I'm gaining on you!

Hey guys!

I am totally, super, crazy, excited about the fact that I am actually seeing results in my running. I had a major set back last week but now I'm back up and running. (Literally!) For the past six years I've needed surgery on my left foot. It is something that flares up on me if I wear the wrong shoes for too long, or if I do huge amount of walking in bad shoes. I looked into surgery and honestly the surgery isn't what scares me... its the recovery time. I would be on crutches for at least 3 weeks and in a boot for up to three months. I am far to active to be out of commission that long.. especially when its something that doesn't happen all the time. Lately I've been very lucky that I haven't had any flare ups until recently.

The past few times I've gone to the gym to run I've been wearing these...

When my foot was really giving me a hard time about a year ago I looking into the Vibrams five fingers. I'd heard that they were great for people with feet issues. However I just couldn't see buying them for over $100 when I didn't even know if they would work for me and lets be honest all of these shoes look a bit funny. My sister told me about the FILA Skeletoes and that they were only $38. I figured I would give them a try and I have to say THEY WORK! Its like you've got nothing on your feet and I have to say that running in these is a totally different and better experience.

If you follow my blog I posted about running around my neighborhood last weekend. It had rained the night before that run and there were some puddles. It also was only in the high 40's low 50's. I didn't really want to have cold , wet feet while I ran so against my better judgement I put on some regular sneakers. BAD MOVE! Not only did I feel a lot more strain on my shins (that shin splint pain) but the next day I had a massive flare up in my left foot to the point where I couldn't even put any weight on it. I was so bummed out. I still went to the gym and worked out my arms and back but, I couldn't help watching everyone else on the treadmills and actually missing it!

Over the past week I read a lot about the condition I have and about what I can do to prevent flare ups. One of the things they say is to get shoes like the ones I have. Specifically the Vibrams brand. So after talking to Adam I think I'm going to invest in a pair of the Vibrams. The FILA's were fine for a while but the material is starting to come apart from the sole and they do feel cheap in comparison. Regardless of whether i'm running or not, they are better for my overall foot health so I can see spending the money on the best of the best since I'll be using them on a more everyday use. The other thing I read about to help prevent flare ups is to ice after every run.  Even if my foot isn't hurting I need to ice it to stop any swelling. Thats easy enough!

My foot started feeling much better and by Saturday morning I was having no pain and I was feeling ready to get back to the gym. I got up early, put on my FILA's and hit the gym. I knew I didn't want to push it so what I did was jogged. I didn't want to focus on speed I wanted to focus on endurance.... I was so proud of myself! I told myself just to listen to my music and not even focus on how far I went. Which is something I torture myself with... I constantly look at how far I went and how long i've been running. I am so proud to announce that I wasn't even winded and I had already gone one whole mile jogging! I thought it would be fun to see exactly how far I could go! I went 1.75miles jogging! I power walked the rest of the 0.25miles to make it an even 2 miles. I was so proud. I know its not that big of a deal next to a half marathon let alone a full marathon but to me it was a great accomplishment!

Don't get me wrong I am pretty sore today but I feel great! I had so much more energy yesterday and I was in such a good mood. I started thinking that if I'm making this much progress in just a couple weeks and with a bum foot for a few days, How much can I do before the wine and dine in November?? Maybe I can convince Adam to start training with me and we can do the marathon relay! :)

How are you guys doing on your new years resolutions? If you're training for any of the Run Disney events how are you doing?

xoxo