I guess when you’re training for a marathon, you have to expect that there will be aches and pain. I’ve tolerated sore knees, hips, ankles, necks, backs, and numb fingers. This time around I’ve got a new nemesis: heel pain. It started up about three weeks ago, when softball season was at its peak and we were playing 2-4 games a week.
I think I’ve pinpointed the source: my $30 softball spikes.
I bought them at the local sporting goods retailer last summer and had a few games left to try to break them in. These were replacing cleats I had worn since high school, an old and cheap pair of Reeb0ks, which had served me well but had to be retired. I wore the Adid@s pair for a few games and they felt fine, or at least I didn’t notice anything weird about them.
At the time I was also (supposed to be) training for TCM ’06, though I suspect that we weren’t doing much running in mid to late August. Flash back to a crazy work travel schedule and some serious chafing/rash/poison ivyoakwhatever that was preventing me from doing much of anything, let alone running.
When I pulled the cleats out this summer I didn’t notice any problems until the running started ramping up. My heels were in so much pain by the end of a game that I could barely walk to the car. As you can imagine, this makes running an exercise in self-torture. The BF and I had committed to doing a better job of training for the marathon this time around, so I had to make some choices. This included sitting out of some ball games and in the last few, even calling on a designated runner once I reached first. And this has seemed to help, though I’m still hurting if I spend most of the day on my feet or finish a long run (Saturday was a 13 mile day).
The training program we’re following has four days of running, one day of cross-training, and two days of rest. I’ve been somewhat lax on the XC days but have really had to make myself rest on the off days. in the past this just meant no running, but I’ve taken it as far this time as to mean very little activity, and especially staying off my feet whenever possible. It’s been a good excuse to get some reading in (just finished the last HP book) and pull out some old knitting WIPs that have been collecting dust upstairs.
But I feel oh so guilty for not getting out and doing something on these days. Yet, when I take a day off of my feet, they feel oh so much better.
