A Running Chirstmas Miracle!
It is a Christmas Miracle! My knee held up for an easy three miler on Christmas day. Why is this a miracle? Well I will tell you my sob story.
It's my wife's fault . . . really. She brought home a copy of Runners World back in May. I read the thing cover to cover and I got inspired to run a marathon. Never mind that I had only restarted running the previous couple of weeks. Never mind that every year for the last five years I have tried to start running and been forced to stop a couple of weeks in due to (what I now know was) over training.
So, off I went. The first mistake I made was the same one I had made all of the previous years. I started running a weekly 5k with the local running club, CCRC. My body was not prepared for this at all and I ran into the same over training issues including but not limited to knee and foot pain. What I now believe is IT band syndrome.
So, I was off to get new shoes. I went to our local running store (unnamed to protect the innocent). They watched my running on a treadmill and said I am a slight over pronator. So I got a pair of Muzuno's that are "Stability" shoes.
I ran in these for about a month. This was the most painful month of my life. Some how I survived a 10K at the Pacific Crest Sports Weekend.
My knee was killing me and my Achilles heel was strained. So one day after running a painful couple of miles and 10 minutes+. I wondered to myself could it be the shoes. I put on a pair of my wife's too small for me shoes and went for a quick run. Low and behold I had much less pain. I then bought a second pair of shoes the same Addidas Supernova Clams that my wife was wearing but in my size.
All was better for a while. I trained for and ran in the Vancouver All American Triathlon in September and did OK. Then in November I went out for a 10 mile long run I got hurt again, the knee again. This time I was out for several weeks. Too much over training, maybe.
The miracle? Well I am back up and running. My knee has gotten better. I realized how much I love running. So that even doing 13 miles this week has been a great joy.
I was disappointed this year not being able to run many races due to the injuries. I am dedicated to training for the Portland Marathon even if it kills me. Actually, that is the point I need to make sure I do not over train.
David
