Revelation

Hello.  My name is Frank, and I am an addict.  It's true.  I have just made this discovery.  I have all the symptoms of an addict going through withdrawal.  I am angry, depressed, antsy, and can't stop thinking about when I can get my next fix.  I fantasize about how good it's going to feel.  The anticipation makes me both giddy and despondent.  Yes, it's true.  I am addicted to running.   

Gloom and Despair

I finished the Prefontaine movie "Without Limits" yesterday.  I really enjoyed it.  I thought Billy Crudup did a great job at capturing the passion fires that engulfed Prefontaine.  Equally good, I thought, was Donald Sutherland as Bill Bowerman.  It was cool to watch him make the Nike shoes with the rubber waffle pattern from a waffle maker in his kitchen.  The movie left me feeling like I had to get out and run, but I'm still in a holding pattern.  
I also finished the book Once A Runner by John L. Parker Jr.  It was a great read.  Although I was never even close to being as fast as the runners in the story, I could still relate to the team camaraderie as well as the wild range of emotions that competitors experience.  Again, I feel like I need to get out and run.  Last night, my legs were twitching when I tried to get to sleep.  They weren't twitching from a hard or long workout, but rather from the opposite.  They are growing restless from inactivity.  My body is now physically revolting at my static lifestyle while my mind is in panic mode.
My feet are at the point that I could physically run, but I'm not sure for how long or how far.  I remain disciplined, even if several times throughout the day I am tempted by "the voice" in my head to just go out and run.  I might have succumbed to that voice, but I recognize that voice all too well.  It's the same one that, when lungs are burning and the legs are swollen with lactic acid, hostilely demands to STOP.  You never get personal bests if you listen to that voice.  Like in a bad marriage, runners have to tune out that voice or they might as well quit.  
In case you can't tell, I'm feeling angry and depressed that I can't run.  For someone with tendencies toward emotional extremes, I need to run.  Running levels out my moods.  Everytime I log on here, I see that L.A. Marathon countdown.  Every disappearing day takes a long run, conditioning, and confidence with it.  That timer mocks my current state.  A mere three weeks ago, I was toiling with the decision to go for 3:20 and qualify for Boston or sit back and get in under 4 hours.  I figured that 3:40 to 3:45 was realistic at that point, and I still had three months of training and all my speedwork ahead of me.  Now, I'm not sure if I'll even make it to L.A.  I know that, if I do, Boston is out of the question.
For now, I sit and wallow in my misery longing for the day when I can feel the earth sliding easily under my shoes, the air filling my lungs, and the potential to explore wherever my eyes can see.  I'll leave off with a short passage from Parker's book Once A Runner.   
              Running to him was real; the way he did it the realest thing he knew.  It was all joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension.  But it also made him free.

Tough Decision

I have decided that, in the words of Bush Sr., it just wouldn't be pudent to keep running on injured feet.  This decision was based in part on reading other blogger's tales of running through injuries and their eventually succumbing to stress fractures.  While I am already feeling the effects of not running for more than a few days--irritability and anxiousness--my feet are also beginning to feel better.  I would put them at around 80%.  I am tentatively planning on resuming running sometime around the beginning of the new year.  I assume that my new shoes will be in around then, and I am hoping that my feet will also be 100% with another week or two of rest.  The shoe I have decided to go with is the New Balance 1225.  It's a stability shoe that has received mostly good reviews.  To pass the time, I have just started reading the book Once A Runner by John L. Parker Jr.  I am barely forty pages in, but so far am loving it.  I have also rented the movie Without Limits--the one starring Billy Crudup--which is about the life of Steve Prefontaine.  With five kids aging from 2.5 to 10 years, it's difficult to find time to read and watch movies, so it could be a while before I finish either of these indulgences.  I am now officially forty years old and looking forward to being ready to run again.        

Rest and Motorola Droid Review

No run today.  I figure my feet could use the rest.  Today, I'm going to do a quick review of my newest favorite gadget--my Motorola Droid phone.  As far as running purposes go, this phone does it all.  It has a 16gb sd card that comes with the phone (upgradeable to 32gb when that card comes out).  I transferred my 14gb Itunes library to the sd card on the phone, so it was goodbye Ipod.  There is an Amazon mp3 app installed on the phone, so I can now purchase music and have it install directly to my phone without connecting to a computer--goodbye Itunes.  There is a free app called Pandora, which lets me listen to the radio.  I tell it my favorite artist and it plays songs by them and others that it thinks I might like.  If you like the song it chooses, you hit the "thumbs up" button and vice versa if you don't like it.  Based on your responses, you will either hear more songs by those artists, less or none at all. 

I was envious of those with Garmin watches because of the accuracy with which they were able to track their runs, as well as the ability to see a map of where you ran.  The app CardioTrainer solved that for me.  It has all the features of a Garmin.  It tells me my pace, distance, elevation changes and gives me a map of my run.  All of this is done via the gps on the phone.  Like many of the useful apps for the Android market, this one is free.  There is the option for $3.00 to be able to race against yourself using the app.  You can run a previously run route against a pacer (you from your previous run) if you want to race against yourself for a new personal record.  As of now, I haven't yet purchased this option, but I'm sure I will. 

The only drawback to the phone is the weight.  It's not like carrying an Ipod Nano in your pocket or on your arm.  I have yet to find an armband made for the Droid, so I tried one made by Belkin for the Ipod touch 2nd generation.  I could fit the Droid in the holder, but when I tried to get it on my arm, it flopped around and wouldn't stay in place.  I tried putting it in my pocket, but turned around after a block due to it pulling my shorts down.  I'm now on the hunt for some kind of a holder to carry my phone.  I'll let you know if I find anything.  This phone really does it all--just like the commercial says.  In addition to it functioning as an Ipod, and a Garmin watch, it also has the Google maps navigation app.  The navigation app freed me from buying another GPS unit for the car.  This $200 phone is cheap when factoring in all of the other devices that it replaces.  It does so much more, but I can't list them all. 

Addendum:  I finally found a solution for carrying the phone.  I bought a running belt from Ifitness.  It's the neoprene mini sport belt.  It was $23.95 and works beautifully.  My phone slips snugly into the pouch.  There was no bouncing or shifting.  The belt was so comfortable that I forgot I still had it on 30 minutes after my workout.  I only put my phone in there, but there was still room for some gels and an I.D. card or cash.   

Trying the gadgets

Today's 4 mile run was done with my Camelbak.  My overall impression was that it didn't seem heavy or bulky, and didn't move around.  I was able to put my Droid in the back pocket to record a map of today's run.  I felt pretty good today, but kept control and stayed at a slow pace.  I am using the Android app called Cardiotrainer.  It works just like a Garman watch, and I'm very happy with it.

Click the link to see a map of today's run provided by Cardiotrainer.
http://www.worksmartlabs.com/cardiotrainer/tracks.php?trackId=649353&sig=45f9ff65ec765ce4896858eda178c343164ab2d0

Treading Rubber

I ran 3 miles on a treadmill today in just over 28 minutes. I was worried about losing my conditioning, but the slow and easy run felt fine cardio-wise. I ditched my custom orthotics for today's run in favor of Spenco ball of foot pads and heel cushions. My left foot, where all the problems originated, felt great, but the right foot was uncomfortable the entire way. I just couldn't seem to get the pads situated in the right places.

Why ditch the custom orthotics? I originally went to a podiatrist due to forefoot pain and numbness in my toes. He diagnosed me with metatarsalgia. He prescribed a custom orthotic that had a bump (pad) that sits in the arch area to absorb the shock before it gets to my forefoot. Along with the bump pad, he also prescribed the orthotic to have a heel lift because my achilles was "tight". Two weeks later, I received the orthotic and was so happy because the forefoot pain was gone. I increased my mileage and intensity, and was greeted by heel pain. I went back to him wondering if I had a stress fracture in my heel. He said there was no fracture but I now had plantars bursitis. He made a modification to the heel of the orthotic--cut the heel leaving a u shape to take pressure off the heels. I got the orthotics back three days later, and noticed a large difference at first. As my long runs increased to over 8 miles, the pain in the heels came back. Until I see the podiatrist again, I'm trying to use the Spenco heel cushions to heal my heels. Eventually, I want to be able to run without any orthotic or Spenco like insert.

I'm kind of in a bad place right now. I returned my Asics GT-2110 shoes to Roadrunner Sports due to a lack of arch support. They were great for runs up to 8 miles, but I noticed that my arches felt like they were collapsing on longer runs. So I am left with my old Nike Moto 6 shoes that already have almost 400 miles on them. I have to wait for Roadrunner Sports to get my return so I can order the shoes I should have gotten first--New Balance 1225. The problem with Roadrunner Sports is that their returns take around 2 weeks for them to get and process. Conversely, when I order from them, I get my order in 3 business days. I also returned a fuel belt that had four 10 oz. bottles because my arm swing kept hitting the lid of the bottles in the front. I then purchased a backpack that carries water in a pouch. It holds 2 liters and was half price at Big 5 sports. I have yet to be able to try it out though.

I think my plan is going to be to run 3-4 miles a day until I get my new shoes. I'll then have to assess where I'm at and decide if there's enough training time left for the L.A. Marathon in March.

Running With Pain/Fear

This is the inaugural post for this blog. I have been letting my heels heal for 6 days now. I'm really itching to get out and run. I am planning on a short 3 mile run tomorrow to test out the heels. When running there are two kinds of pain. There's the harmless kind you deal with and actually come to relish, and then there's the kind that instills fear in a runner. The pain that causes fear comes when you're not sure if your next step is going to break a bone. This is why all the experts say to listen to your body. I have taken these last 6 days off because I wasn't sure if my pain was from the bursitis in my heels or if my heel bones were about to crack. I've taken some steps to remedy my heel pain, which I will talk about in a later post.