On Thursday I picked up my custom-made orthotics devices from Kintec to deal with the problem of my left foot. I’ve gone on about that pesky appendage before so the short version is this: the pad where the toes connect to the rest of the foot becomes sore after I’ve been walking or running for a varying period of time. That time depends on factors ranging from the softness of the surface I’m walking/running on, to the type of footwear to, possibly, the alignment of the planets or something because it can be a tad unpredictable at times.
My doctor and others recommended getting an orthotic so I booked an appointment, had my feet molded in foam (the pedorthist said I had the most relaxed feet she’d seen when making the mold) and on Thursday had the orthotics trimmed to fit nicely inside my normal walking shoes.
I was also handed a pamphlet on how to break in the orthotic. It’s intended that you wear them an increasing amount per day for two to three weeks and only use them when running after you’ve fully acclimated to wearing them in regular shoes. If they cause the feet to hurt, you’re supposed to remove them until the pain goes away.
When I tried them on at Kintec I did not feel any immediate bolts of pain, nor lose my balance and start knocking over displays. Pluses, both.
The next day I wore them all day just like I’m not supposed to do. But in my defense, they didn’t hurt at all. It was unexpectedly pleasant. The left foot did start to hurt a bit when I was sitting on a train riding the Expo Line home. It seemed strange that sitting made the foot hurt. The nominal pain went away shortly after getting home.
Here’s to the orthotic making complaints about that stupid foot a thing of the past. I don’t expect miracles but some improvement would be spiffy.
Today I had my left foot examined by a certified pedorthist. I got an official report and am heading back on January 21 to get an orthotic device that I will use in my walking-around shoes and running shoes. This is basically a fancy insole specifically molded to the shape of my foot and designed to minimize pain in the gimpy parts of my foot.
Here are the highlights (?) of my assessment:
Postural Observations Bilateral: Medium MLA, Hindfoot Valgus
Balance weak when single leg stance bilaterally
[Insert joke about Hindfoot Valgus being my new punk band name here]
The second line about balance is a polite way of saying I really suck at standing on one leg. My sense of balance is not weak, it’s silly and nearly non-existent. I could be on a tightrope a meter wide and still find a way to fall off. I don’t know why this is, but it’s been this way as long as I can remember.
Gait Assessment Bilateral: Time Of Heel Lift Early
Mtt arch collapse / splay
The first line was interesting to me. When I first gave serious thought to running back in 2009 my reading on the subject left me with the impression that heel injuries were common and and that a good stance would greatly reduce or eliminate the chance of injury. And in over 3,000 km of running I have never hurt my heel. Unfortunately this may have lead to me indirectly causing other problems. When I am striding–walking or running–I lift off my heel early, which tends to result in landing on the front of my foot harder than I might otherwise. You can probably guess which part of my left foot hurts.
Significant Clinical Observations:
Mr. James [I always feel weird when people call me Mr. James, partly because it makes me think of my dad and partly because it sounds like I’m being addressed a a teacher] presents with pain under left metatarsal heads. He has medium arch height, limited ankle dorsiflexion, dropped metatarsal heads with callousing bilaterally [interpretation: I have ugly feet. I was also asked if I had some sort of fungal infection because my toenail are like ten little mini horror shows]. He has limited ankle dorsiflexion leading to early heel rise and more pressure at forefoot during gait. Orthotics recommended to aid in shock absorption and take pressure off metatarsal heads. Footwear with good cushioning and forefoot rocker recommended as well as home footwear. Calf stretches regularly strongly recommended in treatment plan as well [this was a big thing; basically I’m as flexible as a board and need to change that].
I went home with a pair of sandals designed to cushion the proper parts of my feet. I’m to wear them around home, which is something that makes me feel old man-ish but if they work, it beats not old man-ish with an aching foot. I was also persuaded to get a new pair of running shoes with the aforementioned forefoot rocker, specifically the Hoka Speedgoat trail runners. Yes, the name is absurd. Will I get the urge to chew on tin cans as I run? Perhaps. It features “Balanced Meta-Rocker Geometry” and this particular feature is startlingly noticeable when you walk around in the shoes. I’m curious to see how they feel when running. They look like this:
The testing/assessment took about an hour and consisted of me walking/running on a treadmill and having my feet poked, prodded and stretched to see where it hurt, as well as the standing-on-one-leg thing. Fortunately the balancing part was not critical. The biggest takeaway as far as what I can do, apart from getting the orthotic, is to stretch multiple times every day and especially before running. Ironically, I used to stretch before running but after hurting an Achilles tendon back in 2012 I became concerned (paranoid?) that the stretching was increasing the chance of me injuring myself by overdoing it. The pedorthist (a nice woman named Lynne) told me this would be pretty much impossible to do without engaging in a level of excessive stretching idiocy that a rational human would not be capable of. This mostly reassured me.
I may try the goat shoes as soon as tomorrow.
To paraphrase the first Star Trek movie, The Foot Adventure is Just Beginning…
Run 332
Average pace: 5:06/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.06 km
Weather: Light showers, cloudy
Temp: 15-17ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 389
Total distance to date: 2793
With my regular Thursday run cancelled due to a major SkyTrain malfunction (see previous post) I decided to just wait until my regular Sunday run to continue, thinking that my hip might benefit from the extra days off, even if my pace wouldn’t.
As it turned out my pace did improve over the previous run by seven seconds, coming in at 5:06/km. This is still kind of poopy for a 5K but there were a few extenuating circumstances, one being a six day gap between runs is just enough to start losing a bit of the edge and this year has been a bit of a struggle to find any edge to begin with. The other was my left foot. It was hurting even before I headed out and about 3 km in I knew I would not be able to run a full loop around the lake. I did walk the rest of the way (around 10 km in total, plus the run) and the foot remained sore for a good while after.
I am resolved to get it looked at by a footologist because something just ain’t right with it and as it stands (ho ho) now, it’s the major impediment to improving my runs. The hip actually felt pretty good, both at the start of the run and on the walk home after the SkyTrain ride, where it usually stiffens up. It’s essentially a non-factor now, allowing me to better-focus all my rage on that stupid foot.
The run itself was about as opposite as the last run could get: it was literally half the temperature (15ºC vs. 30ºC), with a mix of light showers and clouds. It was kind of nice, actually. Had my foot not acted up I’d have had no issue doing the full loop. It was weird to hardly sweat on a run in the middle of July.
I don’t think people running beach concessions were as pleased with the weather.
A surprising number of people were out, apparently due to some big rowing shindig, as the rowing pavilion parking lot was replete with boats and people and traffic cones, with more people clogging up the trails with their dogs not on leashes.
This was the second run where the FIRE DANGER signs were out. These signs also inform you that there is NO SMOKING. Two men sitting at the bench on the second boardwalk were both smoking as I jogged by. Granted with the rain they were unlikely to start a giant brush fire with a careless toss of a butt, I just knew that once the signs went up it wouldn’t be long before I saw people smoking. It’s like the signs actually make them smoke.
People are weird.
The next run will hopefully see my left foot better-behaved, with a corresponding better time to go with it.
Run 323
Average pace: 5:32/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.09 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24-26ºC, felt like 27ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 392
Total distance to date: 2737
Yesterday I compared two different pairs of trail runners, the Saucony Peregrine 4 and the Brooks Cascadia 9.
The Peregrines were lighter and more flexible, with the upper more reminiscent of some of the minimalist shoes I’ve used. It also has very pronounced teeth-like knobs ringing the sole. The Brooks is stiffer and heavier but overall I preferred the fit and feel and felt the sole would work better on the tamer trails I run on.
Today I wore the Brooks for my weekly Sunday run. I had a few concerns going in. While new shoes often result in a faster run the first time out (giddy with excitement, perhaps) the weather was looking quite warm and humid today. That would slow me down. The hip was producing a strange twinge of pain for about the first 30 seconds of the walk to the lake before disappearing, meaning it was probably going to be a bit sore. Finally and most ominously, my left foot was sore even before I left.
The new shoes provided ample cushioning so the walk to the lake seemed uneventful and for a pleasant change I didn’t need to use the port-o-potty as soon as I got there.
I made what in retrospect a tactical error by choosing to run clockwise. This is the “easy” way but the southern side of the lake is also a lot more exposed to the sun. I should have stuck to CCW. But in the end it may not have mattered because my left foot started hurting noticeably right away and got bad enough that I knew I wasn’t doing a full run. I managed 5K before calling it quits. I even took the unusual step (ho ho) of sitting on a handy bench by the athletic field for about five minutes to let the foot recover a little.
I walked out of the park and caught the SkyTrain home from Production way station. Once home and with the shoes off, I tried flexing the foot and it hurt so much I ended up taking a Tylenol.
I don’t believe the new shoes made matters worse, as my right foot still felt comfy and fine after the run and the walk. I have no idea why the left foot was especially bad but I think I’m going to get it checked out by a foot doctor and look into extra padding for it for runs in the meantime.
I was hoping to come in around my last 11K pace of 5:12/km but instead finished with an abysmal pace of 5:32/km–for a mere 5K. That’s 36 seconds slower than my last run! The first km I came in at 5:21/km, which is Granny slow, so the run was doomed from the start.
It’s hard to imagine how the next run could be worse. Perhaps a giant sinkhole could open up on the trail in front of me or a crazed bear could come bursting from the bush, with an even more crazed raccoon riding on its back. Or my left foot could hurt even more.
My plan is to stick to the new shoes and see how they fare in the second outing. As I said, the right foot was fine and I felt no discomfort/tightness or anything caused by the shoes themselves.
Here’s hoping the next run is better. It would be difficult for it to be worse.
Average pace: 5:03/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce Loop, Conifer Loop and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 5.04 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 10.5-16ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 364
Total distance to date: 2470 km
The Thanksgiving weekend has featured unusually pleasant weather given that mid-October is definitely into The Rains category. Today was no exception as I headed out on the first run in quite awhile to follow another on a normal schedule.
I started around the same time, a little past 11 a.m. and it was a touch cooler. Despite the temperature rising over 5ºC during the run I didn’t notice it much, mainly because even 16ºC is not exactly sizzlingly hot. It is, in fact, rather pleasant.
My goal on this run was to best my previous pace of 5:07/km. My secondary goal, as it turned out, was to not bump into other people as apparently everyone decided a sunny Thanksgiving was the perfect day for a stroll around the lake. While there were plenty of joggers, great roving bands of walkers were even more prevalent. A few times they even briefly blocked my way. That doesn’t sound like a big deal but it actually takes more than a few carefully positioned people to slow me down when running.
The run itself went fine. The left foot started out a bit sore again but it seems to level off a lot earlier now, so even at its worst it’s fine to run and even walk on, just annoying. Bollocks limbered up a lot quicker, too, and was not an issue. I achieved my target by setting an average pace of 5:03/km.
Sadly I am going away on a trip in another day that will last six days so I’m probably looking at another week between runs. Once back I should be able to get back into a more regular routine.
I look forward to some normalcy on my runs. Pretty please!
Average pace: 5:07/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 12ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 364
Total distance to date: 2465 km
My plan today was simple: run 5 km and do it faster than last week’s super-sluggish pace. I was not feeling especially motivated to get outside but the sunny weather provided just enough to get me off my duff and I headed out shortly past 11 a.m. with the temperature a brisk 12ºC.
With the lower temperature I opted to wear my long-sleeved shirt but this proved unnecessary. I wasn’t overdressed or uncomfortable, I simply would have been fine with a regular t-shirt as it wasn’t that cool and I warmed up quickly.
I ran clockwise, starting precisely at the 0 km sign by the parking lot. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly, distractingly stiff Bollocks was. I ran somewhere between one and two km before it finally started to limber up and once it had it was fine. I still find it a little weird how this happens. It’s like it needs to be worked out to feel ‘normal’.
My left foot was being a bother before the run and remained so throughout but it never got so bad that it slowed me down. As I walked the remainder of the lake and back to the SkyTrain station (around 6 km, in addition to the 4 km to get to the lake) I was able to maintain a very brisk pace. That pleased me.
In the end my average pace was 5:07/km, a huge 12 second improvement over my previous pace, even if it’s rather mediocre for a 5K run. My next goal will be to nip a few seconds off that as I continue to work back into better form.
Despite being a sunny early Saturday afternoon, the trail was not overly crowded and everyone was polite and friendly. Overall I was happy with the experience. Also there are a growing number of black and brown striped caterpillars on the trail. I’m not sure if they’re hostile invaders or I just never noticed them before but they are beginning to challenge the black slugs for supremacy. The geese seem to have moved on.
Average pace: 5:18/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Spruce Loop and Conifer trails
Distance: 11.05 km
Weather: Cloudy, light sprinkles
Temp: 22ºC
Wind: nil
Calories burned: 798
Total distance to date: 2235 km
With my left foot still being stupid and my new Merrell shoes feeling more barefoot than my other pairs of minimalist shoes, I decided it might be better to run for awhile using more traditional trail runners and so yesterday I picked up a pair of Nike LunaryFly +3’s. Image:
I tried my usual size 8.5 first but they felt a little snug for my liking. The size 9’s seemed better while not feeling at all loose. As a bonus my toes had a little more wiggle room, something that was an issue with the MT 1010s.
Unfortunately my test of the new shoes was somewhat invalidated by my left foot being sore before I headed out, mainly due to doing a lot of household chores in the morning. Nonetheless, the more cushiony feel was apparent immediately and the walk and first 3 km or so of the run were not bad.
The right tendon was rusty and it and the left foot fought for attention for awhile but as always the right tendon settled down once I was warmed up and was a non-factor for most of the run.
Speaking of warmed up, it was 22ºC, which is not that hot, but it was also very humid and there was no real breeze at all. The muggy conditions had their usual energy-draining effect, most obviously seen in the second half of the run where I settled into a very steady but slower pace. That was also aided by the left foot, of course.
Some hours after the foot doesn’t hurt to walk on but I can still feel it. It’s starting to bug me that it’s not getting any better, though I have to admit running regularly is probably not helping a whole lot. I’m quietly hoping the doctor says it’s okay to run and am toying with the idea of splitting one of the weekly runs into a pair of shorter 5K runs to minimize the impact (ho ho) on my feet.
Given the weather and the foot, I can’t say I’m surprised or disappointed by the 5:18/km pace. I do wonder if/when I’ll break the 5:00 minute mark on a longer run again. Thumbs up for the Nike shoes, however. They probably helped, even if only a little, on the walk back with the extra support over a minimalist shoe.
Average pace: 5:09/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Spruce Loop and Conifer trails
Distance: 11.06 km
Weather: Sunny, some cloud
Temp: 20-17ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 796
Total distance to date: 2201 km
My left foot was not bothering me before the run and for the first half it lay dormant, only to come active not unlike a foot version of Vesuvius. Around the 5K mark the pain began and unlike previous runs there was a certain rigidity to the foot, where I could not feel any movement in the bone/muscle when flexing. This changed after a few more km when the flexing returned.
By that point the foot remained sore but it was no worse than it’s been before. After the last run I was hopeful that it was genuinely on the mend but it appears to be lingering on awhile yet.
I impressed myself by maintaining a steady pace and pushing through, though, coming in two seconds ahead of the previous run for an average of 5:09/km.
In reference to the title of this post, I am fairly unimpressed with the New Balance MT1010s I started wearing this year. While they aren’t responsible for my foot problems I still don’t care for the fit and feel. The top half is cheap, almost flimsy and the weird stitching of the tongue to the top of the shoe makes lacing difficult and seems prone to tearing. The shoes generally feel more snug than they should and the laces (since replaced as per a previous post) are crappy and cheap — even though the shoes themselves cost more than the awesome MT110s I wore last year.
I’m going to check out a pair of Merrell minimalist trail running shoes this week and if I like them I may ditch the 1010s long before they wear out. They’ve already worn out their welcome, I think.
Average pace: 5:25/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Spruce Loop and Conifer trails
Distance: 11 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 25-26ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 798
Total distance to date: 2178 km
Blergh.
Here’s today’s run in handy list form because as always, I really like lists:
The Good: My left foot does not seem to be getting worse. It may be getting better but at a rate that can be generously called slow. I also completed the full 11 km loop around the lake. It was also not raining.
The Bad: It was right on the edge of being warm enough to be uncomfortable. That was tolerable, especially with the sun lower for the second half of the run. The bad part was the complete lack of wind combined with the late afternoon warmth meant it was very muggy and the air had that ‘sucking the energy out of you’ quality to it.
Also in the bad department: my right tendon was twinging more often than not. It still isn’t painful but it’s discouraging to spend only a small portion of a run’ in the zone’ where I’m thinking about other things and not the constant ping of various discomforts. The right knee even made its presence known again near the beginning, although it settled down. And not forgetting the left shin which is growing a bit tender due to the number of runs I’ve put in now. This is the closest I have to a normal side effect of the running right now.
The Blah: I have not been as impressed with the MT1010s as I was with my MT110s, possibly the best running shoes evar. I still can’t part with them despite having put a combined 1400 km of running and walking on them. In all that distance I never had the laces come untied.
Today the MT1010 laces came untied. Twice. The first time was the right shoe a little under 2 km in. I ran to the 2K mark and used the bridge near the Nature House to prop my foot up to tie the lace. At the same time I paused my workout. When the lace was tied, I hit the home button on the iPod, as the screen had shut off. This apparently ends a workout. My run was now declared officially complete at a whopping 2 km.
Undaunted, I started a new run and kept going. Exactly 2 km later the left shoe came untied. This time I didn’t pause the workout, I just bent down, tied it as quickly as I could (overheating all the while) and took off again). Amazingly both laces remained tied for the rest of the run.
The one sliver of good news in all this is my pace combined over the two runs looks like it was 5:25/km, a minor improvement over the previous run. But what a miserable trip to get there.
For the next run I’m going to swap the old braided laces from the MT110s to the 1010s to prevent more untyings.
Average pace: 5:27/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Spruce Loop and Conifer trails
Distance: 11.1 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-22ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 808
Total distance to date: 2167 km
Today’s run was a disappointment. With the sky clear, temperature warm but not uncomfortably so and a light breeze blowing I couldn’t ask for much better conditions on a late spring day.
The first ominous sign was that merely walking around home and doing simple chores like sweeping led to my left foot feeling mildly sore. I’d also messed up my sleep schedule a bit over the weekend by going to bed hours later than normal. Even after getting up late to compensate I still felt droopy this morning.
The good news is that the left foot did not fare any worse than the previous run. It was a little sore by the end but still much better than previous times. I still opted to walk to the Production Way SkyTrain station instead of back along the Brunette River trail. No sense pushing it for the sake of burning a few more calories.
The right tendon flared up a bit from time to time but again it was never a major issue. Adding in as more delightful complications: the left shin flared a few times, very briefly and not really painfully. I chalk this up to the leg muscles starting to feel the effects of the year’s running. This should smooth out naturally over the summer. The right knee also made its presence known in a minor and brief way. I think this was the same knee that gave me trouble for one run last year. Again, not a big deal, just another kink being worked out. Or so I hope.
The big problem today was just energy. I steadily lost speed over the first half of the run and by the midway point I was so tired I actually contemplating stopping the run to rest before continuing. I didn’t stop, though, and ended up with a pace of 5:27/km, a full ten seconds off the previous run and effectively erasing the progress I made this week.
Oh well.
It will be interesting to see how the next run’s results compare. Also if my legs find new ways to ache and bother me.
Average pace: 5:17/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Conifer and Spruce Loop trails
Distance: 11 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 17ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 796
Total distance to date: 2156 km
I just barely squeezed out a full 11 km on today’s run by doing a complete loop right back to my starting point near the dam. The good news is twofold: I slightly improved my pace to 5:17/km while adding a little over 1.5 km over the previous run and my left foot/right tendon fared no worse than the prior run. The left foot may have even felt slightly better. A minor triumph at the end saw me wrapping up the run with a modest boost to speed.
What stood out the most were my leg muscles really starting to feel the effort. The increased speed is obviously making them work harder. I also experienced some mild cramping around the abdomen and muscles around my lower back, also likely due to the strain of the faster pace.
With conditions mild and pleasant I can say this was probably my best run since my left foot became a noticeable annoyance.
Average pace: 5:28/km Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Ran Piper Mill, Spruce and Conifer Loop trails
Distance: 11.01 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 16-18ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 795
Total distance to date: 2125 km
This was my first ‘real’ run after hopefully having sorted out the calibration weirdness that suddenly came up on my iPod. The weather was seasonal, temperature-wise, and cloudy, as is normal for the Victoria Day weekend. It had been over a week since I’d last been out and I’m still feeling some of the effects from the lingering cold (mostly tiredness and a stuffy head) so I was not expecting a blistering pace.
I completed just over 11K, a full loop around the lake and ran all three optional trails. My pace started a little under 5:00/km but sagged well before the halfway mark, not a surprising thing. My stamina held up nicely despite the tiredness so I’m sure my times will improve as I feel better. I also suspect that the new iPod + sensor combo is tracking at a slower pace than the iPod alone had and may be more accurately reflecting my fitness level given how few runs I’ve done so far this year.
The one troubling aspect is not my right Achilles tendon (which feels fine after a run if it’s limber) but rather the pad on my left foot, which continues to vex me. A ways past the halfway point I could feel it and though I kept a steady pace I’m fairly certain it’s inhibiting my overall speed. The worst part came at the end of the run and the walk back home. It hurts a lot more to walk on it than to run.
Two weird parts to this: it began before I resumed my running, so seems unrelated to it and secondly, it seems to pretty much become a non-issue if I give it a little rest. Even just stopping on the walk back for a minute or so and flexing the foot will make a noticeable difference. I may have to see one of those fancy footologists about this after my yearly physical.
Apart from my dumb foot, the run went about as well as I’d hoped. I’m planning on another run tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes. Foot, I order you to behave.
