Irritation

I've had some pain in my right foot for a couple of weeks.  Soreness, dull ache, on again, off again. It become more "on again" than "off again" about two weeks ago so I made an appointment with sports medicine.  I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, despite my best Google and social media diagnosing efforts so I backed off running the past week.

My appointment was this morning.  I first met with a resident who thought I had posterior tibial tendon irritation after feeling around on my foot. (Yes, I did totally go to down with a foot file last night and slept with my feet lathered up in Olivu 425 Heel Stick.)

Dr. L came in and saw that I was reading The Goldfinch and we briefly discussed books.  So, in other words, I immediately liked her.

She looked at my foot, watched me walk, watched me stand on one foot, yadda yadda and proclaimed I had a neutral foot with high arches.  A "beautiful dancer's foot" (She takes care of the MKE Ballet). She agreed with the resident - posterior tibial irritation, a common injury.

The good news - no tear and I can keep running.  I have to make some rolling ice bottles and ice it with pressure a few times a day and take ibuprofen.  If it does not improve in 2-3 weeks, call back and she will get me into PT.

She also thought I should keep up with a more supportive, well cushioned shoe due to my arches.  I have recently started using a new shoe, rotating two pairs.  The pair I have been running in since April/May is Asics Gel Nimbus 16.  I was fitted for these by a local running store with gait analysis, yadda yadda.  I have liked running in them except for the fact that they are much heavier than what I am used to.  I recently bought Mizuno Wave Rider 17s off Zulily.  While I have liked the lightness of them (they are 1.6 oz lighter than Nimbus) , they definitely are not as cushy as the Nimbus so now of course I'm wondering if it was the shoes?

I never was picky about running shoes, boasting that I could run in anything.  Perhaps in my old age, this is no longer the case.  I asked Dr. L about those shoe inserts that running stores are all over and she said that the success of them varies by person.  Some people do well with them, others not so much.  (Any reviews?)

Off to Google...

Race Report: Kiwanis Halloween Run 4 "K"

Yesterday I ran another 5K.  While the greater MKE area is fantastic for running, there are not that many races that actually occur in our suburb so I try to do those that do happen just so there are more of them.

It was a beautiful day for a run, although I think they would have had a better turn out if they held the event on a Saturday, versus Sunday, morning. It was a very small event!

The location was right down the street from our church.  I had messed up the time, but my original plan was to go to church, change and run the race but I had the start time wrong so I ended up dropping the fam off at church and having 45 minutes to sit.  I ended up knitting in my car for that time, which felt kind of weird!

The gun went off and a younger guy wearing a college track and field shirt took off.  Behind him was a pack that included two 50+ men, a young girl in a batman costume, and me.  Eventually I pulled ahead of that group and ran the whole race by myself, finishing 2nd.  College guy ran 16 something minutes.

While approaching the finish line, I could see the clock...18:47, 18:48.. but alas, I finished in 19:10.  It is the first time ever that my Garmin time matched the official time, so I'm getting better at using that thing!

19:10 is still a 5K PR for me so I'll take it.  The 50+ year old guy that came in 4th had an awkward conversation with me after.  Gotta love guys who can't stand getting beaten by a woman, ha ha ha.  

Overall it was a nice event - the course was on a nature preserve/park that we have here in town so it was pretty and very well organized.  I will look for it again next year!

I don't have any other races planned.  My right foot has been bothering me so getting that checked out tomorrow and will see what the running forecast is after that.

The 5K: "Freaking Awesome" or Freaking Easy?

I'll be honest.  I never thought very highly of the 5K.  I have only done a handful of them and not very seriously.  I never kept track of my times in previous races, however, by using athlinks.com I found some old races and my previous PR for the 5K was 20:38 from a race I did in 2006, the same year I was training for the Chicago Marathon in an attempt to qualify for Boston.  That was before I had a different last name and 2 kids.

Fast forward to this year. 2014.  I am loving the 5K, even though my approach to it is haphazard at best!

My second child arrived on 12/6/2013.  I really wanted to get back into running as soon as possible after his arrival.  Luckily my best friend encouraged me to do a 5K with her at the beginning of June. My time was 21:16 and I finished thinking that I could have run faster.

The next 5K I did was 9 weeks later.  My goal was to run sub 21 minutes.  I crossed the finish line at 20:00:28.  Woot!  New PR for me!

In September, I ran an 8K in 32:12.9.

The third 5K I did was a "fun run" this past Saturday, although it was still timed.  I did not set a goal because my back was bothering me and I had taken a few days off from running.  However, once I started going, I felt good and stayed with the lead pack.  My time at the finish was 19:23, but my Garmin recorded 19:31.  Either way, I am pleased.  I was tired at the finish, but knew I held back.  I want to really try to go all out and see how fast I could do the 5K.

So, logically I signed up for a 4th 5K (or 3rd "real" 5K) this Sunday. My goal is to run under 19 minutes, which I think is doable if I can embrace the fact that I will have to REALLY get out of my comfort zone.

Here are 10 Reasons the 5K is Freaking Awesome by one of my running idols, and fellow #motherrunner, Lauren Fleshman.  For me, the thing that I have come to really like about 5K is the competition aspect (#4 in her list).  I started running by running competitively on my high school cross country and track teams way back when.  Sure it is "easy" to run a 5K to finish it, but to race it? Therein lies the challenge and the fun. After I get this BQ business out of the way, I think it would be fun to specifically train for the 5K and really have it at.

Road to Boston 2016

The last marathon I ran was Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee, WI on October 5, 2008.  I didn't train too intensely for it, and started out way too fast.  (This was my 5th marathon so no excuse for starting out too fast.) My half marathon split was 1:38:19, not too far off of my half-marathon race PR. Shortly after the half, I saw my mom, cheering for me and I told her, "I am never doing this again." Somewhere along the last 10K, I saw my best friend, and I stopped gave her a hug and started crying.

UGH.  My finish time wasn't terrible (3:40:35) but it was not an enjoyable event.

I didn't have the itch to return to the marathon for six years.  

Then earlier this year, something changed.  I was watching coverage of Boston when I could sneak updates during my workday and I thought, "I wish I was running this!" 

The seed was planted.  There was no going back.

The more I thought about it, the more obsessed I became.  

I knew I needed to do a few things to keep me motivated.  The earliest I could do Boston was 2016, having not run a marathon this year to qualify for the 2015 race.  I will be 35 years old at the time of the 2016 Boston marathon, which according to the qualifying standards, I need to run 3:40:00 or less. I would prefer to run a fall marathon to qualify, but did not want to put all of my eggs in one basket. I decided the best thing to do was to register for a spring 2015 race, that way if I missed qualifying, I could have another chance with a fall 2015 race.

So, #1, I had to find a spring 2015 race.

I wanted something close to home and cheap.  I decided on the Wisconsin Marathon, located in Kenosha, WI, about an hour away from home.  Race day is May 2, 2015.  I registered the day it opened.

I also knew that I needed some peer pressure.  The more people I told about my goal, the more people to hold me accountable.  I have a fairly high internal locus of control motivating me, but I knew that it would be even more motivating to have others hold me accountable. 

So, #2, I started this blog to document my training.

194 days until race day!