That. Was. No. Joke.

Wow. 10 x 200 -- done. With moderate success.

But first, let me back up to earlier in the day. I had a follow-up appointment with my podiatrist who checked out my foot again and told me that, yes, I should have surgery. He doesn't like the fact that my toe has only about 10% of the mobility that it should have. Yeah, I don't like that too much, either. So, he recommends surgery. But, he's scheduling surgeries for December and January right now, which means that if I want to have the surgery this winter, I have to get on it.

Argh!

I have to give this a lot of thought. Right now, I'm leaning toward sucking it up for another year or so and considering the surgery for next winter. My orthotics are working well, keeping my legs and joints in line. They should slow the progression of my bunion so it might not get all that much worse over the next year. But, what if it does? I'd kick myself if I don't get the surgery this year and then end up hobbling around next spring/summer. Argh . . . such decisions!

OK, so that was the morning.

For my afternoon, I called upon my inner muthah runnah and ran the speediest speed I think I've ever run!

It was, as I wrote in my title, no joke. No joke!

I started with a nice warm-up and then sped up for a half mile. I recovered then sped up again for two 400s. They were all run slower than my target for the 200s and I think the gradual build up worked well for me.

After the two 400s, I broke it down and ran with focus, determination and -- most of all! -- speed. The first five weren't too bad. But, number six? Um, hmm . . . that one threw me off. I had to slow down at the end and I finished it in about :50 (rather than my target of :45). I was really bummed and my mind started to go into silly brain mode and think about how I was going to have to quit and that this was going to be yet another failure.

Fortunately -- or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it! -- I had to face the index card. As you may remember from last week, I just can't let an index card down. So I shook off the poor performance of the sixth repeat and got back to work.

I finished the next three repeats a bit slower than the first five, but I finished them strong, so I felt OK about it all. Then, I busted it for the last repeat and cooled down for a mile. Here's what my workout looked like:

1 mile @ 10:00
800 @ 4:00 w/400 rest
2 x 400 @ 2:00 w/400 rest
200s (w/200 rest):

• 1-5 - :44-:46 (yay!)
• 6 - :50 (boo!)
• 7-9 - :48 (eh.)
  
• 10 - :45 (yay!)

1 mile @ slooooooooow
Total: 6.25

Never have 6.25 miles made me feel so wiped out and yet so strong. It's true, I wanted to quit. Repeatedly. I kept thinking there was no way I could complete the workout, and yet I did it. I held on. I found a way to push through the dying feeling and get it done.

I was a foam rolling maniac last night and, today, my legs feel OK. Tired, but OK.

And now, this muthah runnah is off to be just mom. Have a great day!

~ Felice

The Magic Foot Doctor!

Not only was yesterday my blog birthday but it was also the day of my big appointment with The Magic Foot Doctor, Curer of all Things Podiatry-ish.

I had, you could say, high hopes.

You know, like if the guy had opened a cabinet full of snake oil I would've taken it all, no matter the price. Desperate? Sure, I'll admit to being desperate. But it was more that I had finally decided to see a professional (as opposed to the self-diagnosing doctor that I pretend to be, late at night, alone with the Google search engine) that raised my hopes to ridiculous levels.

What, I now wonder, did I expect the guy to do? Hypnotize my toe? Not likely. My Magic Foot Doctor turned out to be a regular guy. Regular, tie-wearing, polite, business-like doctor guy.

He examined my feet. "You have bunions," he said. I agreed. "And it looks like you have only about 10 percent mobility in the right toe." Hmm... "And some bone spurs." Double hmm... "Maybe a little plantar fasciitis." Triple hmm... "And what we sometimes call a bunionette on the fifth metatarsal." OK, really, this is enough.

Diagnosis: Three bunions, bone spurs, plantar fasciitis. Of the three bunions, only the one on my right big toe is particularly bad because it affects both the top and side of the joint and has limited my toe's mobility considerably. But, Mr. Regular Foot Doctor Guy did say that the others would just get worse if left alone. He took a mold of my feet for orthotics and explained what would be involved in a bunionectomy. I don't even like typing that word, so I'm not going to go into the details. The bottom line is that I would be able to walk and drive after the surgery, but would not be able to run for two to three months.

Let's hope the orthotics work wonders.

I should get the orthotics in about a month and then I'll go back to Mr. Regular Foot Doctor Guy in three months. He expects that the orthotics will make a big difference. I can't wait!

So, that's that.

If you missed my last post, check it out and enter my birthday giveaway (the deadline is midnight tonight)!

~ Felice

Running injuries and treatment.

Take it and Run Thursday topic: Running injuries and treatment. OK, Runners' Lounge, I'll give you what I've got!

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you probably know that I have a nagging, painful injury: a bunion on the big toe of my right foot. That one is chronic. Chronic, annoying and, after stopping the yoga, not getting much worse. But not getting better, either. There is little I can do (aside from avoiding high heels and using my yoga toes) while waiting for my appointment with the podiatrist but when I finally do get in to see that Magic Foot Doctor, and he magically takes away all my pain, I'll be sure to share whatever I learn.

Until then, what do I have for you? Well, you may recall that I've had several other minor running injuries that, unlike the bunion, have come and gone in a flash. If, that is, you consider a day or two a flash, which, when referring to running injuries, I do. Yes, aside from a twisted ankle last fall (which was a shopping, not running, injury) none of the injuries have kept me from running for long.

I believe that I owe my (mostly) injury-free running to the following:

• Rolling -- not stretching -- before a run. This may make some people cringe but, for me, stretching before running just wasn't working. My muscles need to be warmed up before I can stretch so I use The Stickto roll out my out my legs pre-run and save my stretches for afterward.
• Sitting on a tennis ball. OK, the humble tennis ball may just be my favorite running gadget of all. For real. At the first sign of a tight ITB, hip, or hamstring, I'm on the ball. Nothing works better (well, maybe weekly massages would but that's not in the cards . . .)!
• Resting when necessary. What I have found is that rest is often necessary. I rarely run more than three days in a row and never more than four. That's what works for me. My body operates best when I balance quality runs with rest. And when I feel an injury coming on, I'm not afraid to take an extra day (or more) off. I would much rather skip a run or two than a month of running.
• Taking on the hills. Maybe it isn't normal to love hills as much as I do but I swear by them. Hilly routes, hill repeats, hill fartleks -- I love them all. I believe that hills helps improve your form and strength and when you run them for speed, there is much less impact on your legs so the workouts are less taxing on your body. Hills are your friends!

That's what works for me right now. I hope some of it can work for you, too!

~ Felice

Le Ab Rocket est arrivé!

Maybe I'm just in the mood for some Beaujolais Nouveau because, really, the Ab Rocket doesn't seem all that French. But somehow that's all I could think of since Mr. UPS stopped by my house: Le Ab Rocket est arrivé!

It's on repeat in my head and if there was anyone to talk to around here, I'd be saying it -- or maybe even singing it, which would be horrible since I can't hold a tune -- over and over. Le Ab Rocket est arrivé! Le Ab Rocket est arrivé!

Now that it has arrived, I kinda want to check it out. Just sneak in a few sit ups. Do you do sit ups with the thing? Or are they crunches? Or something else -- maybe rocket ups? Ab blasters? Dunno. I think I'll leave it be and allow my mom to use it first since it is her gift, after all.

I plan to ask her for a full review, however, which I will post here. So stay tuned!

On a more serious note -- yes, there is something more serious than the Ab Rocket -- I had a crap run last night. Crap because of my crap bunion. I'm bummed. Things have been going so well since my silly ankle injury and now my bunion is acting up. I feel elderly.

It's my fault and I shouldn't be surprised because I did wear high heels to my party on Monday and they always aggravate my bunion (right foot, big toe). But I didn't expect to be quite so sore during my run yesterday. I found that the pain wasn't as bad when I sped up, so I kept my pace fairly quick and was able to go for a few miles. Once I slowed down, though, I was in serious pain. And walking afterward was really tough. Today, I'm more or less pain-free so I hope to be able to run again this evening. Keep your fingers crossed!