New Years resolution: get better at posting more frequently so as to avoid lengthy "catch up" posts, such as this one.
The lack of posting has largely been due to Grad. school's ability to be all consuming. I actually shouldn't really be posting now since I owe 17 pages in a writing, a poster for a conference coming up in a week, and a class project presentation by next Friday but I needed a break and what a better way to take one than to post my running complaints on the interweb?
Not much has changed with my running situation, which is another reason I've been MIA from the blogosphere. I did start running again back in August with a couple walk/run "workouts" ~3 times per week. The walk/run routine consisted of 5:00 of walking and 5:00-10:00 of running, depending on how I was feeling. The walk/runs have largely been on the treadmill and slow (~10:00 pace) which was what I needed. Unfortunately, this is still where I'm at. A healthy combination of work, illness, and injury return has kept me from my goal of getting back up to 3 miles 3-4 times a week by the Turkey Trot, which happened last Thursday. I did end up participating in the Turkey Trot but as a jogger/walker. The finishing time? 37:12. My slowest 5K yet! Surprisingly, I wasn't all that bummed and had maybe the most fun I've had at a 5K. The people in the back of the pack are way more fun then the competitive folks up front!
The biggest problem injury-wise has been the adjustment of my orthotics. Things felt good right after I first got them in August but after I got them adjusted in October, things went south. Trying to correct my excessive eversion, my orthotic guy (what is their proper title anyway?) added extra arch support. This caused me to put all sorts of pressure on the outsides of my foot resulting in a return of pain. I stopped running for a bit but did not see the pain subside. A bout with a nasty virus sidelined me for a little while longer pushing my time from running to 3 weeks. Just recently (literally a couple days ago), I had my orthotics adjusted again this time in the opposite direction; orthotics man added some wedging which corrects the food the other way. This felt good, so I decided to take to the treadmill again for a walk/run (5:00 walk, 5:00 run). So much for improvement. Though the outside of my foot doesn't hurt anymore (plus), the outside of my right leg is more tight and sore than it has been before (minus). And it gets better: no longer is it just my right leg, this week I've notice a similar soreness/tightness on my lower left leg too (double minus). My next orthotics visit is only in a couple weeks so I'm going to ride out the pain and hope that I just need some time to adjust to the changes. I've also returned to the stretching, icing and ibuprofen routine which'll hopefully help keep things from getting out of control.
The new goal is to be able to run the Runnin' O' the Green 4-miler in March 6, 2010. I ran this race last year and had a great time and would like to do it again. A super goal would be to beat last year's time of 33:56, but that'll depend on my consistency over the next couple of months. For all you avid ChelsRuns followers (and general Chelsea stalkers) interested in keeping tabs on my consistency, you welcome to view and comment on my online running log. I started it a couple months back to keep myself accountable. Your feedback is appreciated!
The good thing about this whole peroneal tendon fiasco has been that it's given me a somewhat new perspective on running. I've learned to appreciate just being able to run and to not be disappointed in how slow or short I run. I'm hoping I can keep this perspective, since I think it's key for making running a lifelong hobby.
