Coming around.

The foot problems have calmed down. Tonight's dinky, two mile run was the first in a long time to feel somewhat normal. It gets me excited to start building a stronger base again. I had to get a physical for my internship and the doctor said I was probably struggling from some tendinitis in the foot, rather than a stress fracture or stress reaction. Oddly enough, easy running releases those little muscles, joints, and ligaments there. When I take Tyelenol before the run, it's virtually pain free. Icing after the runs also feels good. I also finally got new shoes to rotate: Adidas Boston and Nike Lunarglide 3. Both are very different and compliment my flats and Frees well.

Outside of running, my internship started last week. It's still hectic right now because my schedule has not been set but with all the training from last week and this week, I'm excited to get started. Probably more nervous than excited but once I get going, I should find a nice "pace" to settle into.

The painful process of changing form

I've been focusing on less heel striking since early April. At the beginning of this process, my calves ached in pain and I eventually had a stress reaction in my ankle. After that mishap, and some time off, I found it much easier to transition to a mid foot strike (without any calf pain). For the last four weeks, I've been running more mid-foot, and as a result, there has been no plantar fasciitis. However, last week, I took my new form to an extreme and ran a somewhat intense track workout with all mid-foot striking. After the workout, the top of my foot started hurting and the next day it was difficult to walk. I attributed the pain to a lack of slow and easy miles with a mid-foot strike (to adjust and gain efficient muscle memory). I took three days off and ran an easy 3 miles last night on the golf course. Afterward, the pain started to come back and now I find myself a bit down again with another stress reaction.

As frustrating as injuries can be, my training has taken a predictive cycle. I think that this may be the last round of stress reactions (for now) because I've learned these lessons the hard way. I'll aim to take the next two weeks off from running but continue to cross train. And when it's time to come back, I'll pick up with the easy miles while adjusting my form. I know it's working because my times are better, my stride feels more efficient, and most importantly, it erased my plantar fasciitis.