A New Hope

Five years later, twenty pounds heavier, and two inches wider - i finally ran three miles outside again today.

To put things mildly: my fitness has really taken a nosedive in recent years.  After my glorious finish at the Grand Rapids Marathon (not really) in 2010, i got saddled with one injury after another and was never able to run more than three miles again.  Looking back, my problem probably lay in trying to fix what wasn't broken.  After reading Christopher McDougall's "Born to Run," i tried HARD to change my stride from the "improper" heel-strike to the "proper" fore/midfoot strike.  Shortly thereafter, i got ITB syndrome.  When that settled down, i got Achilles tendinosis.  And whenever that showed signs of improving, i got posterior shin splints - bad.  One would think that my body would have gotten used to it, but it never did.  I would cycle between the tendinosis and shin splints every two weeks, all the time trying to get at least one 3-miler in.  Then i started my busy fellowship and BOOM, no more time to consistently work out.

Thankfully, my schedule as a third year fellow with budding senioritis has not been as punishing as the first two years of training.  So over the past few months, i've been putting in a few miles at a time on the treadmill, albeit gingerly.

A month ago, it hit me again.  Two miles into an intended treadmill-3-miler, i felt like someone put a knife in my right calf.  It was then that i just said TO HELL WITH IT and decided to go back to heel-striking.  The Tarahumara and their sandals be damned, i ran for five years and finished a marathon with my heel strike... i was going to go back to what worked before!

It was perhaps one of the best decisions i've ever made.  After resting for a week and recovering from my calf strain, i got on the treadmill and just ran.  I paid no heed to form or "proper" foot strike, but rather just dialed in a pace and did what came naturally.  Wouldn'tcha know - i've been able to go up to four miles now with NO PAIN.  I don't know if this should serve as a lesson to everyone out there who read the same book, or just to me - but if the heel strike isn't causing any problems, there's probably no reason to change it.

I only wish it hadn't taken me this long to realize that.  Now, time to see what the future holds.

About as fast as a jogging sumo wrestler, but it's a start.