Back on my feet again. Again.
A little while back, I bought some shoes that felt pretty good on my feet. Even better, they made me run really fast. They weren’t “illegal” shoes you wouldn’t be allowed to use in a race, but they were still more of a stack and drop than I, with my zero-drop habits, was able to take. I will not be attempting such a drastic change again, and probably will just stay slight- to zero-drop, even if I am slower that way. Honestly, if you need the shoe to do so much for you, are you really that fast? I might feel differently if I were competing with anybody but myself. Who knows?
Anyway, after about 10 miles of that particular shoe, my knee started hollering “STOP!”, and I ended up completely off my running schedule for nearly eight weeks while it healed. It probably wouldn’t have even been that long if I hadn’t also tried to ignore it for a couple of weeks afterwards. I finally figured it out and stopped trying to move on it for a day or two, then used a brace, and then some tape. Thankfully, I was able to get back out there this morning, while the weather was still beautiful and not scorching hot, to do a slow, but painless, run. Thank God for healing! I was afraid I’d end up hurt forever, like some folks I’ve known. It would be truly sad not to run anymore. I guess that day might come eventually, but it wasn’t today!
I made my shoe mistake about a week before I hoped to join a marathon near here, one I was pretty excited about. Next year, I will know better than to try new shoes that close to a big day. It was dumb, truly.
That was a walk/run, with the run not getting faster than 12:25 the whole time, more running than walking. I noticed I was heel-striking a little bit, which I’ve never done before, so I slowed down even more to improve my gait. Hopefully, I can recover from this and get back out soon, faster and faster! You can see I didn’t really get my heartrate up all that much, which is good news. I have a lot in the tank, and no cardio fitness loss that I can tell. Thanks, rowing!
It was mildly depressing not to be able to get outdoors and move. I depend on that activity–the sunshine, the varied terrain, flickering lighting, community contact, fresh air, all of it!–for mental health, not just physical. Just look at the scenery!
But I still did a lot to maintain my fitness while I was waiting around for this thing to stop hurting. I didn’t skip leg days, even though I’m still a little weak on right-side single leg things. I improved my upper body quite a bit just having to fill in more days with that kind of lifting. But I trained legs and glutes once a week (since that was all I could do without making things worse), and I used my Concept 2 rower to keep to a good cardio schedule. I’ve always enjoyed that activity, so it was no hardship, and it gave me chances to extend and bend my knees without painful impact.
Anyway, thought y’all might like the running update! I’m thrilled! I’ll be back at my desk more than usual the next few weeks, so hopefully there will be a few moments to just write. See you soon!
Oh! Also, if you want to help fund my next running adventure, or perhaps just repave the driveway that Helene washed away, and we still haven’t been able to afford fixing, please hit my old Go Fund Me or Buy Me a Coffee!