Making Changes that Work

The kids and I survived our wild New Year's Eve slumber party, and my husband's rendition of "If I Were A Rich Man" was a huge hit at the party he attended. We all brought in 2012 exactly how we wished. I think he might have liked less of a hangover, but he did get to spend New Year's Day laying very low for the most part...unlike me.

A few days ago I mentioned that I am re-learning how to run...again. After two mellow 3-mile runs in my new shoes with my new gait, I hit the trail yesterday for 8 brutal, hilly miles. I ran unbelievably slow but maintained my form the whole way. My schedule had 12-13 miles on it...which I set out to do...but I figured 8 miles holding my form with incredibly tight, sore calves while simultaneously working my quads, glutes, and hamstrings differently AND asking my feet to take the load in a new way was more than adequate. Plus it was getting dark and I was kind of nervous about being on the trail at night... alone ...except for maybe the coyotes, mountain lions, and serial killers.

It was the first 8 miles of this...

I knew I was going to want some crowd support on this run, so I asked my husband to drag the kids out to meet me at Mile 5...right before the biggest hill and the beginning of the 'turnaround' loop (the halfway mark is somewhere on this middle-of-nowhere loop). As I was running slower than usual and the sky was getting darker and darker and I was feeling more and more sore, I knew before I even saw them that 13 miles was not going to happen. It was so sweet to see them when I did :) They asked "Are you in a race, mom?" I said, "No, just practicing." Then I asked them to hang out for another half-hour while I did the loop so they could give me a lift back to the truck...I knew I was going to be toast by the time I finished that piece. They kindly obliged...so, yeah, a pussy pick-up. I am totally fine with that...I do believe an additional 5 miles would have had "INJURY" written all over it.

Now 14 miles into this shoe/gait change, my legs are really sore. All over. It is, however, that good kind of sore of muscles having worked hard and not the pain of injury. My hip is no more tender or sore after my run than before my run, which is very different from how things were using my old shoes and my old way of running. I do believe this indicates that these changes are working for my body :)

I've been rollling, Sticking, stretching, massaging, and icing my legs like there is no tomorrow. The soreness in my calves is starting to decrease some today...I think...a little.

Also on the topic of making changes, I made a New Year's Resolution... I now have a bedtime.

Do you do the resolution thing? 

Re-Learning How to Run

I've never really paid much attention to how I run. Okay, that's not entirely true. When I was younger (like a teenager...30 years ago), I 'ran like a girl.' Knock-kneed and bow-legged at the same time, feet flying out to the side...really uncomfortable to do and watch. It was slow and painful, and I was the butt of many jokes. I hated running.

Apparently, that is still my 'go-to' style when I am completely and utterly spent.

One day, I decided I didn't want to run like a sissy anymore (not to intimate that you are a sissy if you run like that...remember, I was young and impressionable when I drew this conclusion).

So I completely changed how I ran...all by myself. No coach. No special shoes. No video feedback. It took awhile for it to feel natural and 'easy,' but eventually it did. As running got more comfortable, I was able to run farther with more ease...and run faster. But I still didn't like running.

Initially, running was something we had to do for crew. The running part of training was usually in the winter when we couldn't go out and row on the water because the lake (or river) was frozen, so it was fuh-reeeee-zing. This was in the days before wicking fabrics and water-resistant-yet-breathable workout gear, so I extra didn't enjoy running. I guess maybe even with my new gait I was, in fact, still a bit of a sissy.

Back then, when I was making changes to my gait and running in cotton in sleet and snow, no one was talking about barefoot running or forefoot striking or midfoot striking...we were just running. My 'new' gait served me well for close to two decades, with nearly no running-related injuries and setting all of my still-standing-and-unslouchy PR's. But now things are different.

Primarily, I am coming back from a really long break, and that break was due to a weird injury and 8 years of chronic pain. A few months ago, my physical therapist suggested adjusting things to a midfoot strike as a way to keep my hip healthy and pain-free. Do you know how hard it is to change the way you run? I've already done that! And now you're asking me to do that again? Sheesh.

I was reluctant to do things differently. I was okay doing it same-old-same-old...more or less. And adjusting would take away from training, and I run precious little as it is...kind of the bare minimum to be able to complete a half-marathon in decent shape. But last night I ran for the first time in well over a week...and only the third time since December 4th. And I ran in my new shoes...

Interestingly, the combination of some time off and the new shoes directed me to a new way of running!


Without even thinking about it, I was not heel-striking. I actually tried to make myself run 'normally' and couldn't do it comfortably. Luckily, I remembered that changing one's gait should not be done hurriedly, so even though it felt great, I kept it to a mellow 3 miles. My calves were feeling it. Thorough stretching, rolling and icing followed the run, and today they feel fine. So does my hip :)

I figure that at this point in my training cycle it is okay to make this kind of change...things are just starting out and aren't too hot n' heavy yet. If I find out that I am wrong, I'll just figure something else out :P Minimizing pain and injury is more important to me than speed. For now, anyway.