Another week of training has come and gone. Here is this week’s Monday Miles, just what I have been up to in the last week!
This past week I had a big appointment with my foot doctor. It wasn’t everything I had hoped for but I wasn’t told to quit running so that is always good. What I learned was that shot I had back in August did not work like it should have. That boils down to the area it needed to go was hard to get to. Now I get to have it done again but this time it will be x-ray guided. I have my appointment but I need to reschedule. My homeschooler is having some testing and afterwards I thought it would be better to have the shot done earlier in the week rather than later so it doesn’t affect my long run.
Talking with my doctor further we discussed my blister problem. As I suspected I had been overthinking things and he boiled down to my gait. I’m not running how I normally do or should due to my injury. Solution getting an orthotic at least temporarily. If the shot works, I shouldn’t need it. So later that day I got fitted for a custom orthotic and learned more about my feet.
I learned my feet are slightly 2 different sizes, and I definitely need a wide width shoe. The width of my foot though they don’t typically make. That right there explains how come I have such trouble finding a good shoe that fits. For fun you can add in that I don’t have the typical foot, I have a Morton’s toe. That mean’s my second toe is longer than my big toe. The toe thing I knew…
I just didn’t realize how it affected the rest of my foots mechanics. I also learned my toes and foot are hypermobile. The more he told me about the mechanics of my foot I was like, this completely makes sense when it comes to how I got hurt. He went on and made molds out of my feet and now I wait. I wait on my insurance. I have Tricare, it is the insurance military and their family uses. Well, the orthotics office has to submit and see if they will approve my orthotics. The orthotics office isn’t optimistic. Tricare typically only approves orthotics for service members. I’m not sure their reasoning but we will see what they say. Personally I think it is a bit ridiculous as does my husband.
My long run this week was a huge fail. I planned to finally go 16 miles and I only went 10 and change. I was so disappointed in myself. My course for the week was on a busy 2 lane military highway, speed limit 55 but people drive much faster. Once on got on that road I was on edge. I was constantly scanning the knee and higher grass for snakes and keeping an eye on traffic. I even saw a snake that my husband later told me was a copperhead! I’m thankful I was able to go far enough into the road to go around it. I kept going and chugging along. I felt good at my turn around point. I ate some almonds and kept going. Then in mile 9 my calves started to cramp. I told myself, it’s in my head, I got this, if needed I could cut things 1-2 miles short. I stopped though and my husband rescued me. I went home and ate some pickles, took a shower and was better. My only issue was my toes hurting from new black toenails. I am wondering though is this the wall everyone talks about? If so what do I need to do so it doesn’t happen again? I already carry water, Nuun,Gu’s and a small bag of almonds… maybe I should carry some pickles too.
Speaking of carrying things I can tell you something good about my run! For my birthday my husband got me a Camelbak Ultra 4 and he gave it to me early just so I could use it on my run. I really liked it! It was perfect! I was able to effortlessly carry everything I would want with plenty of room for more. Heck, I even took some toilet paper, because you never know! I don’t think I will be going back to my fuel belt.
So there it is! The highlights of my running week. 13 weeks to go!