Wednesday, July 4, 2012

A few developments ....

Since this is a holiday and I am thinking about running instead of actually running, I thought I would post to this blog with the hope that I may run again in the not to distant future.

The issue with my left foot that developed after the recent Sunburst half marathon turned out to be a stress reaction but not the more serious stress fracture for which I am very grateful. The pain and soreness that I felt on the outside of both legs just below the knee and at the hip was caused by my running shoes according to my podiatrist. He looked at my shoes and said they were designed to correct pronation and apparently I don't need pronation correction.

I've been buying running shoes mail order from Road Runner Sports for years so I went to their website and tried the shoe dog feature to see what type of shoes it would fetch for me at this point in time. The suggestions were really quite different from what I have been wearing. I guess I should have given a little more thought to my footwear over the years instead of just buying the same shoe over and over.

I have been cleared to bike to work 1 day per week as long as I wear my very hard soled cycling shoes. I will probably get back to running the week of July 23rd with some very short 1 or 2 mile runs before work. I have signed up for a Chi Running workshop in Orlando, FL on July 28th. Part of this workshop will be video analysis so I am hoping to be able to see what my foot actually does when running to help me conclude what type of shoes might suit me best. My main interest in Chi Running is to learn a running style or form that will allow me to keep doing it even in old age. Not that I plan to be old any time soon.

After the Chi Running workshop I plan to visit our local Fit2Run store. This runners superstore claims to have someone on staff called a Pedorthist that will do video gait analysis and make recommendations on shoes. Sign me up. This may cost me the price of a pair of running shoes but I think it will be worth it. When I buy new running shoes, I will be combining the comments of my Podiatrist, the suggestions from Road Runner Sports shoe dog service along with the comments from the Chi Running workshop and the Fit2Run video analysis. On one hand I think, how can I go wrong, on the other hand, I think I may be so confused that I may just end up with a pair of Luna running sandals.

As for future events. You may notice I have added a couple events to the future events table on the right sidebar. I have decided that future running events will be run for fun with the emphasis on proper form and without the benefit of my beloved Garmin Forerunner 410. I just love the technology of the GPS watch but since my goal is to be able to run for fun long term, I think I need to leave the watch at home for future events. This is largely a symbolic move to remind me not to over do it trying to hit some time goal.

Speaking of future events, a half marathon in Indiana looks quite possible for next spring. It is to early to start narrowing down the possibilities but the Carmel event in April or the Geist event in May look like strong contenders. Time will tell.

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