thoughts on running and injuries

Muscle-wise, I came out of the half in good shape. My feet didn't do so great - specifically, the outside of both feet, near the pinkie toe, and to some extent the balls of my feet. I have a history of stress fractures, so I'm really hoping I'm just experiencing some inflammation and soreness, rather than a fracture. I did a light walk/jog on Monday, and tried to do about 2 miles on Tuesday, but my feet were painful in that alters-your-stride way - it was clear that it wasn't something I could train through.

I did try to train through my stress fracture a couple of years ago. It was the first semester of law school, and I was running a lot - not that much mileage per run, but I was running 3-5 miles per day, both for stress relief and fresh air. I had a number of foot/leg problems that fall (including neuropathy down the outside of my right leg that made it impossible to lift the front end of my foot! long story), culminating in the fracture. I woke up one morning, put my feet on the ground, and tried to walk forward - and almost fell to the ground due to the excruciating pain in the ball of my left foot. It was totally nuts and seemed random to me. The best I can figure is that the fracture - of the sesamoid bones - came on gradually, but reached the breaking point on a run one evening, then got inflamed and sore overnight. Partly because I'm stubborn, and partly because I just really needed the stress relief and fresh air, I kept running, several weeks more, until Christmas break, when I finally saw an orthopedic doc. He told me that it was pretty hard to break the sesamoids, and that I probably had sesamoiditis, but he wanted to take x-rays to be sure. He was stunned to discover that I had, indeed, broken the sesamoid bones. He kept asking if I'd had an accident, or fallen - that sort of thing. I kept saying no - I just run a lot.

I ended up taking a few months off (also because I was finally diagnosed with the neuropathy, and the neurologist said if I didn't take it easy, I could kill of the nerve for good), then came back slowly on a treadmill. That was over 3 years ago, and I've been very careful about my mileage and monitoring my feet. My previous stress fractures were in my heel - when I was about 7 and was running around in cowboy boots! - and in the side of my left foot.

So I'm hoping that I haven't ended up with stress fracture #4. I'm not sure what makes my feet so fragile - I've never broken any other bone. I do have very low-volume feet, which might play into it. My feet are just not very substantial - I can never keep dress shoes on my feet, for instance. At any rate, between stress fractures and blisters, I'm pretty sure I'd be better off chopping them off and getting some prosthetics! (just kidding ... I think)

It seems like most runners have injury stories like this, though - and they almost become a point of pride with us. Maybe it shows we're tough - more likely it just shows that we're stubborn! There is certainly a point when you think about the fact that we pound our feet and joints on pavement repeatedly, day after day, something that can't possibly be good for us.

Pretty much everyone in my family has run or jogged at some point. My dad jogged until his knees couldn't take it any more. Same with my mom. My mom did a few 5k's in the early 80's - she actually won her age division in the first race she ever ran, and received a mug that's decorated with pictures of running shoes and the curious phrase "le jogging" (is that French for 'jogging?' Really?). But, again, they ended up quitting because their joints couldn't take it anymore.

My uncle is the only other person in the family who's done high-mileage training. He's always been a fitness freak, and is a wake-boarder and snowboard instructor. He's not afraid of injury, but when my parents told him about my half marathon the other day, he apparently was very adamant that I not continue with high mileage training. He said he regrets ever doing that much damage to his joints. I'm a little flabbergasted by that.

I'm not going to stop running any time soon. I know that for sure. I suppose it's all food for thought, though.

For now, however, I have put myself on the injury list and will be doing my favorite kind of cross training: riding my horse (which is actually great for your legs and core). I'll probably try to start running again next week, if my feet are feeling better, and I'll do most of my running in the park, on trails, rather than pavement. I'm going to try to focus on speed work, rather than distance, and return to 5k and 10k races. Hopefully all that will give my feet and other joints a chance to rest and heal ... and give me a chance to thinking about my running future.

Lexington Half Marathon

Well, after an extended hiatus from writing here, I'm back.

After training off and on for the remainder of 2009, I started 2010 with the goal of training for my first ever half marathon, aiming for the Lexington Half Marathon in Lexington, Kentucky. Up until this point, the longest I'd ever run was 6 miles, and the farthest I'd ever raced was a 4 mile trail race. So ... I was pretty excited, but also a little nervous about whether it would be possible to fit in all those training runs in what might be very bad weather.

The winter did end up being pretty nasty and cold, but I was able to stay on schedule. While I did have to do a lot of running in pretty cold weather (teens and twenties), I only had to run through snow a couple of times. For the most part, it was just cold. A few times when it was icy I did my training runs in the gym on the treadmill, but those were few and far between.

I was also very worried about getting injured from the mileage increase, due to my tendency to develop stress fractures. My main problem ended up being blisters, however - that and black toenails on the second toes of both feet. The blister problem has partly resolved through the use of Asics blister powder - it's good stuff.

On to the half marathon! Sunday was cold, rainy, and windy, and despite trying to arrive at the venue early, I ended up having to hop out of my boyfriend's car and jog about a mile to the venue in order to make the start (it was the first ever half marathon in Lexington, and the organizers hadn't anticipated the traffic issues - everything else ran pretty smoothly). That ended up being a pretty decent warm-up, and I had a few minutes to kill before the race actually started.

My goal was to start as slow as possible. With 13 miles ahead of me, I wanted to get into a good rhythm and not worry about speed or pace. I have a pretty sharp competitive instinct, but I had worked hard to get myself into a mindset to ignore the runners around me and focus on the pace I needed. I maintained that pace through the first 2-4 miles, feeling pretty good and relaxing as the miles unfolded. In my training runs, I learned that I don't really hit my stride until around mile 4, and that was the case on Sunday as well.

The race followed scenic Kentucky roads past gorgeous Thoroughbred horse farms for the first 4 or so miles, then we turned into the Kentucky Horse Park for a slightly hillier loop. By the time we reached the halfway point, I was passing other runners pretty consistently and still feeling great. I didn't let myself really increase my pace until around mile 8, then a little more around mile 10, and I really opened up the last mile. After a good sprint to the finish, I felt great - not really out of breath; tired, but also energized. Success!

My time ended up around 2:15 - roughly a 10 minute mile pace for the whole 13 miles. My initial pace was something between a 12-13 minute mile, so I'm really happy that I averaged out at a 10 minute mile pace. Like I said, I was really rolling for the last 5 or so miles, and I'm really proud of that.

I didn't have a time goal - really, I just wanted to finish under 2:30 - so I was thrilled with my time and effort. Another of my goals was to stop at each hydration station long enough to drink a cup of water or gatorade, then run on - and I did this as well. While running, I ate 3 Shot Blocks around mile 4, 3 more Shot Blocks around mile 8, and around mile 11 I tried to eat a pack of Goo Chews ... I was only slightly successful, because my hands were so numb at that point that I had a terrible time trying to open them! Note to self, definitely.

I definitely became a fan of both the Cliff Shot Blocks and the Goo Chews while training. I can't stand gels, so the chews are my alternative. Also essential to my training was my Nathan Elite water bottle and holder - basically the bottle straps to your hand so you don't even have to hold it, and it has nice pockets for holding your key or snacks.

All in all, the half marathon and training experience went really well. I'm definitely feeling some foot pain today, but with ice and anti-inflammatories I hope I'll be back in action sooner than later.