As mentioned previously, I decided to enter the Melbourne Marathon this year. I ran the Run for the Kids and the Great Train Race (Puffing Billy) back in April, but hadn't done much running until about June when I thought I would actually give it a go. I tracked down some Marathon programs from the bro and settled on a 16 week program. My plan was to do as much of the program as possible alongside my bike riding, as I was committed to doing a couple of MTB Enduro's in July and August. I would train till the end of July, see how I was travelling, and then enter before the early bird entries closed. Apart from the few days before and after the July enduro, I pretty much stuck to plan, and completed usually 4 of the 5 running days per week, usually missing the speedwork session and officially entered on the 31st July.
August was travelling pretty much the same. The enduro was mid August, and I had a few days off before and after the enduro. With the last enduro out of the way, it was full steam ahead with the running. I had read and been told the long sunday runs were not too be missed. I was a bit worried about these as I would be doing distances I had never run before. I found I could get through these well aerobically, but I was starting to get some weird pain in my right foot.
I kept persisting with the long runs, mid week runs and pain, until a few days in a row of stepping out of bed to get a sharp pain through the base of my foot, it was time to see someone. The Physio said it was Plantar Fasciitis and it was good I had seen him this early. I was given a different type of calf stretch to do, self massage of my foot with a golf ball, and I had my foot taped. It was also recommended I get some insert orthotics to help with toe flexibilty and also look at getting a new pair of runners.
With all this, the pain was still there but I was getting through the runs. My next long run, my first 32k run, I got through most of it OK, but at around 28k, I felt this weird twinge in my foot. I immediately thought 'Thats not good', and moved onto running on the grass. I thought I should have stopped, but the softer grass seemed OK, so I kept going. My foot felt really unstable and was tingling, but it didn't impede me, so I continued. At around 1k left in my run, I felt another twinge. Again, I thought I should stop, but also, it didn't seem to affect me so I finished the run at 32ks. When I got home I iced my foot a few times.
The next week was a lighter week, which was timely as I didn't know how I would go after my first 32k run and foot issues. My inserts came this week, and I picked up a new pair of runners as well. I misunderstood the physio and did my next two weekend runs with the inserts in. They caused quite a bit of pain through the more pronounced arch area, but I managed to get through, the long run being 19k that weekend. I also kept my runs to gravel trails and edge of roads to give myself extra cushioning.
Once I pulled the inserts out and only used them for work shoes, I was back to the new runners on their own. The mid week runs were still painful to start with, then the pain progressively eased, I was never truely comfortable.
The next thing that started happening was a new pain in my left foot, and I thought my left foot was hitting the ground harder. I could hear a louder slap. OK, so I'm overcompensating now and throwing my gait totally out. This pain was so bad it took over from whatever I felt from my original bad right foot. I kept up the calf stretching and self foot massage, and tried to run as naturally as possible and to stop thinking about it so much. The pain continued. It was getting to a couple of weeks out from the big day when Jo ran with me one night. She noticed I was running differently, sort of dragging, nearly scuffing my feet. I was that out of whack from the gait altering foot injuries, that I was starting to do the Cliff Young shuffle. I then tried to run more upright with more spring in my step, and in doing so, immediately felt less pain in my left foot.
So during the last couple of weeks, in trying not to think about my gait, I still had to think about running upright with spring. As the weeks played out, I noticed I could get through without the same level of pain. I noticed my right foot was a lot better, but still felt like there was soft tissue pain, the left foot pain had also eased. Tapering during these two weeks would also have helped. It wasn't until the tuesday night before the marathon that I ran my regular 5.5k block that I noticed I actually had some strength in the legs, I punched up the short climbs with ease, and my new runners felt good. Maybe all this training has done something after all. I had been distracted by the injuries to even know how I was travelling. The motivation for the marathon had dived during the worst stages of the foot injury problem and all I wanted to do was get back out on the bike.
I still had some doubts as to how the foot would go over 42.2k, but I did have some fitness there, so it was a matter of wait and see.
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