for this persons sciatica is similar or the same as one of the hip movements I had done the last two appointments. I do it with straight leg and bent leg as shown.



Here the founder of ART, Dr. Leahy, talks about what ART is and its effectiveness.



This is another video dealing with sciatica and ART. At about 7 minutes into it you will see the ART Psoas release similar to the one that is done on my Psoas muscle.



Today my run was really good. I think the heel lifts are right on. I feel so much more balanced and my hips don't have to do all this work trying to be leveled and balanced. I feel better walking and running and the back of hip pain is subsiding. Today I added an extra loop to my run so I did close to 10 miles. I would do more but I am nervous that the change by using the heel lift could create a new problem from adjusting muscles. I am getting my legs to feel straighter and I could happily train at this level as I don't feel so exhausted from fighting my own body. Although not 100%, I do feel a whole lot smoother and solid as I run.

I am doing the Tibialis Posterior exercises. They are simple and feel so right for what I need to do with my knee and feet. I found another exercise to try for strengthening the tibialis posterior. The accent is from New Zealand and the person, Gary Moller, is the older brother of Olympic Marathon Bronze medalist Lorraine Moller. Here Gary writes more about correcting foot pronation. What I find interesting is that his diagram and the diagram on the Yoga site I listed the other day, both show the inward knee rotation and hip problems that I suffer from.

5 Minutes of ART

Well I went all the way down to Boston for an ART (Active Release Technique) Treatment. Getting to Boston and back took a little over 3 1/2 hours. The treatment took 5 minutes! I had been to this doctor before, but the last time was 4 years ago. I think he is good at what he does, but now I remember that he isn't that communicative and seems a bit disinterested in explaining the treatment process. Of course, he can be real good at what he does, but I would like to know more of his thoughts about what is going on.

He wanted to quickly know what was going on with me. How can I explain my funky mechanics? So I told him about what was going on now, and pointed out how the back of the left hip was stuck or weak. He had me bend over and touch my toes and wanted to know if it hurt. Then he had me do a squat and asked the same question. Nothing hurt. I tried to explain that when I run it is all out of balance.

He had me lie on my right side and then move my top (left) leg straight out (like a field goal kicker) and also move it down in a straight line to cross over the other leg and below the height of the bench. While I did that he applied pressure to points around the back of the pelvis so that my movement moved my muscles under his fingers. I did that and he then had me do it with lifting my left arm straight up and behind my body to create a rotation. The Art treatment doesn't hurt me. I don't feel a thing. I guess some people feel a lot of pain with ART but maybe they have different muscles that are being worked on. I did each movement about 5 times. I think I did another movement moving my straightened left leg forward and I think another where he was holding a bit behind the upper hamstring. That was, "enough for now" he said and that he'd like me to return and maybe work on my hip flexor. Well it was dissapointing for all the traveling but my insurance does cover the treatment. I will return Monday for the next appointment.

I was hoping for good things at tonight's track workout. I had to kickbike there as our cars wore both in use. When I started running my hip felt "stuck" in the same place and so my stride was still not good. We did 3 times a set of a 400, a 400, and then an 800. I kept them all at just under 90 second pace but it is still dissapointing to be running with the "B" group: not that they are bad runners (as it is our top women and the good 50+ men), but I still like running with my buddies in the "A" group better (particularly because it means I am running faster!).

Well my hip still felt stuck and I am feeling a twinge in the 3rd metatarsel of my right foot after runs and during the day as I walk. I had a stress fracture there back in high school and every once in a while I feel the twinge coming back. I think I will lay off runnning in the orthaheels for now. They feel stable as I run but maybe they are hurting that right foot and possibliy contributing to the stiffness in my left hip. I was limping a bit from the hip and foot after the last interval. At first kickbiking home on the tender right foot hurt a bit. After a half mile (I had taken the insoles out) it started feeling OK. Tomorrow may be a good day to take off.

Here are a couple of videos I have watched about running form. I can't get the cues to work right for me because each hip feels like it is working differently but someday when I get things sorted out they may be helpful. The first features Ironman legend Dave Scott. He has some biomechanical drills to help your form and push your hips forward as you run. I had a chance to briefly run with Dave Scott once. He came to run the Bay State Triathlon in Massachusetts one year in the mid 1980's (when he was at the top of his game). I was in the race and as I came out of the bike transition and onto the run course I found myself running directly behind Dave. I kept within 5-10 yards for a few minutes watching his stride (and hoping someone would take a picture!). Of course I was just starting the first lap and he had already finished that lap and was on his second lap. It was fun while it lasted but then he sped away.



The second clip is a Chi Running clip and explains some of their running cues for Chi Running posture.



Here is a link to lower some lower back stretches I had bookmarked and found again. I like the last one, which is pictured at the top of this page. I think this stretches the hip in a similar way to some of the ART Treatment I recieved. I also think that I will do the cross body hip circles from Z-Health a bit more and use some tubing to stretch that left leg across the body in a similar way to some of the stretching I did with the ART Treatment today.

Winning when the Running is not going well!

I wouldn't really call it hitting rock bottom, but last week I ran my first 5k of the year and it went awful. I think it was my slowest 5k or 3 miler since I was in 9th grade. I just couldn't run smoothly at all. The last 5k I ran back on Thanksgiving was 18:09. Last Monday I ran 21:20. I knew after the race that I needed professional help (no- not that kind!. My hips were just so tight and nothing I could do would relax them. My right leg felt an inch shorter than my left and so after the race I put a heel lift in it to balance things off. I felt more balanced walking around with the lift but I know this is probably more a functional leg length difference than structural and I have the feeling that in the long run the lift makes things worse. So it was time to take care of things.

Wednesday I went to the chiropractor and had an adjustment. The last time I had gone was last September. The good news was that my back was in better shape than usual due to all the work I have been doing. Only a minor adjustment to the upper back and to a hip was needed. Friday I had my first massage since August. I also signed up to go back in 2 weeks and to continue to be consistent with this care if it works and keeps me loose and running.

I also ordered the Spynamics Sacro Aligner. It is a self-help tool based on the Dorn Method. Paul, who has been giving me a lot of good advice, thinks it works well for him and I like the simplicity of the Dorn Method so maybe this will help me keep things in alignment.

Tonight I went back to the 5k race series and ran a bit better than the previous week 20:00 but I still felt imbalanced at the hips. The massage has loosened up the muscles or ligaments around my hip joint but since the massage I feel tight (or a lack of movement)at certain points on the pelvis. It is an old familiar tightness that I have had off and on for years. The main thing I feel is that the left back side of the top of my pelvis (about three finger widths from the back bone is "stuck" or tight. It is the same point I used to lie down on the floor and push on to "crack" or release the tension back in the 1980's when my back first went bad while I was doing triathlons. I have the feeling that this tightness may have something to do with the psoas or hip flexor muscle. I am going to try to go down to Boston to see an A.R.T (Active Release Technique) specialist that I went to a few years ago. He got rid of the scar tissue in my psoas and other tight areas in that hip and I remember how things worked well again for awhile after that. Maybe he can clear up some of the issues with that hip again so that I can continue running properly.

I got new shoes in the mail: Nike Zoom Haywards and Nike Free v.5. I had a pair of the original Nike Free and I liked them for walking around in and I did some running in them too. They just plain wore out. I replaced them last year with the version 3 (lower heel) pair but I got them a bit too small and my feet felt cramped so I don't use them. I wore the Haywards for my last three runs. They are more cushiony than I like but they feel OK so far.


I also ordered two types of orthotic type devices from Orthaheel. One is full length for running shoes and one is 3/4 length for regular shoes. I have been wearing them for walking around in as they take some getting used to. The arch pushes up on my flattened arch and they do compensate for 4 degrees of pronation. Yesterday I put them in the Haywards for an 8 mile run. I felt more stable in them and had no problems. Tonight I fit them in my H-Streets to run on the trails for the 5k. They feel like they weigh as much as the lightweight H-Streets but again I felt more stability with my feet and I am hoping that they may help balance out my feet and hips. I am giving them a shot. At least as a temporary move they seem to help stretch out the bottom of my feet. I do know that using Nike Frees to strengthen you feet and wearing an orthotic type device because your feet are not strong are two different directions to pursue. We'll see which one wins out.

The running is going slowly compared to what I like, but am I getting hints that I should get back into triathlons? Saturday I got a letter that I had won a contest and my prize was a Specialized Hard Rock Pro Disc mountain bike. I have wanted a mountain bike for years, but could never see affording one. This looks like a bike that would be perfect for the trails around here. Today I got a phone call that I won a trip to the Olympic Trials. I thought at first it was the Track Trials, but it is a trip to the swimming trials next week which should be very interesting and loads of fun. I get to take my 8 year old daughter who has never been on an airplane. When I have nothing to do or am watching TV I do enter contests and so far it works out real well for me as I have won stuff I could never afford and vacations I could never go on. I won that trip to Hawaii in April and among other things in the past couple of years I have won a kayak, a trip to Florida with my other daughter so she could play soccer with Mia Hamm, and a visit to a Red Sox game and everything NESN last Spring with my son. I like winning these sports related contests!