Lizzie's Latest

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -- Confucius
“A journey of 13.1 miles begins with the right shoe!” – Lizzie

This past week and a half has been filled with training, searching for the right shoe and pain.
Since the “cute” shoes just weren’t gonna cut it for my training, my journey begins…

Sunday May 20th I went to Road Runner (Worlds Largest Running Store) to get the “right” pair of shoes. I ran/walked in them on Monday and Wednesday. However, I had to take them back on Wednesday night because they were too tight and I was experiencing pain in my knees, but the shin pain wasn’t as bad.
Important to mention…my 13 year old daughter Natasha got up at 5:00 AM on Monday AND Wednesday to work out with me. Do I have the best kid or what?!

I get wider shoes and inserts; I now have all the support in the world! I spent Thursday trying to break them in by wearing them on my run/walk in the morning and wear them all day. Trained on the treadmill – Natasha just couldn’t get out of bed. I didn’t wear the new shoes on Friday.

I get to the Team in Training location extra early on Sat. (which happens to be Road Runner – for shoe clinic day) so that I can warm up by walking instead of running immediately.
Scott is with me – he volunteered to man one of the aid stations. Do I have the best husband or what?!

I feel strong and ready to run. This time I know my run is definitely going to be a lot better than my first run with the Team. I have the right shoes, I’ve been training and I have a positive mental attitude. After stretching, we start our run and almost immediately I experience pain in my right shin. ARGG!!! It hurts too much to run, so I walk. At this point, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to “walk thru the pain” or not. But I do anyway. I make it to the aid station, which is the half way point of my 3 mile “run”. Scott’s at the aid station with Gatorade and words of encouragement.

I turn around and head back the way I came. I tried a couple different times to run, but that caused a lot more pain. When I return to RR, my right shin is screaming and so are both of my knees. After my “run” (HA!) of 3 miles, I attend the shoe clinic. I tell the “fit” expert of my knee and shin problems and she works with me to find a different pair of shoes. I now have my third pair of shoes.

I iced my legs and took Motrin when I got home. I didn’t walk/run on Sunday or Monday hoping to recover from the pain.
Tuesday morning when I woke up at 5 AM, I had a very difficult time walking – my knees were very stiff and sore. I figured I just needed to warm up and stretch and that I would feel better.
I still went for my “walk” in the morning. I definitely could not run. Again, Natasha dragged her 13 year old tooshie out of bed to join me. Seriously, I have the best kid EVER!

After the walk, my knees feel worse, my shins still hurt and now my left foot is yelling at me. I can’t believe how much it hurts to walk and walking down the stairs has introduced me to a type and level of pain very new to me. At this point, I’m not sure what’s going on.
I thought I had waited long enough to recover, I knew to expect to be sore, but should I be in this much pain and have this much difficulty? This is not cool.

I’m not sure where to draw the line between ‘pushing through it’ and preventing injury.
So, I contact the TNT Coach – Coach Cheryl. I send her a nice long email detailing my story. With in 20 mins of hitting send she calls me.

We talk for at least 10 mins about what’s going on and what to do next. She believes that I messed up my legs bad enough on my first run that I never fully recovered. I probably shouldn’t have gotten my first pair of shoes while injured; it probably caused me to run differently to compensate for the pain. Same story with each pair of shoes since then.

I am now in recovery mode. Coach has instructed - no running, no walking. I need to find a cardio work out with zero impact. Not easy to do when the only gym equipment I have at home is a treadmill. So, Scott and I went to check out gyms last night. Checked out a small local gym first, then we checked out the YMCA. They have an awesome deal for families AND a great discount for military. Scott is retired from the Navy, so we get the military discount. Scott, Natasha and I are now proud members of the YMCA. (Can ya hear it?….It’s fun to stay at the Y….M….C….A – lift those arms!!!)

My knees still hurt. I’ve been limping around the office looking like a fool. Eating Motrin like it was candy and freezing my knees every night at home. But each day is a little better. I’m trying really hard to not get discouraged. I still have enough time to make my goal, just have to get through this set back. Hopefully, I’m getting this out of the way now and won’t have any more issues for the rest of my training. That’s my goal!!!

Coach also provided me with some links to articles regarding shins and knees. I’ve included them for any of you who might be interested.

Link to knee articles:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,ssss6-241-285--6040-4-2X3X4X6-5,00.html
http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/toolscontent/0,7156,s6-241-285--7773-0,00.html?toolName=What%20Hurts?

Shin article:
http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/toolscontent/0,7156,s6-241-290-291-529-0,00.html?toolName=What%20Hurts?