Running Chick

Picked up the orthotics on Thursday afternoon and all I can say is that I now understand why Podiatrist warned me to break them in for a week before running  (well, actually he said two weeks, but I negotiated him down to one week ) – they’re going to take some getting used to.

The first thing I noticed is that, unlike the cushy over-the-counter insoles I’ve been buying for the last many years, these ones are rigid.  That rigidity is (apparently) what’s realigning my lower leg and keeping my ankle from rolling in too much.  They do have a cushy surface on them, so it’s not like I’m completely running on hard plastic.

Second, the heel cup is really deep, deeper than any other insole I’ve even worn.  I forgot to ask Podiatrist what that meant, but since the ultimate goal of these things is to realign, I’m sure that somehow comes into play.

Third, they feel different.  I feel my heel sitting differently in my shoe, I feel the arch support pressing into my arch.  The realignment of my feet are causing my outer ankle to rub on the top edge of my shoe.  I’ve been really lucky in that every shoe and insole I’ve ever worn has been instantly comfortable and I’ve never had issues with shoes causing me blisters or even causing hot spots on my feet, but I don’t know how the orthotics are going to work out once I start running.  I am a bit concerned about that.  I guess I’ll have to stock up on tape or something.

Last, and most annoying, the damn things squeak.  I’ve worn them constantly for two days now and all I hear is squeak, squeak, squeak.  I can’t imagine how annoying that’s going to be when I start running.   I can only hope the break-in period will take care of that.

I left Podiatrist’s office with a warning from him to not freak out if I start to get aches and pains mysteriously on other parts of my body.  He said that since my base (feet) is being realigned, that could have a domino effect on other areas of my body as it adjusts to everything.  He said to give my body a solid month of working everything out before I go back for any adjustments.

Well, anyway, onto the pictures. Here's the orthotics from several angles.

Here's me standing without and with them. (How come I look like I have cankles?) You can see how my ankles are rolling inward in the first picture, and how they're realigned in the second.

My plan is to wear them around as much as possible for a week and then I’ll start running.  My tendonitis is under control, so if all goes well, I’ll be able to get back into the running groove fairly quickly.

I should rename my blag to “Not Running Chick” because that’s sure what I’ve been doing.

My tendonitis has been a bugger – mostly because I was a big, dumb idiot and continued to run through the pain just to get some miles in.  Not smart.  I finally grew some brains and made the decision to just chill out and rest until my orthotics come in.  I’m hoping to see them late this week. 

In the meantime, I’ve been lifting weights like a fool – like for the past 14 days straight before I decided it was okay to take a day off.  I’ve also been riding my bike, but not as much as I should.

I did 40 miles yesterday in 3:15 and the week before I did 27 in 2:08.  I’ve been using my Garmin 305 to keep an eye on my cadence and I’m finding that I can cruise along pretty easily between 85 and 90 RPM.  Thanks to the hills, though, my rides are averaging around 75 RPM.  My heart rate typically stays between 155-165 BPM throughout that cadence range, which is the BPM I’m supposed to maintain for my long, slow runs.  I think that’s good, but I haven’t done a whole lot of research on heart rate training yet.

We’ve been grilling up a storm, thanks to the new addition to my arsenal.  Behold (on the left) the Weber 22.5” One Touch Gold.  The grill on the right is one that we inherited from my parents and is about 30 (?) years old.  It works really well, but I wanted something that contained the ash so it wouldn’t blow all over the place on a windy day.  We’ve been grilling a ton of stuff – vegetables, steaks, chicken, pizza, quesadillas, pork roast, pineapple. 

Things taste so much better on a charcoal grill, for sure.

Finally, we’ve playing Pictionary.  Can you guess what this picture represents?