Discretion, Valor, and all That

It was a freakishly warm wet and windy weekend.  Between insane storms I made it out for a mid-morning 5 miler.  With a stiff tail wind pushing me northward, I briefly thought about just buying a last minute plane ticket to Sacramento and walk running the December 9th California International Marathon in Sacramento that I was training for before kidney stones reared their ugly head.  Then I started overheating in the 60 degree humid weather and had to turn around and run home against the now not very helpful wind.  So unless one of y'all wants to use my bib, I think I will just email them and see if they will mail me my tee shirt and goodie bag after the race.

But with a 12 mile week under my belt and generally feeling a lot better, I will be running the 8K Thanksgiving Turkey Chase and the 8K Rudolph Ramble on December 15th.  If all goes well, and I can build my mileage, I may try the Polar Half at the end of January.  Fortunately, will also have a few days over Christmas in Florida for some longer warm weather runs.

Blogging workshop

Today a few colleagues who blog to advance their professional circumstances (rather than to advance their running!) gave a workshop on the process, benefits, costs, and so on.  Not wanting to be a snob, I was thinking "that post on such-and-such a case isn't nearly as cool as the runningprofs blog "flash symposium" on the Rome Marathon!  (Or pick your example.)

Do the other runningprofs blog in more formal settings as well?  "Here is the abstract of my recent piece on . . ."

A little insight (maybe)

My plan to seek chiropractic help for my foot mystery morphed into making an appointment with a Rockville-based PT whom I had heard about for years from former runner colleagues. This guy is not very convenient to either home nor work (nor is he an in-network provider for my insurance company), but I am at the end of my rope.

It's so funny that depending on which health professional you talk to, you will get very differing opinions. This guy (who heard exactly what exercises and treatment I've been doing for the last 9 months) had the following observations and insights:

• I'm probably better off without my orthotics
• I have some muscle imbalances in my glutes and hips
• The exercises I've been doing aren't targeted enough to hit the small muscles that need to learn to activate
• I have ideal cadence (at least during a 5-min run on the treadmill)
• My arch pain isn't plantar fasciitis, it is a problem with the muscle(s) in the arch (and therefore foam rolling and stretching the calf won't help much)
• And my favorite piece of advice (after I asked whether I should keep foam rolling and doing my other PT exercises): "If doing these things makes you have less pain, you should keep doing them. If you aren't getting better after three weeks of a treatment regimen, it's time to try something else."

So I will be trying out some new exercises (hopefully I can remember them) in the next week. Cross your fingers! (Or toes?)

Speaking of the near future, Ted, is your DC visit coming up soon??

Newish Book on Marathons of the World

 










I just discovered this handsome book from 2012 entitled Marathons of the World with information, some text, and pretty photos of the author's 50 favorite marathons from around the world.  The antitrust marathon sites are well represented.  Have your family members buy you this for Thanksgivikah or Christmas.

Reversion to normal

There was a good one-page how-to in a recent Triathlete magazine on running stride.  Those things always are lame, in my opinion, but this one supported my current mindset, so I liked it.  Among other things:

1.  Mid- and fore-foot running works for some but not necessarily for everybody.
2.  The great Haile Gebreselassie (even in a world with Mutai and Kipsang, still the best distance runner in history) apparently taught himself a longer forward reach when moving to marathon.
3.  Recommendation:  if you have run for years injury free, maybe you are actually doing it right.

This is consistent with my observation when watching video from the Craig Alexander's first (of three) win at Ironman Kona that Alexander, one of the top very few best ever runners in Ironman triathlon, has a very slight heel strike.

And it is consistent with my experience that I felt fine and ran fine until I made a concerted effort to run differently, starting about 12-18 months ago.

Today I ran for the first time in a couple of weeks.  I made a concerted effort to run the way I grew up running.  Heel first, but not obnoxiously so.  I feel the knee as I stand here, but it is not yet terrible.  Knocking on wood . . .

Don't you hate it when...

You are talking about (oh, okay, complaining about) a running injury and the person you are talking to asks, "Have you ever considered not running so much? It's never going to get better if you keep pounding on it."

Running Crews

As someone who grew up in New York in the 70s, the phenomenon described here seems positively unthinkable.  So, quite frankly does this, which I would have done had I not been injured. It was apparently a lot of fun.  Oh, and this.   Anyway, running is a great way to get to know obscure corners of the city, but I'm a morning runner.  Night time running in New York has always seemed a solitary, slightly crazy endeavor that evokes, for me, memories of a variety of horror stories from an earlier era.

Suddenly, the city has transformed into a place where people feel comfortable running in shorts at all hours.  So, what has facilitated this transformation?  Is it the Bloomberg era attention to public space?  That certainly makes a difference. It is now possible to link up runs through Brooklyn Bridge Park, across the Brooklyn Bridge, up the West Side, etc., for example, so there are just a lot more cool runs than their used to be.  Is it the cell phone that makes it possible to feel safe and in touch in further flung locales? Is it the fact that gentrification has pushed the boundaries of the city past Williamsburg and Park Slope?  Or is it social media that makes it possible for these running flash mobs to form on short notice?

I suspect it's some combination of all of the above.  Or maybe I'm just overanalyzing it . . .