Going With The Flow

AM - I REALLY wanted to go snow running this morning, but my feet were pretty sore from yesterday so I made myself be smart and go to the gym. 75 minutes on the bike at the gym - 30 min recumbent and 45 min upright. I had a book to read so that made the time go by a little faster. 

I decided to buy some Berry Superfeet Insoles for my shoes yesterday. "BERRY features a full-forefoot shock pad to provide extra comfort and shock absorption under the metatarsals and toes." I've had really good luck with the green insoles in the past when I had shin splints so I'm hoping these will help with the forefoot pain. 

AM - 5 miles, extended horsepark loop with Jake. It was super slippery this morning which made for a easy run at 8:40 pace. Not thrilled with how my feet felt, but it was manageable. 

I'm so jealous of everyone that gets the day off today! Enjoy it!

PM - P90X shoulders, triceps, and chest. Ouch! Then went to the gym for 45 minutes on the exercise bike - 20 upright, 25 recumbent.

AM - 30 minutes on the exercise bike, then 15 minutes on the treadmill at 9 min pace. The slower I run, the less I have to push off with my forefoot and then less pain. Maybe I'll be putting in some slow jogs more this week. I wonder if that'll help or hurt...

PM - Strength training 20 min during lunch - Jilian Michael's workout. It was actually pretty good! After work,10 min on the elliptical followed by 30 min of spin class. 

Happy Mardi Gras! I'm debating what I should give up for Lent this year. I used to always give up chocolate and ice cream, but I have recently become a candy addict. Hmm..maybe I'll do ice cream and candy this year. That's going to be hard! Frozen yogurt doesn't count as ice cream, right?

AM - JAJAF run this morning, Fritz decided to join us today! Weather was nice, great company , and my feet felt significantly better today. Then met up with my boss for some yoga. He scheduled every morning for us to do yoga because he thinks it will help my back. What a great boss!! Definitely a good start to the day.

PM - 20 minutes of strength training then headed to the track to watch Adam and Jake do their workout (and just be outside while it's warm!). Did a lot of foot massaging and then ran 0.75 miles with Adam on his cooldown. 

I went to see Dr. Fletcher again yesterday, and he worked on both my back and my feet. I didn't have that extreme back pain after treatment like I have the past two sessions. In addition to the ART, he also did some muscle stimulation and cold laser (? will have to research that more today). This was the first time he worked on my feet and afterwards I was able to completely flex my toes with no pain! I have to say it was not a fun experience having him dig his fingers in between my metarsals though.

Here's a little more about Active Release Technique (I honestly had never heard about it until recently, but it is very common for prevention and overuse injuries by lots of elite athletes) - 

ART is most commonly used to treat conditions related to adhesions or scar tissue in overused muscles. According to ART practitioners, as adhesions build up, muscles become shorter and weaker, the motion of muscles and joints are altered, and nerves can be compressed. As a result, tissues suffer from decreased blood supply, pain, and poor mobility. The goal of ART is to restore the smooth movement of tissues and to release any trapped nerves or blood vessels. In an ART treatment, the provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and mobility of the soft tissue. Using hand pressure, the practitioner works to remove or break up the fibrous adhesions, with the stretching motions generally in the direction of venous and lymphatic flow.

AM - 45 min elliptical and 30 min yoga. My feet feel 60% better than Tuesday (!!!) so I think I'm going to take today off from running and see if that will help even more. I'm also going to exercise on the elliptical more over the bike since it doesn't hurt my feet anymore and feels better for my back. Can't say there is any improvement with back pain, but we'll take one injury at a time. I never thought I would say this, but I'm actually kind of enjoying the yoga :o).

PM - Met Lulu and Tina (new to Utah and on the blog!) for spin class. I was cycling for 30 min and then my bike broke so I went downstairs and rode on the recumbent bike for 15 more minutes. Fun chatting with the girls afterwards for a while.

AM - 6 miles around Millcreek then 30 minutes of yoga.

AM - Went to the gym for spin but apparently Saturday morning classes are packed. So I did 20 min upright bike, 20 min recumbent bike, 10 min elliptical, and 10 min stairmaster. Obviously I get bored really easily in the gym.

Then headed to the SLC 15K and got there just in time to wish people luck before the race started. The wind chill made standing outside in the elements quite unpleasant, so I headed indoors to wait. I was only one of very very few at the race that was not running. Time went fast and before I knew it, the top runners were coming in. Nice times for a lots of people despite the less than ideal conditions. I ran a cooldown with the crew, met Josse and ran a couple with her as well. 6.3 miles total. My feet went completely numb for about 3 miles to the point where I could barely even feel when they hit the ground. Very awkward and uncomfortable - all my foot problems don't seem to fare well cold temperatures. 

Took a few pics but not as many as last time because I couldn't handle the cold!

WINDY!!!!