Still puffed up but hit 2000+km

Distance 33.5km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 2002.2km] Week 52

Monday, 19-Dec. 8km
A warm Monday evening finds me at the beach at 5.30pm, the sand is soft and it's easier to take to the footpath. I am finding with the tendon problem in my right ankle that I have a problem keeping my big toe
lifted when I land, this is causing a bit of friction and I have rubbed a blister up on an earlier run and I can feel it each time I run on the pavement. I could have run a 10km today but I was a bit cautious and thought of my feet and turned around 1km from my usual point. I had nothing to fear the feet were fine after I gave them a clean.


Wednesday, 21-Dec. 11km
My longest run for a while. I had to test my calf out and it didn't fail even though it is enlarged. What the hell is it I keep asking myself. I have never had a calf problem that has caused ankle swelling, when you get mysteries like this it is unnerving, you always think of the worst. This was a late evening run, I set off after 7.30pm and ran up the beach to Semaphore and managed to turn around and run down the concrete and grass and get halfway back before the sun set fully. I was feeling tired by the end but happy with my effort.


Thursday, 22-Dec. 6km
A word of advice, one that everyone knows anyway. Don't go running shortly after having your evening meal as you will feel like crap. Well, I did and... I did.
My left calf is still swollen but it is not that painful, it is very strange. I had thought that maybe a run would help it and it would be good to see how a back to back run would go. Not very well as it turned out. I felt slow and the food sat heavy in my stomach. I intended to run north up the beach until the sun set at around 8.30pm then turn around and come back but sometimes you just know when to call it a day. I managed about 3km up the beach, it wasn't going to get any better so I turned around and headed home.
Now only a few days until Christmas day race and I'm still a wreak (but improving very slowly).

Sunday, 25-Dec. 8.5km
Well I managed to get around the Fanatics Christmas run unscathed. I was conservative, if you call barefoot running conservative, and ran the short course of 8.5km. My sports watch bleeped furiously the entire way around telling me that I was above my training zone, I felt breathless for the first few kilometres then just accepted it wasn't going to get any better. At the turn off point for the 13km and 21km I decided to head for the short course home. I seemed to get to the finish line 1st, as it was an informal race that doesn't necessarily mean I won but it would be cool if I did. I recorded a time of 45m 23s which beat my time from last year by I think around 3 minutes. If my fitness had been up and no calf problems I could have got closer to 40min oh well there is always next year. I hung around and got some photos of the other finishers so I can send them to the running club for their gallery.

I also hit the 2000 kilometres of barefoot running mark with this run so that is a nice Christmas present. The next run in the calendar is on Australia Day on the 26th of January, the 16km run to Hallet Cove from Brighton. I hope my legs are good enough for that one.

Neil

Puffy ankle!!!

Distance 5km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1968.7km] Week 51

Saturday, 17-Dec. 5km
What a week, and injury tsunami. Not only did I get calf knots last week, this week my left ankle swelled up. Not in a painful way, it was some kind of fluid retention, I believe caused by the calf being injured and not flushing out the lower leg area as it normally does. I also spend around 8 hours a day in a sit down job where I hardly move away from my computer and so that would be like being stuck in an aircraft for a long flight, day after day
I was desperate to get out for a run. I went out on a short test run today and covered about 5km on beach and road. I felt very unfit, my heart rate was high for what would normally have been a light jogging pace. The beach was hard work, no flat wet sand anywhere, it as all dry and scuffed up making running harder again. I can still feel my ankle pain, more around the top side, must be where the tendon attaches to the tibial bone. I'll focus the ultrasound more on this area now.
The Christmas race is now just 7 days away.

Neil

Return of the Calf Knot

Distance 7.5km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1963.7km] Week 50

Monday, 5-Dec. 5.5km
A good day for running. The ankle is feeling a slight bit better but now I have sore calve. I was going to run an 8km today but having sore calves does not make for the best running experience so I called it quits after a run down the beach then halfway back. You have to run how you feel and if it doesn't feel right just stop.

Wednesday, 7-Dec. 2km
The tide was on its way in and the sand was soft and angled at the north end of the beach.  I started slow to get into the right rhythm but I was aware of some calf tightness in my left leg, left over from some deadlifts at the gym I assumed. After a kilometre I decided to come off the beach and run on the pavement, the pavement was hot from a day under the sun and I started to worry that I may get some foot blistering if I kept it up for too long so I headed back to the beach. That was when the calf tightened and it became painful, I stopped straight away and had a bit of a dip in the water. There was no way I could run on it now so I had no choice but to walk back to the car. I thought I'd put all this behind me well over a year ago but no it doesn't seem to matter how many years of barefoot running is under your belt the calf problems can still arise.
I am no on enforced rest for this week, I'll see how it feel next week, meanwhile I'll keep up with the Thera roller to see if I can find where the problem areas are and massage them out.

Neil

10km on pavement again

Distance 21km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1956.2km] Week 49

Monday 28-Nov. 4km.
My short Monday run along the beach. The ankle pain is still with me, I can't tell if there is improvement or not. I have been using the ultrasound unit for around a week now but there are no noticeable changes to the ankle.

Wednesday, 30-Nov. 7km
The afternoon sea breeze was more like a gale blowing from the south, whipping up the sand, making it swirl around on the flat beach. I don't mind running into the strong wind when barefoot, the shorter stride makes it more efficient and I don't get tired. In fact running with the wind behind me gives me more problems in that I can't control my landing as well. I managed 7km before the ankle irritated me enough to make me stop. It really does take the fun out of running when you are trying to shake and injury.

Saturday, 3-Dec. 10km
Time is zooming by now, only 3 weeks to Christmas, not enough time to get the miles in to run in a half marathon, especially when still not fit. The good thing about a morning run is the wind hasn't picked up at that time of day, it always gets stronger as the day goes on. I felt ok enough today to run on the pavement, I took it gently and my ankle didn't complain too much. It has been the longest distance I have done in a month and my feet are not seasoned to the surface and distance. They felt a bit sore in the last kilometre. I was quite happy with the run, I didn't get any after effects in the ankle. That usually comes the next day after a nights sleep. When asleep the foot is usually in a planar flex position and that seems to irritate the ankle and make it feel painful when I wake and walk around. I am going to try gentle dorsiflex stretching to see if I can get the foot back into the full range of movement without pain.

Neil

Ultrasound

Distance 17.5km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1935.2km] Week 48

Wednesday, 23-Nov. 7.5km
A very windy Wednesday, especially at the beach where the wind blowing up from the south was around 35kph.
The beach has some good crust sand and also wet sand, there was quite an incline on the wet sand though and that seems to irritate my ankle.
It was tough work running into the wind but with the barefoot style it is much easier than how I used to run back in the days of shoes. Running into the wind back then would have seen me stop numerous times to rest, now, with gravity on my side, its a breeze so to speak.
I still have not shaken the ankle pain off, it is persistently hanging on. My portable ultrasound unit arrived at the beginning of the week and I have commenced treatment, starting on a medium setting for 10 minutes twice a day. I just move the head of the unit in a circular motion around the area where the pain is coming from. This is meant to break up any build up of scar tissue, the tissue is the bodies response to the injury, it encases the joint in strong fibrous support material so stop excess movement while the tendon heals. The only problem is that it is not removed after it has healed and you are left with a stiff joint.
It is making a difference, the ankle feels less painful after and has more flexibility.
I am hoping that in a couple of weeks I will be back to full fitness and back to running on the roads again.

Saturday, 26-Nov. 8km
I got my short summer haircut today in preparation for the warmth of the summer months. Although I was getting to like the longer hair. The day was blustery with black clouds all around threatening rain, the wind was still blowing as it has been for most of the week. There was plenty of firm sand to run on today which makes for faster running. I kept the stride short and cadence up at 180. The ankle still niggled but not in the way it has done a week ago.
I was satisfied with the run and extended it out a little to 8km. I finished up just in time to avoid the downpour that followed.
I have been treating the injury site with the ultrasound, a 10 minute session in the morning and another in the evening. It is making a difference even though you don't feel anything as you are massaging the area with the ultrasound unit.
I also got to try out my new Thera Roll which arrived yesterday. It takes a bit of getting used to and when you do roll it over a tight area it really digs in, it is very hard to relax and let the muscle release. Some areas are just too painful, the ITB down the upper sides of the legs, they probably need a lot of attention.

Sunday, 27-Nov. 2km
Drills, back to the Pose drills. I had intended to go for a run today as the weather was perfect but once again the ankle was playing up, a cramping spasm made it sore. As an alternative I decided to go across to the nearby field and get some long overdue drills to sharpen up my form. It has been so long since I last did some I couldn't remember which drills I used to do. Interestingly my ankle felt better doing the faster sprints that it does on the longer runs. I also found some advice on the net that I will follow to see if it makes an improvement. Where as I have been doing eccentric calf drops that strengthens the calf the advice was to do 4 x 1 minute up on my toes, this must be done 4 times a day. I will try this for 1 week to see if I find noticeable difference.

Neil

Slow start

Distance 23km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1917.7km] Week 47
 

Monday, 14-Nov. 4km
Just a short run along the beach. I have a tight left calf since I ran on Saturday. I'm am not going to stretch as it might cause more damage. Its not too bad to run on but makes itself more noticeable as soon as I stop.

Wednesday, 16-Nov. 6km
The calf soreness is still with me and I actually cut the run short this evening as it was irritating me too much. After getting back I tried some trigger point therapy by rolling my calf along a rolling pin, wow that was painful, I must have lots of knots in there. Each time I rolled it onto a painful spot I held the position and tried to relax, relaxing at first makes the pain stronger before it starts to subside.

Friday, 18-Nov. 7km
Well the rolling pin trigger point therapy seems to be working. I have worked most of the stiffness out of my calves. It was a hot day today, getting up to 37C, it would have been a few degrees cooler at the beach maybe around 32C when I went for my run. I had some decent sand to run on, not too soft. The calf felt a lot better but I still have niggling ankle pain. It is not the end of the week and still no sign of my portable ultrasound unit. I shall send an email to the company in the USA to see if they can help me track it down. It would be helpful to know if it was sent by air or by sea, if it is by sea then a month for deliver is common. If it went by air then in must be held up somewhere. If I can find out which city it went to then I may be able to contact the postal service to find out where it is.
I have also purchased a Thera Roll. This is the the thing tat will replace my rolling pin as a treatment aid to get the muscles into shape and iron out the tensions. They are a bit pricey but I hoping it will be money well spent, after all a massage costs around $60 per hour.

Thera Roll - Firm version (purple)

Sunday, 20-Nov. 6km (walk)
A bit of early morning rain woke me up at around 7am, I checked outside, it looked like the rain would be around for a while, but while eating my breakfast, it blew away and was replaced by blue sky and sunshine.
I resisted the temptation to run and instead had a good barefoot walk for an hour, covering around 6km. The ankle felt good but each time I tried a light run on the pavement I could feel some pain return. I really enjoy feeling the surfaces I'm walking on, from smooth to rough, cold to warm and yet all around me people have runners strapped to their feet that are making their feet hot and sweaty and depriving them of any sensation. I just wonder how much landfill has been used in the disposal of all the millions of worn out running shoes, what a waste of resources.

Neil

Getting better

Distance 7km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1894.7km] Week 46

Saturday, 12-Nov. 7km.
After a week of restraining myself from any running I went out today to see how my ankle would respond. I had plenty of sand to run on as we were at low tide.
The weather was clear and warm, I set off at a nice pace but soon found my heart rate monitor telling me I was at the high end of my training zone, I slowed down but still found it beeping at me. It seems my aerobic fitness has dropped in the few weeks of no running, normally my heart rate would be much slower at this pace.
I ran the full 7km without any increase in ankle pain, the inflammation has reduced but not gone completely.
I had hoped my ultrasound unit would have arrived this week but I believe it is probably languishing in the Australian customs. It moved swiftly from the States to Australia then ground to a halt. Hopefully next week I shall see it.

Neil