Another Brick in the Wall

So now I know. When you've been taking training easy for weeks, do not try to go out and run like you should be able to.

Saturday's long run was actually not bad. Only five miles, and I was sticking with the slower group, since I was still wearing the old shoes and no orthotics. Hopefully, that will change for this week's run. However, I decided to give the new shoes a try for the race that night. Yes, I know you shouldn't do things in races you hadn't done before, but dangit... those old shoes just aren't working out for me.

The new shoes felt great! There's a lot more cushion in the heel, and that was obvious from the beginning all the way to the end. The front of the foot is a little wide, and had my insert (which I bought for a much smaller shoe) sliding around a bit. The new orthotics don't seem to have that problem when I did wear them in those shoes, though, so that shouldn't be as much a problem when I start running with the orthotics.

Speaking of running with the orthotics, that should be starting any day now! Hopefully, I can get out tomorrow and get some good running time in -- assuming we aren't in the middle of a monsoon, like we were today. It's rough getting up early to be greeted by loud, rumbling thunder. The pillow seems extra inviting when that happens.

Getting back to the issue at hand, though, the shoes felt great. What didn't feel great was my legs. Not the shins... the muscles. I said I was going to run it easy. I didn't. I ran the first couple miles at a fairly aggressive pace for me (about 9 min/mile). As it turns out, without the training, running five miles in the morning and then attempting to jam out 5 more miles at night at such an ambitious pace was, how do you say, idiotic?

At the turnaround, I was hurting. It was pretty obvious that at that point, I couldn't keep up that pace any longer. On the plus side, I was there in just under 23 minutes... pretty dang good for me! However, when I hit three miles, I lost everything.

Now, I had never really hit "the wall" before. I'd heard stories, but it's hard to do when running 5k races. This time, I think I finally get it. My legs simply would not do anything I told them to do! I had started out running a 3/1 ratio, but I finished up running 1/1, and even that was excruciating. And the second half of the run... 31 minutes. Ouch. Most of it was in the last two miles.

So, my results:

258 456 61 Bill, 35, Jacksonville, FL 54:10 10:50

Still, there is one bright spot. I still beat my time from the winter beach run (54:54), despite running five miles in the morning. I'm definitely improving as far as endurance goes, if not in my pacing. I just need to make sure to get back to running more as soon as it's safe for me to do so.

I can't wait!

AUUUUUGH!!!

Yes, that's right. Augh.

Why augh? Well, for one simple reason. I still can't run!

So, I went to the doctor's office the other morning to pick up my orthotics, and they were in. And they feel great -- a little strange, still, but it actually feels like there's some stability. And then the doc told me this little tidbit:

"Don't run in them until at least the second week".

Yeah, I figured there would be some break-in time, but I'm getting really frustrated at my inability to run! And here I am, still having to go forward with any running that I might do without my brand-spanking-new, mighty expensive, custom orthotics. Now, the bonus is that on a short run, I guess I can start up running with my new shoes and the old inserts, but it's just not the same. Plus it won't help with the long runs this weekend.

Oh, yeah -- I did get new shoes, too... Saucony Progrid Omni 6. I'll have to post a review after running in them for a while, but just walking around in them yesterday felt great! There's a lot more cushioning in the heel than my current (read: old and cheap) New Balance shoes. I'm fairly excited to try them out.

And yes, some of you may have picked up on the fact that I said "long runs" up above... that's for a simple reason. The training group is running 10 miles in the morning. My wife and I will be doing half that (5 miles, for the arithmetically impaired) for a training run, and then Saturday night is the Carrabba's Summer Beach Run. It's a five mile out-and-back run on the sand, and it should be pretty good. It's the same course as the four miler for the Tour de Pain last month, just extended another half mile south.

Yes, I'm running a race.

No, I'm not going to push very hard. I'm going to make sure to take things pretty easy.

But I sure do wish I could have the cool new feet in the race, too.

I'm still here!!

I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I think y'all know that it's because I haven't been running much lately. Hopefully, that will be remedied soon, but let's start at the beginning.

Previously, on The Starting Gun:
A couple weeks ago, I had gone to a podiatrist to see if there was anything I could do to stop the shin splints that had been hampering me for several weeks. He ended up scanning my feet for custom orthotics and gave me the go-ahead to run again... easily, and being mindful of any pain showing up.

Since then, I actually have run a few times. I went to the gym and tried out the treadmill a few days after the appointment, and it didn't work out too well. I started feeling an aching in my shin, and I wasn't sure if it was just soreness, or if it was the Return of the Splint... so I took it easy and quit after just over a mile. But I was incredibly happy just to run that one mile.

That weekend, I went to the Galloway group long run, which was scheduled for seven miles. I was planning on walking the whole thing, but I ended up running with my wife's group, which runs a 1/1 ratio at about a 16 minute/mile pace. And that went very well -- I barely had any pain in my legs at all! Woo hoo!

I took it easy again through last week, not wanting to push things too hard, especially since I didn't have my orthotics or new shoes yet. So I basically didn't "run" all last week. But this past weekend, I went back to the group for the eight mile long run, still planning on sticking with my wife's group. I figured that it worked so well last time, I might as well try it again!

Before I go any further, I just want to point out that this is not one of my "X Reasons Why I'm an Idiot" posts.

The run actually still felt really great. It was a beautiful run around downtown Jax, including two bridges and the historical San Marco neighborhood. In fact, the bridges we ran were the same ones from the Vestcor 5K about a month and a half ago, and it was much easier this time. Granted, I was running much slower than race pace, too... but I even ran some sprints going up the Acosta.

And what is the outcome of this weekend's run? Nothing worth noting. Sure, I'm sore. But I don't have massive shin pain. I did ice my leg on Saturday afternoon, but it feels fine right now. My right leg is sore as all get-out, so I think I was compensating, but still... nothing bad.

I could not be happier.

Except for one thing. My orthotics are in. I got a call from the doc, and I will be picking them up tomorrow. And I'll be getting new shoes tomorrow at lunch. I'll be careful in the breaking-in period, but I think I'm well on my way back to the running fold.

Insert happy dance here.