Fixing my feet

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Bo

I had my feet checked out by an orthotist last week. I arrived at his office with a pair of my old and current running shoes and a history of how the stabbing pain all began. He questioned me about my running history, scribbling notes on a fresh A4 piece of paper. “When did the plantar fasciitis begin? How long have you run for? How old are your shoes? How often do you stretch?”

You can clearly see that the older model on the left looks very different to the one on the right.

When I showed him the two pairs of running shoes, it was quite obvious I had not noticed how completely different the same shoe was. I have been an Asics fan since I started running. I have bought the Gel Nimbus shoe year after year. But when we studied the older model with the newer one, they looked like two different shoes! WTH?

The image on the left is how normal feet run. My feet, shown in the image on the right, is where you can see how my left foot hardly touches the ground and how all the weight is sitting in my right heel (where all the pain is).

Image on the left is how a normal person’s feet should stand. My feet, on the right, shows how much weight I am distributing on the balls of my feet. And yes, the right heel taking strain.

He made me run up and down a computerized mat to assess my feet. Again, quite revealing. The plantar fasciitis pain runs into my right foot, but it’s mainly caused by the lazy left leg.

The conclusion: There’s nothing wrong with my feet. The problem lies in the weakness of my hamstrings, glutes and calves. My current running shoes are too big for me and my feet slip up and down inside the front of the shoe. Ironically, I’ve always bought a men’s shoe for the wider fit. Don’t ask me why I’ve never considered other brands before? The shoes also cause me to over-pronate. I’m also tying my shoe laces incorrectly.

He wrote out a few instructions for me to take back to my bio, Mari. I need to focus on key strength exercises but quite honestly, I need to be disciplined to do the exercises if I have any hope of recovering.

New Balance Fresh Foam 1080s

I must admit, I walked out of his offices relieved that I knew what was wrong. I was gutted to miss the Pick ‘n Pay half marathon this weekend but I did buy new shoes! Say hello to my New Balance babies! How did I choose these running shoes? Blog post to follow this week.

My right foot aches

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Bo

Plantar fasciitis. It sounds like some sort of fungal disease. An itch of some sort. When I say the words, people give me the look as if I’ve sworn at them. But it’s simply a foot injury which sends shivers up the spines of most runners.

My foot is sore. Again. I had plantar a few years back. It sent me into recovery and rehab for a good few months. No running, no walking, just rest. I recovered but here we are again. I’m miserable and irritated.

I’ve Googled the hell out of this one, as one does. I know which exercises to do – the foot stretches, the calf stretching and the rolling of a ball under my foot. But in the back of my mind, I remember how long it took to get rid of plantar last time and I’m gutted.

The last stretch of Bobbies.

Today’s Bobbies 10km race wasn’t pleasant. My foot was sore from the minute I put my running shoe on. I thought the pain would go away, as it has for the last couple of weeks, even through Johnson Crane 10km, but not today. I struggled while the dude carrying a tog bag on his back passed me, I ached as the two speed walkers marched right passed me and I nearly passed out up that last dreadful hill as the 80-minute bus sang it’s way to the finish.

I have the Pick ‘n Pay half marathon next weekend. That’s twice the distance I ran today. It’a going to be a very long week ahead deciding what to do. Any advice? Send it my way!

Discussions with my hamstring

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Bo

What started out as an irritating hamstring ‘niggle’ in August became sore and eventually stopped me from running just after the Andrew Greyling half marathon at the end of September. I did some foam rolling (with no idea if I was doing it properly), I watched a few YouTube videos on how to stretch my hamstring (random videos by mainly crossfit buffs) and then resorted to popping a few cataflams in the hope that the pain would go away. But it didn’t and I started to panic.

So I went back to basics & consulted the experts:

Lyno therapy: It worked for my plantar fasciitis two years ago and after the bankie test with Sports Injury Clinic’s Jacqui Young, I could see just how weak I was. For those who know lyno, you must know what a desperate state I was in to opt for the therapy. I cried like a baby during that first session but post session, I finally bought my own bankie.
Jacqui also gave me a few simple stretches to build up the strength in my glutes, quads and hammies. You can’t believe how 20 minutes of leg raises, bridges, squats and lunges can work up a sweat and make you feel the burn in areas you’re weakest in.
I bought new shoes. The theory is that you only get between 500 and 800kms in a pair of running shoes. I border on the 500 – 600kms. My feet immediately felt the difference in new shoes! (And yes, I chose blue & not pink again as a sign that colours should not define a gender.)
Rest and review. When I look back, I suspect that maybe it was too much too soon? I was disciplined enough to run shorter distances through winter but as soon as the races started up again in Jozi, I ran one half marathon after the other every weekend. I’m kidding myself thinking they are Sunday LSD’s because let’s face it, every runner pushes themselves during a race and I know I did.

The lessons I’ve taken out of this are that there are areas in my running that I am possibly neglecting, such as core fitness. I can’t just run. I need to ensure I have the strength in my legs and back too. I need to be clear about my goals. What is important? To run a 21km every weekend or work towards one that I will enjoy?

I’ve also realized that I can’t rush the healing process. Don’t laugh but it felt as if I needed to apologize to my body, and to my hamstring.

I’ve since had long conversations with my hamstring and the negotiation process has started. I have agreed to show my body a bit more respect and my gammie hammie has agreed to start healing.