December 2015 Running Challenge

Another 2 miles - Only concern is that my left lower leg started getting a sharp pain when I was running (I'm hoping it is not a shin splint). I think I am going to have to see if I need to slow down my runs in order to decrease the risk of injury.

summerdaze120 wrote: »

Another 2 miles - Only concern is that my left lower leg started getting a sharp pain when I was running (I'm hoping it is not a shin splint). I think I am going to have to see if I need to slow down my runs in order to decrease the risk of injury.

my guess is tendonitis but I'm not a dr
Extensor Tendonitis

What Is It: Irritation and inflammation of the tendons on the top of the foot


Causes: Shoes that are too tight, calf tightness, spending long periods on your feet, altered foot biomechanics, walking/running on uneven surfaces or simply dropping a heavy object on your foot

Symptoms: Gradual onset of swelling, bruising and pain on top of foot. Tender to touch and may be uncomfortable wearing shoes

Treatment Options: Change how you lace your shoes, use orthotics, rest, ice the foot, employ ultrasound, get a course of injections or stretch the calf muscles

DATE...............MILES...............TOTAL
12/1....................6.00....................6.00
12/2....................5.00..................11.00
12/3....................6.25..................17.25
12/4...................REST.................17.25
12/5....................14.00.................31.25
12/6...................REST.................31.25
12/7......................3.75.................35.00
12/8......................7.50.................42.50
12/9......................4.00.................46.50
12/10.................REST.................46.50
12/11....................5.25.................51.75

MorningGhost14 wrote: »

@Elise4270 I have had stress fractures, but they were closer to my toes and felt like some was pounding a nail into the top of my feet

Thanks. That's what I figured. I'll assume it's soft tissue irritation

@MobyCarp right. I'd tend to agree as it seems to be at the joint. My mechanics have changed. And just have assumes its adjustments.

@3dogsrunning: Welcome
@Ohhim: Alright. I guess the 11 year old gets a pass then.
@agzram: The most important thing I took away from C25K is to “think TIME SPENT running..not pace”. If you just focus on making sure you jog when you’re supposed to, walk when you’re supposed to…pace will magically improve. I still do run/walk even though my running time is much longer now.
@MobyCarp: You remind me of the guy that finished just ahead of me in the last 5K I did (he was about 7 years my senior). I want to be him when I “grow up”.

Dec 1: Advent begins. Light mist but warm (low 50s), still a little bit of hip twinge, nice and slow this morning, 4.44 miles.
Dec 2: Hound of the Baskervilles fog this morning, no demon dogs spotted. 2.35 miles
Dec 3: Rest day, however, intended to walk..and it didn’t happen 
Dec 4: Chilly tonight but not unbearable. 2.5 miles
Dec 5: No run (family outing out of town) but did get in a half hour walk.
Dec 6-8: Days of suck
Dec 9: Back at it. 4.34 miles this morning in the DARKy dark dark…Already more than halfway to the miles I ran last month..December looks to be better.
Dec 10: Rest day
Dec 11: 3.19 miles. Weather is beautiful.

12/1-3.7 miles + strength training
12/2-4.7 miles-Hot Chocolate group run
12/3-3.3 miles dreadmill intervals +strength training
12/4-3.3 miles
12/5-3.5 miles
12/6-10.1 miles
12/7-rest/yoga\
12/8-strength training
12/9-6.1 miles
12/10-5.5 miles
12/11-3.5 miles +strength training

@Elise4270 - I also had a stress fracture in my metatarsal. I could not put any pressure on my foot. Very sharp pain as MorningGhost14 said. Unfortunately, most stress fractures do not show up on x-rays so the only true way to diagnose it is through an MRI.

Do you have any local running stores or orthopedics that hold free clinics? Many do that on the weekends and you can go in and talk to an intern or someone like that and they can give you their opinion. That is what I did and got referred to a doctor who determined I had the stress fracture. However, I am going to also add the "I am not a doctor" disclaimer, but based on what you have described and where your pain is, it doesn't sound like a stress fracture to me.

December Running Totals (km)
12/1- 1.61
12/2- 1.61
12/3- 1.61
12/4- 1.61
12/5- 1.61
12/6- 8.21 (5k Red Nose Run)
12/7- 1.61
12/8- 1.61
12/9- 1.61
12/10- 1.61
12/11-
12/12-
12/13-
12/14-
12/15-
12/16-
12/17-
12/18-
12/19-
12/20-
12/21-
12/22-
12/23-
12/24-
12/25-
12/26-
12/27-
12/28-
12/29-
12/30-
12/31-

Total- 22.7
Goal- 53

I ran 2 miles on Dec 9th and 2 miles earlier this morning.

Stoshew71 wrote: »

Oh! You can track my progress tommorow:
http://results.xacte.com/track?id=819 I am bib 1454.

cool
I'll try to remember to check in with it. What time?

@GBrady43068 - Funny you should mention that 5K. Last December, a guy in the next younger age group came up to me after the Reindeer Run 5K and told me he'd been using me as a pace leader for the last mile or so. Only time in my life I ever paced a 6:30 mile, and I didn't know I was doing it at the time.

December Running Totals (miles)
12/1- 6.58 (warmup, speed work, cool down)
12/2- extra rest day
12/3- 6.40 easy
12/4- 8.12 easy
12/5-15.00 long slow run
12/6-9.15 easy with hills
12/7- planned rest day
12/8- 8.29 easy
12/9- 6.00 easy
12/10- unscheduled rest day (plan was 6 miles)
12/11- 6.04 easy (instead of planned rest day)

Total- 65.58
Goal- none stated

Today's notes: Day off work, sunshine, 55° F, pleasant breeze from the west. Ran 6 easy miles around the neighborhood to make up for yesterday's lack of running. Would have been easy to keep going, but I have a long run tomorrow and I want to save some miles in the week for Sunday. More miles is not always better.

This morning I registered for the 7.5 mile Resolution Run on New Year's Day. It's a cheap race, in a venue I really like. Only down side is the Boston training plan calls for that Friday to be an off day. I think I'll make Thursday 12/31 my day off, instead of the speed work that is scheduled for that day. Running a 7.5 mile race will be a decent substitute for 3 x 2000 m @ T, the first week of the marathon training program. And the 7.5 miles come with hills, which should be a good thing for Boston training.

Upcoming races:
Dec. 19, 2015 Reindeer Run 5K (Rochester, NY)
Jan. 1, 2016 Resolution Run 7.5 mile (Mendon, NY)
Jan. 9, 2016 Winter Warrior Half Marathon (Rochester, NY)
April 18, 2016 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA)

12/1 - 0 blah day
12/2 - 6.24 (2.66 lunch run + 3.58 dreadmill walk) Felt like an upside down turtle trying to make it thru quicksand. Felt super slow, sluggish, just awful. Later on the t-mill actually felt pretty good.
12/3 - 2.83 Work lunch run...felt good. Not great. Seems like if I take more than 2 days off I lose something, like endurance or lung capacity, something.
12/4 - 2.88 Lunch walk. It was gorgeous outside!
12/5 - 5.25 Walked to neighborhood Walmart for greek yogurt and coffee creamer. Then drove back to get everything I forgot lol
12/6 - Rest day. Letting the knee calm down.
12/7 - Not feeling it.
12/8 - Getting lazy.
12/9 - 3.26 Lunch run. Beautiful day!
12/10 - 3.29 Lunch run...gorgeous day!

The knee compression sleeve...OMG...it's a miracle worker! I literally did not feel anything from my knee during or after the run.

Elise4270 wrote: »

lporter229 wrote: »

12/1-3.7 miles + strength training
12/2-4.7 miles-Hot Chocolate group run
12/3-3.3 miles dreadmill intervals +strength training
12/4-3.3 miles
12/5-3.5 miles
12/6-10.1 miles
12/7-rest/yoga\
12/8-strength training
12/9-6.1 miles
12/10-5.5 miles
12/11-3.5 miles +strength training

@Elise4270 - I also had a stress fracture in my metatarsal. I could not put any pressure on my foot. Very sharp pain as MorningGhost14 said. Unfortunately, most stress fractures do not show up on x-rays so the only true way to diagnose it is through an MRI.

Do you have any local running stores or orthopedics that hold free clinics? Many do that on the weekends and you can go in and talk to an intern or someone like that and they can give you their opinion. That is what I did and got referred to a doctor who determined I had the stress fracture. However, I am going to also add the "I am not a doctor" disclaimer, but based on what you have described and where your pain is, it doesn't sound like a stress fracture to me.

No running store or running clinics here. Urgent care would be my only option. An I don't want to feel (more than I already do) like a hypochondriac with a simple sprain. I think I'll ride it out a bit longer.But its keeping me from running and that doesn't make me happy.. The pain is most intense lifting my big toe. I could possibly catch my chiropractor, but.... That could be a waste of time and money.

I know you all aren't doctors, you're runners. And that's why I ask your opinions.


edit- Dr Google (peeps on a running thread) suggests paratendonitis. I'll treat it as such and suck up a few rest days...

Sprains aren't necessarily simple. In July I rolled an ankle on a trail segment of a Wednesday evening fun run. Went out and paced 15 miles the following Saturday, and was disappointed that I couldn't hack the full 18 miles scheduled. The Wednesday after that I already had a podiatrist follow-up visit, and I found out the ankle was sprained and worse than I had thought.

Long story short, the podiatrist had me do things I wouldn't have thought of on my own, and put me on 30 days of a prescription anti-inflammatory when I would have spaced off taking as much ibuprofen as I should have on my own. Four weeks of not running anything harder than very easy, one 5K canceled, a 10 mile race treated as an easy training run, stopping the long runs when the ankle felt wonky between 10 and 12 miles, and a couple more weeks before I was ready to do any speed work; but I made it back to race form in time to turn in a then-PR half marathon in September. HOWEVER, I probably wouldn't have been able to complete that half marathon in September if I hadn't had a podiatrist to tell me what I needed to do to get better. I would have done too much stuff that would have just kept irritating the ankle and keeping it from healing up.

Oh, and I had that podiatrist in the first place because of my stress fracture history. Lucky me, he was just what I needed for the sprain.

I have a running buddy who complained of big toe pain, and had to cut a few long runs short. He ended up going to a podiatrist and finding out it was arthritis. The podiatrist put him in an orthotic to keep the toe from flexing too far in the wrong direction, and he had no issues with the next long run after that; but it wasn't something we could have figured out from my experience, even though I have arthritis in one foot. His arthritis presented differently from mine, and needed different treatment.

That having been said, extra rest is part of the answer for a wide variety of injuries. A few extra rest days can't hurt.

3 slow-ish miles today. Did a better job of keeping a slower pace than I did on Wednesday, averaging around 10:30 per mile this time. A car tried to run me over, making a left turn into my path (yes, I had the walk signal). Thankfully, I'm vigilant enough to have seen that one coming before she even started moving. Thought about reaching out and slapping her window to scare the crap out of her, but was afraid that would make her swerve and actually hit me. A few profanities escaped my mouth and I went on my merry way. Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful run. Warm and sunny again, with a strong breeze.

I ordered new running shoes, which are scheduled to arrive today. Can't wait to try them out, but it'll have to wait until next week. I'm scheduled for an 11 miler this weekend and that might be a little too long for breaking in a new pair. Plus it's supposed to rain Sunday and I don't want to muck up my pretty new shoes.

29/96 completed.