We got about four inches of the S-word Wednesday. I no longer run in snow and ice not after misstepping over some snow two weeks ago and jamming my hip. The muscle spasms have finally started to relax after after two trips to the chiro, a massage and a trip to the PT.
So on Thursday, I considered my options. There’s always a treadmill at the local fitness center, but I HATE treadmills. I have refused to even try them since returning to running. So that was out. But wait – there’s the local indoor track attached to the fitness center above the high school arena.
Yep, you read that right. The people in this school district – my alma mater – voted to build a 4,000-seat arena and put a track around the top of the arena. Eight laps equal a mile. Now, I’m not crazy about the track either because I get bored running in circles, but it was the lesser of two evils – or three if you count the snow and ice.
I went to the track with equal amounts of gratitude and grumpiness about having to run indoors, but the run was a blessing in disguise. I’ve been struggling with my calves tightening up after a couple of miles lately. At first, I thought it might be something with my ChiRunning technique but I kept checking things and that seemed to be right on. But still the tightness.
In ChiRunning we always try to body sense and feel different sensations in the body and make small changes before they turn in to twinges, discomfort or pain. So after umpteen laps, I began to notice that my heels were sliding around in my shoes. In CR, we relax the lower legs completely, so I realized that maybe my calves were working to stabilize my heel in the shoe.
Tonight I tightened up my shoes just a bit – just the first two eyelets and retied the shoe just a bit and voila, no problems. I’ve been running with my shoes a lot looser ever since my first CR workshop and heard CR creator Danny Dreyer say your shoes should fit like slippers (you should be able to slide them on and off without untying them). If your shoes are too tight, they can act like a corset. Loosening them lets your feet breathe a bit.
I remembered tonight that when I bought my last two pair of shoes (I like to rotate them), I had thought I left them a little too loose but decided to run in them and see what happened. Dumb. Then I totally forgot about them being too loose.
Hopefully, this will clear up the tight calves once and for all.
As for the run, it was great. The snow is melting here with temps in the 40s. Ran a slow mile out, 1 mile of hill work and a mile back home. Total: 3.1 miles 33:17
So on Thursday, I considered my options. There’s always a treadmill at the local fitness center, but I HATE treadmills. I have refused to even try them since returning to running. So that was out. But wait – there’s the local indoor track attached to the fitness center above the high school arena.
Yep, you read that right. The people in this school district – my alma mater – voted to build a 4,000-seat arena and put a track around the top of the arena. Eight laps equal a mile. Now, I’m not crazy about the track either because I get bored running in circles, but it was the lesser of two evils – or three if you count the snow and ice.
I went to the track with equal amounts of gratitude and grumpiness about having to run indoors, but the run was a blessing in disguise. I’ve been struggling with my calves tightening up after a couple of miles lately. At first, I thought it might be something with my ChiRunning technique but I kept checking things and that seemed to be right on. But still the tightness.
In ChiRunning we always try to body sense and feel different sensations in the body and make small changes before they turn in to twinges, discomfort or pain. So after umpteen laps, I began to notice that my heels were sliding around in my shoes. In CR, we relax the lower legs completely, so I realized that maybe my calves were working to stabilize my heel in the shoe.
Tonight I tightened up my shoes just a bit – just the first two eyelets and retied the shoe just a bit and voila, no problems. I’ve been running with my shoes a lot looser ever since my first CR workshop and heard CR creator Danny Dreyer say your shoes should fit like slippers (you should be able to slide them on and off without untying them). If your shoes are too tight, they can act like a corset. Loosening them lets your feet breathe a bit.
I remembered tonight that when I bought my last two pair of shoes (I like to rotate them), I had thought I left them a little too loose but decided to run in them and see what happened. Dumb. Then I totally forgot about them being too loose.
Hopefully, this will clear up the tight calves once and for all.
As for the run, it was great. The snow is melting here with temps in the 40s. Ran a slow mile out, 1 mile of hill work and a mile back home. Total: 3.1 miles 33:17
1 comment:
Danny just recently posted an article on his new blog about issues with calves. You might like to take a look:
Danny Dreyer on dealing with painful calves
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