Last long run - Sunday, in New Balance Minimus WR00. Today is Thursday and my calves are still upset. Should I start freaking out now? I did R.I.C.E every day, then applied Voltaren Emulgel for 2 days and now switched to Tiger Balm. I missed my Wednesday run because there was too much pain and tightness in my calves to be comfortable running, but I hope the pain to be gone completely by Friday night or Saturday so I can squeeze in a last 30min run before the marathon. It's getting there, but it's taking its time.
A few things that I learned from this experience:
- my pain threshold is much higher than I thought, or maybe the endorphins are masking it pretty well when I run
- no matter how much I thought I was going to be ok, trying a new pair of shoes 1 week before the marathon was a risky move
- no matter how much I thought I knew myself, I still managed to become my worst enemy
- you can never predict how long it will take your body to recover when faced with something completely new, even though it felt completely natural
- even if you change your running strike, cushioned shoes are still absorbing a hell lot of shock compared to minimalist shoes
- minimalist shoes are the next step for me, but I know that a whole new transition will be necessary, in which I will need to grow more muscle in key places.
By the way, I found a great article on the "dangers" of going barefoot, I think everyone who envisions to go minimalist or barefoot should give it a read.
Do I regret having tried? Not at all - not yet anyway. I think I am going to be ok for the marathon, and thankfully my ingrown nail and blisters have healed nicely, but this whole ordeal definitely tested the limits of my patience. I know I will finish the marathon, may not be my best time given the rain and 50km/h winds predicted by the weather gods, but all I hope right now is that the pain won't come at least for 30km in the race, so I can enjoy and celebrate the day.
Showing posts with label minimalist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label minimalist. Show all posts
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
I am hooked
And I am in trouble. At only one week before the marathon, I bought a pair of minimalist shoes, the New Balance Minimus WR00 and today I took them on my last long run. Even though I am now on my couch icing my calves, the experience of running in those is still lingering in my brain like a powerful drug. For the first time ever I understand what running "free" means.
The workout was supposed to be 1h40 long and after talking to my coach this morning, the advice he gave me was to stop at the first sign of trouble. For having been in trouble a lot in the past, I think I knew what trouble felt like, so off I went, light on my feet like a newborn butterfly. The kilometers flew one after another and up until km 10, I felt ah-mah-zing. But then my legs started feeling a bit challenged in the calf area and my right Achilles got cranky too, so I turned the knobs down a little and decided to cut it short so I don't freak out.
Made it back home in a bit less than 1h30, stretched the hell out of my leg muscles, tendons and everything in between (oh wait, there is nothing in between according to my old anatomy book), then went out to look for flowers to plant in my backyard. At the store, I mean, not in a field or a dump, just thought I'd mention it. Ok this is getting weird, and totally unrelated. Moving on... literally. All flowers were gone, by the way, so I bought a pot of ornamental chili peppers and an air plant.
Alas I am not ready to run a marathon in these shoes just yet, but that's the problem, I cannot shake the absolutely freaking fantastic feeling I had while wearing them. Now what do I do? Besides, they gave me no blisters, nada. My toes were also feeling like they were in a luxury penthouse apartment in there, no rubbing anywhere. Plus they weigh as much as a feather, so going back to my older shoes is going to be like wearing platform shoes made of lead.
I am hooked. Here is a nice review I found about the Minimus, thankfully there are people much better than me to write this kind of things. I have 6 more days to make myself believe that it's going to be ok NOT wearing them at the marathon. I know for sure that I'm going to suffer anyway, but battling blisters and the weight of my old shoes will certainly be better than battling calf cramps. I now have another reason to keep on running, a marathon in the Minimus is the next goal!
The workout was supposed to be 1h40 long and after talking to my coach this morning, the advice he gave me was to stop at the first sign of trouble. For having been in trouble a lot in the past, I think I knew what trouble felt like, so off I went, light on my feet like a newborn butterfly. The kilometers flew one after another and up until km 10, I felt ah-mah-zing. But then my legs started feeling a bit challenged in the calf area and my right Achilles got cranky too, so I turned the knobs down a little and decided to cut it short so I don't freak out.
Made it back home in a bit less than 1h30, stretched the hell out of my leg muscles, tendons and everything in between (oh wait, there is nothing in between according to my old anatomy book), then went out to look for flowers to plant in my backyard. At the store, I mean, not in a field or a dump, just thought I'd mention it. Ok this is getting weird, and totally unrelated. Moving on... literally. All flowers were gone, by the way, so I bought a pot of ornamental chili peppers and an air plant.
Alas I am not ready to run a marathon in these shoes just yet, but that's the problem, I cannot shake the absolutely freaking fantastic feeling I had while wearing them. Now what do I do? Besides, they gave me no blisters, nada. My toes were also feeling like they were in a luxury penthouse apartment in there, no rubbing anywhere. Plus they weigh as much as a feather, so going back to my older shoes is going to be like wearing platform shoes made of lead.
I am hooked. Here is a nice review I found about the Minimus, thankfully there are people much better than me to write this kind of things. I have 6 more days to make myself believe that it's going to be ok NOT wearing them at the marathon. I know for sure that I'm going to suffer anyway, but battling blisters and the weight of my old shoes will certainly be better than battling calf cramps. I now have another reason to keep on running, a marathon in the Minimus is the next goal!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Minimalist at last
After a week of flying planes, riding trains, cars, taxis and running across Paris and London in high heels, I am really thankful for being back home with my family. The trip was rather exhausting and not only because it started with one of the longest and most difficult training runs I've ever done... but also because of the constant state of movement that followed, all while fighting jetlag madness and juggling 3 languages. Needless to say, I had planned 2 more runs and a swim during this time, but none of those happened. I came back feeling fat and bloated and no surprise there, my scale let me know that I've eaten too many desserts, cheeses and glasses of wine.
But even more aggravating, the night before flying back home I discovered that the Universe had thanked me with an ingrown nail on my left big toe, which was SO painful, I could NOT put the foot down to walk without getting tears in my eyes. The pain was at the bottom and side of the nail and of course, the toe was all red and swollen. So for two days I walked with a limp, which gave me ankle and shin pains in return. Since then it got better thanks to a constant dose of antibiotic ointment and foot baths in hot water with a ton of salt (thanks to my friend Carrie for the tip!). I think I caught it on time, but man oh man, why do I have to pay back in pain what I get for good luck? There must be balance in everything I guess.
On Friday night I had to do a 1h negative split run and I fought really hard with my mind to abstract the pain. I managed to get through it and finish the workout, but thanks to the rain that offered a nice distraction. Today, Saturday, we went downtown to the MEC store to find some running clothes for the fall and winter seasons for hubbs. We left half of our paycheck there and I, too, returned home with something new. My first pair of minimalist shoes, the New Balance Minimus WR00 with zero-zero as in zero drop. I fell in love the second I put them on. They are so light and my toes swim in a very large toebox, and I can already dream of leaving blisters and pain behind. I am planning to take them tomorrow on my 1h40 run. A bit risky 7 days from the marathon, but at this moment I am rather desperate because of a deep and extremely painful blister that has been plaguing my runs for a month. The only way to get rid of it methinks, is to find a shoe that rubs somewhere else. Between blisters and ingrown nails, I have enough pain to test my HTFU threshold on, dammit.
I doubt that I'll be able to run a full marathon in those yet, but it's a good start. Oh, and if you see purple in the picture above, it's the stupid Instagram filter that I chose, they are actually deep blue, almost black. Everything else looks accurate. Between us, I am a bit nervous to run in those as I am not going to have a big fat heel to fall back on if I get tired, but I may survive after all, it shouldn't be for nothing all the forefoot strike running that I've been doing since training for this marathon. Actual results tomorrow, over and out.
But even more aggravating, the night before flying back home I discovered that the Universe had thanked me with an ingrown nail on my left big toe, which was SO painful, I could NOT put the foot down to walk without getting tears in my eyes. The pain was at the bottom and side of the nail and of course, the toe was all red and swollen. So for two days I walked with a limp, which gave me ankle and shin pains in return. Since then it got better thanks to a constant dose of antibiotic ointment and foot baths in hot water with a ton of salt (thanks to my friend Carrie for the tip!). I think I caught it on time, but man oh man, why do I have to pay back in pain what I get for good luck? There must be balance in everything I guess.
On Friday night I had to do a 1h negative split run and I fought really hard with my mind to abstract the pain. I managed to get through it and finish the workout, but thanks to the rain that offered a nice distraction. Today, Saturday, we went downtown to the MEC store to find some running clothes for the fall and winter seasons for hubbs. We left half of our paycheck there and I, too, returned home with something new. My first pair of minimalist shoes, the New Balance Minimus WR00 with zero-zero as in zero drop. I fell in love the second I put them on. They are so light and my toes swim in a very large toebox, and I can already dream of leaving blisters and pain behind. I am planning to take them tomorrow on my 1h40 run. A bit risky 7 days from the marathon, but at this moment I am rather desperate because of a deep and extremely painful blister that has been plaguing my runs for a month. The only way to get rid of it methinks, is to find a shoe that rubs somewhere else. Between blisters and ingrown nails, I have enough pain to test my HTFU threshold on, dammit.
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