Runner Insight

Mixed Emotions

Well let me tell you, after running my first marathon in 2007, I really needed some time off to heal.  After the stiffness wore off, I found that my right ankle was weak.  Sometimes walking on it, it felt like I may have had a stress fracture.  But it wasn’t all the time, and since I was not planning on running any time soon, I just made sure I was very careful with it. 

And my legs! They stayed sore for days.  I was amazed how long it took for my legs to stop feeling like twin tree stumps slogging through knee-high mud whenever I walked! 

Not only did I need to rest my body physically, I needed to rest emotionally as well.  Training for the marathon had taken up over half of my year!  In some ways it was hard to believe it was over.  For 6 ½ months my life revolved around my marathon training schedule, and now, suddenly, it didn’t. In a way, I felt more emotionally drained than physically. 

In the weeks that followed the marathon, I vacillated between elation and frustration. Of course I was proud of the fact that I had run a full 26.2 miles, but at the same time, I was disappointed that I had to walk a lot of the last 6 miles, which significantly slowed my finish time.  

I recognized that I had made some errors in my training and the actual running of the race.  It was too bad, but there was no way I was going to ever run another full marathon again…or so I thought. 

It was a good month or so before I started to feel the need to run again.  In the meantime I did a lot of walking, and that was just fine by me. 

It was not until over two years later, at the very end of 2008 that I realized that my structural alignment was off the charts.  A bout of sciatica brought me to my knees (literally).  During 2009 I spent lots of time getting to know my wonderful chiropractor and following his instruction on everything from stretching to hydration and nutrition.  And now I’m in tip-top shape. In fact, I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been in my life before considering that I’ve spent my entire adult life until 2009 with my back out of alignment as my body compensated for a knee injury I suffered in high school. In fact, I was so askew that I was 13.5 lbs heavier on my right side when I first went to see the chiropractor. 

Running now, with my body in alignment has allowed me to put in more miles in a week than I ever thought I was capable of.  It’s nice to know that if I ever do choose to run another full marathon, my alignment should have a major role in a better outcome at the finish line. 

Ready to Run?

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner     

Popularity: 14% [?]

Do What Ya Gotta Do 

Last year I ran in a little 4 mile race that took place in an area of town I am not as familiar with.  The Missoula Roots Run is in conjunction with the Missoula Roots Festival:  lots of live music, arts and crafts and plenty of food!  Having lived in Missoula all my life, I knew the area but had not run in this particular part of town since the mid-90’s.  So while I “knew” where I was, I was still a little bit nervous about running this race and staying on the race route. 

The race started at 11 a.m. which I thought was kind of a late start for the end of August.  But as it turned out, it was quite pleasant: not too hot yet with blue, sunny skies.  

The time was getting close to the start of the race, so T positioned me somewhere in the middle of the group of runners off to the right side.  

We were waiting for the bang of the start gun to go off when Anders, the owner of our local running store “The Runners Edge,” announced that we had to wait a few minutes to start the race as there was a train crossing right on the road we were starting on.  

As we stood there, a gal who was waiting next to us said she has seen me running out by her house.  I commented on the hill we would be running less than a mile into the race.  I told her I had not run hills in years, and was not sure how I would do.  She told us about what a fellow runner had advised.  

He said, “If you want to be good at running hills, Run Hills. If you want to run fast…Run Fast.”  

This was such a straight-forward concept, but very profound at the same time.  How many times do we say “I wish I could….”  But how simple it is, really: If we just simply did it, eventually we would get good at it.  

Me, personally, however, I do not wish to be good at running hills…

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner 

P.S. The hill was fairly easy, and I also ended up with lots of help on the race route as people were so generous when they saw I was using my white cane.  I am so grateful for the kind and loving women who took the time during their run to make sure I was okay and following the right route.  Sure makes me proud of my fellow runners! 

And I finished the four miles in about 46 minutes…Not too bad for a blind runner.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Slogging through Ice Puddles

I just couldn’t stand it anymore…it didn’t matter what the weather was like, I had to get outside and run this past week!  Even though the path I use still had some snow cover and patches of ice in shaded areas, I simply decided that it didn’t matter. If it was too bad, I would just turn around and head back home.

As it turned out, I landed in an ice puddle just as I exited our alley!  Well, I didn’t have to try and avoid puddles any more since my feet were now members of the “Polar Bear Club”. 

It felt so great to be outside again: breathing in the fresh, crisp winter air.  There was one place on the trail that could have been a child’s wading pool…and I managed to run right through the middle of it, splashing freezing cold water onto the front of my running tights.  Luckily, the weather was in the high 30’s to low 40’s.  I just gave a loud yelp and vowed not to hit it again on the way back!

It had been about 10 days since my last outdoor run, and I was more than ready.  The day before I had run on the treadmill for 40 minutes, and because of my limited eyesight and elusive balance, I had to hold onto the treadmill as I ran. This makes running on the treadmill, which is already a tedious task, more trouble than it’s worth. I would rather slog through ice puddles than run on a treadmill any day!

So you don’t have to let a few ice puddles get in the way of having a great run – I certainly didn’t.

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner

Popularity: 23% [?]