Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong

There ain't no book you can read
There ain't nobody to tell you
But I don't think I'm getting
What everybody's getting
Maybe I'm doing it wrong
-
-Randy Newman

I think Randy's protagonist/narrator might have been talking about a different physical activity, but my ankle injury has persuaded me that I am not running properly. Or perhaps not running properly enough. You're probably not a doctor, but I'm going to show you where it hurts:






Here's where my little running log comes in handy. It hurt for the first time on Saturday, July 18--exactly 3 weeks ago. I did a 4 mile run in Grand Haven with a 9:1 run/walk ratio. This was my longest run to date, and I went pretty fast for me(finished in 38 minutes). The following Tuesday, my ankle really hurt, so I backed off to a 4:1 ratio and that worked nicely. To be conservative, I cut my miles in half for that week. The following week I did some work on the track and didn't push my ankle hard. It was a little sore, but not bad. Then I did a fast 2 mile (16:28--again, fast for me). Ankle was fine. Then comes last Saturday's race, and OUCH!! I was limping right after the thing and for a few days afterward.

From all the looking around I have been doing, I think this is either a shin splint in an odd area, or a peroneal tendon strain. Or perhaps peroneal tendonitis. Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation are called for.

Clown Walk

I've always pointed my toes outward too much when I walk. Friends have pointed this out to me; it's always apparent whenever I leave footprints, say in the snow for example. I call it my clown walk. Other's have called it being "duck footed" (that's the opposite of pigeon toed). Others call this "splay footed." Looks like there's a shoe for that. So I think I will try to correct the clown walk, but I must say that my left upper leg gets a little sore when I consciously point my toes straight while walking/running.

So I am going to start over, sort of. I am going to use walking to help with this. I plan to use my same mileage but tear down the ratios:

• Walk
  
• 1:4
• 2:3
• 3:2
• 4:1

That gets me back to my slowest run/walk ratio slowly. If my ankle hurts, I am going to go back a step. I did a 2.5 walk tonight (and another earlier in the week on Monday) with only slight discomfort in the ankle. I think I'll get back to 12 miles this week but with walking using the ratios above. From there, I'll climb back on the running:

• 6:1
• 7:1
  
• 8:1
• 9:1
• Run

But I don't think I'll get there before The Crim.

Speaking of The Crim

I still want to do the 8K, though I am tempted to do the 5K to compare my time to Muskegon. Still, there are lots more 5K races in the Fall, and almost no 8Ks. Plus, I had planned on doing the 8K, and it's 50% of the actual Crim Race, which I want to run in 2010. So, I will still do the 8K and will probably use a conservative ratio, something I had not planned to do at all. I might use a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio, and then just run the last mile full.