So I posted not too long ago about a challenge that I was going after – a 6 week 5k training plan. I went into the challenge head on and hard – I pushed myself to run at a faster pace and I completed the first week of the workout. On the very last workout of that first week, I started to have issues in my foot, which I have now found out may be the beginnings of plantar fasciitis. I decided to take a little break from running… which turned into a long break because of the holidays… and now here I am, starting the New Year with a refreshed outlook on my goals.
The first thing that I did to work toward getting back into running was go get fitted for running shoes. I went to a New Balance store, as recommended by a friend of mine. The guy working at the store was a runner, as evidenced by his half marathon shirt that he was sporting that day. I told him about my troubles – that I only get the weird ripping sensation in my arches once in a while when I’m walking or running. He analyzed my gait, telling me I overpronate a little bit, which would explain my arch issue. I tried on three different shoes and finally settled on what I hope will be my perfect running shoes. I promised myself (and the guy at the store) that I would be a good little runner-in-progress and make sure to update my shoes when they need to be updated!!
Now I am ready to go. And I’m going to go slow, as the guy at the New Balance store advised me. He said, “You think you’re ready to get back to where you were, but to prevent further injury you need to start slow and increase slowly. And never underestimate the power of stretching and exercises meant just for your feet!” So I’m going to start back with the Couch to 5K training program that worked for me so well in the past. This time, whenever I’m using the treadmill, I’m going to go by distance versus time to change things up a bit.
So I’m starting back slow, with a goal in mind – to run the Reese Winter Road Race on March 2, 2012!
RD on the Run 