Friday, January 11, 2013

Base Training: 01/07 - 01/13

M: OFF

T: 7.5M
8:37, 8:47, 8:32, 8:33, 8:30, 8:19, 9:08, 4:32

890v2: 230.5M

W: OFF

Th: 3M
1M 9:52 - Just a test on grass to see if I feel ok.

MT110: 10.5M

2M 8:15, 3:36/4:07 - Didn't feel great at 2M so I stopped after the fartlek attempt.

890v1: 417M

F: OFF

S: OFF

Su: OFF

Week: 10.5M

The posterior tibilais still gets weird after awhile, but its better. Just not perfect. Metatarsalgia is flared up in my left foot. Very annoying so I'm just going to not run for a bit and see how it heals up.

2 comments:

  1. These things can be a bit tricky. If that foot pain is worse in one spot, sometimes you can put a big foot foam (donut shaped...silver dollar sized)sticky with the hole over the painful spot...its worked for me before.

    I think some of the problems you've had with the feet and lower tendons are related to absorbing too much impact with the calf muscles...or from generating too much power from the calf muscles (can cause pain in tendon, foot, ankle, shin, etc.)

    My theory is that your faster easy/steady state pacing has caused some subtle running form issues. You might be supporting/generating extra pace with the "small" muscles (calves & maybe hamstrings) instead of the "big" muscles (butt, quads, core, etc).

    I think there are 3 things you can do.
    1. Is to really concentrate on form. You should be leading with the hips, the feet should be landing under your COG with a slightly bent knee...Maybe read the running form descriptions from Gordon Pirie in his free ebook.

    2. Is strengthening the core muscles with situps, planks, and other core exercises.

    3. Sometimes you have to really fatigue the "smaller" muscles in order to hone your form. You could try dropping pace and increasing your mileage. Start the week with a little bit longer long run than usual (maybe 12-14 miles). I find that when increasing my mileage (especially when doing it to start the week), my pace will naturally slow and I will begin to start relying on "bigger" muscles as the week progresses. You have to remind yourself that pace doesn't matter here...the real workout is the mileage and recruitment of a larger muscle spectrum.

    Option 3 could be out, if the pain is still getting worse.

    What do you think?

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  2. The pain is specifically in the third metatarsal head on my left foot. I don't know if my form changed while I was having the ankle/posterior tibialis pain. It could have. I'll try the foam. I've been using some metatarsal pads the last few days and have been doing a lot of heat and massage which are working.

    I usually pay attention to my form - hips the way Bowerman described them, knees slightly bent, standing tall, feet under my hips...I won't discount any theory though. I have big/strong calves so I could easily be using them too much.

    I hate core and can easily let myself to forget to do it. That's going to stop.

    Tonight I'll get some foam pads and see how a run works.

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