I See The Light
"...train hundred and two
is on the wrong track and headin' for you."
---Grateful Dead - "Casey Jones"
I ran a 20K race yesterday and think I may be headed for a trainwreck at Boston. I could grouse endlessly about the management of this race; it started late, it took over 2 hours for results, not enough food, etc., but it would all be a diversion from the real issue of the day. My right foot, which had been on the edge with plantar fasciitis just seemed to explode. I'm in full-blown baling wire and duct tape mode right now.
I started pretty comfortably, going through the first 5k in just over 22. I was struggling a bit after that - I felt like I couldn't really breathe, but I attribute that to residual gunk from the cold of last weekend. It affected my head a bit, but not disasterously. The headwinds in the early part of the race also made this race less pleasant than it should have been. As the race progressed, I found myself needing to take water and having to stop briefly to drink it. Not a big deal, but then near the turnaround in the park (about 8 miles), my foot just seemed to go sour. It was hurting and combined with everything else, I found myself doing tactical walking to stretch my foot and reduce the load on it. I walked up the couple of steep hills, doing my best to maintain racewalking form so I wouldn't lose too much speed. Once out of the park, I ran the rest of the course, passing, then getting recaught by a woman who'd passed me on the climb. Eventually, I overtook her, and since I knew she'd painted a big target on my back, I hammered the final downhill (doubtless further irritating my foot) and held her off. Some will say, "but you weren't even competing against each other" and there's some truth there. My attitude is she's another competitor, my obligation is to beat her if I can. (Why should I approach it differently whether man or woman?)
The one real bright spot was a woman who passed me in the park. She said something cheerful as she came by me. It was enough to kick me out of the doldrums and get me working on the race again instead of being miserable. We chatted a bit after the race, until she needed to cheer her husband in. He was running with their dog! Having the dog in the race doubtless violates many rules, but this dog was very well mannered and he had a comfortable loping gait. It was one of the other fun little things that did happen there.
Now, I have to think seriously about what to do if the foot gives me trouble at Boston...if I aggravate it early, I could really pay late. If I use a run/walk strategy, I might preserve the foot well enough to arrive in Boston in reasonable style. If my mind is strong, I might be able to run the whole thing with minimal pain.
I had a guy after the race mention that he had excellent success with a chiropractor who used ART (active release therapy) on his plantar fasciitis. He said that four treatments seemed to fully cure him. I may need to give it a try. Others, seeing my gimping around suggested orthotics, but I've been there, and done that.
is on the wrong track and headin' for you."
---Grateful Dead - "Casey Jones"
I ran a 20K race yesterday and think I may be headed for a trainwreck at Boston. I could grouse endlessly about the management of this race; it started late, it took over 2 hours for results, not enough food, etc., but it would all be a diversion from the real issue of the day. My right foot, which had been on the edge with plantar fasciitis just seemed to explode. I'm in full-blown baling wire and duct tape mode right now.
I started pretty comfortably, going through the first 5k in just over 22. I was struggling a bit after that - I felt like I couldn't really breathe, but I attribute that to residual gunk from the cold of last weekend. It affected my head a bit, but not disasterously. The headwinds in the early part of the race also made this race less pleasant than it should have been. As the race progressed, I found myself needing to take water and having to stop briefly to drink it. Not a big deal, but then near the turnaround in the park (about 8 miles), my foot just seemed to go sour. It was hurting and combined with everything else, I found myself doing tactical walking to stretch my foot and reduce the load on it. I walked up the couple of steep hills, doing my best to maintain racewalking form so I wouldn't lose too much speed. Once out of the park, I ran the rest of the course, passing, then getting recaught by a woman who'd passed me on the climb. Eventually, I overtook her, and since I knew she'd painted a big target on my back, I hammered the final downhill (doubtless further irritating my foot) and held her off. Some will say, "but you weren't even competing against each other" and there's some truth there. My attitude is she's another competitor, my obligation is to beat her if I can. (Why should I approach it differently whether man or woman?)
The one real bright spot was a woman who passed me in the park. She said something cheerful as she came by me. It was enough to kick me out of the doldrums and get me working on the race again instead of being miserable. We chatted a bit after the race, until she needed to cheer her husband in. He was running with their dog! Having the dog in the race doubtless violates many rules, but this dog was very well mannered and he had a comfortable loping gait. It was one of the other fun little things that did happen there.
Now, I have to think seriously about what to do if the foot gives me trouble at Boston...if I aggravate it early, I could really pay late. If I use a run/walk strategy, I might preserve the foot well enough to arrive in Boston in reasonable style. If my mind is strong, I might be able to run the whole thing with minimal pain.
I had a guy after the race mention that he had excellent success with a chiropractor who used ART (active release therapy) on his plantar fasciitis. He said that four treatments seemed to fully cure him. I may need to give it a try. Others, seeing my gimping around suggested orthotics, but I've been there, and done that.
posted by Scooter at 11:02 AM
4 Comments:
Hi Scooter,
I so encourage you to try ART. It has helped me in so many ways there's too much to list. ART has specific protocols for PF.
My suggestion would be to go to a Massage Therapist who is ART certified. ART is soft tissue management and an LMT knows the muscles better than the Chiro who works with bones. You can learn about the procedure and find a provider at www.activerelease.com.
You can also do a Google blog search on "Active Release" and read what others are saying about it.
Good luck,
DW
vsknmrScooter,
Hi, Randy here. I recommend ART as well.
Two years ago I chipped a bone in my thigh. I could run but the bone chip caused pain on long runs.
In addition to the PT (who initially misdiagnosed the problem as ITBS) I saw an ART practioner.
I got relief from the pain following each ART session. ART got me to the Philly marathon in shape to run a BQ time.
Meanwhile, regarding thW 20k race.
ARE YOU CRAZY!
A 20K is a great tune-up for Boston but why would you race through the first 5k in 22?
Assuming your Boston goal is 8:00 pace (BQ pace) then a good pace for a 20k tune-up might be 7:40 (7:30 at the fastest).
A 7:0x min/mile pace is an acceptable pace for a tempo run (under an hour) but not for a 20k.
You need to control your competive nature when the gun goes off (or you will be in trouble at Boston).
A fast start in Boston will lead to a death march. You can't bank time or recover from a too fast start.
A controlled start, even a somewhat slow one, is going to be important; especially with the potential foot problem.
Enjoy Boston; It should be fun.
Randy
Scooter, listen to what Randy says!
Hope the foot is feeling better soon my friend.
Good luck with the foot Scooter, I'm sure you've heard all the home-brewed remedies so I'll spare you mine. A good relationship with a good PT (ART certified or other) might be in order. Spenco insoles+arch compression strap+ice+reduced volume and inherently stiff shoes worked in my case, but it was mild.
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