Sunday, July 30, 2006

Orthotics and other changes commin'

On Thursday my shins were starting to hurt. I stopped at 1.5km into the run. They were very sensitive to the touch as well.
Friday, I had an appointment to get another structural integration massage. I learnt a new way to stretch the shins. The therapist also asked me about my diet. I told him what I eat when I am in Toronto;
- gatorade during and after the run
- bran cereal in the morning with yogurt
- banana and 4 other fruits
- spaghetti with meat balls or stir fry or left overs from the weekend for lunch and supper
- large salad with green leafy lettuce
- bagel
- toast with honey
- one or 2 coffee's

Too many carbs. I think the biggest difference I can make is to get rid of the bran for breakfast. The purpose of the bran is to suck all the fats and crap out of your body to help rid it of cholesterol and stuff, which is what I was told to do when I had high cholesterol. Do I need to do that now? I don't think so. I need all those fats and proteins to help rebuild the muscle tissues, especially after a run. I am going to start having Vector cereal after wards with an egg and piece of toast.
He also suggested that I use a supplement called MSM to reduce the inflammation and help in the re-construction of the connectivity tissues. I went to the local pharmacy and found one with clucosamine and MSM in it. The clucosamine is suppose to help with connectivity tissues. I'll give this a try as well. I also need to cut out the coffee they could be influencing the adrino gland which releases anti-inflammatory substances.

After a few e-mails with my podiatrist, I am finally getting orthotics. They may not be the answer to all the problems, but I can't leave this stone unturned. I hate going out for a run and thinking "could these help? Could I increase my mileage more with them? If I don't have them, will I end up repeating the same thing that happened last winter? " It drives me crazy. If they will help reduce the chances of my shins getting sore after increasing the mileage, then great. If anything it should give me peace of mind. My goal is to get to 60k without any shin problems. It's fairly simple right now. Once I hit that milestone I can figure out what races I really want to run. Along the way, I may go into a couple races, but I don't expect much out of them, it is more for fun.

Here is my running break down for the past 2 weeks starting July 16:
S: 12.76k in 1:11:48 at 5:37/km AM
M: 8.73 including a 3k M pace in 13:35 or 4:31/km
T: off
W: 5.25k in 28:12 or 5.25/km on the grass
T: off
F: 11.6k, with 5k race in 19:27,
S: 4.45k in 36:36, with my youngest son on the trail
Total 43km

S: 10.27k in 1:00:52, at 5:55/km on the trail (first 10 minutes with Donna)
M: off
T: 9.11k in 48:38, at 5:20/km, on a paved trail in Scarborough
W: 13.13k in 1:11:20 at 5:26/km, on same trail with some grass running
T: 1.5k, stopped due to sore shins
F: off structural integration massage
S: 10.72 in 57:14 at 5:20/km, on chip trail

This weeks plan:
S: 10k easy (51 minutes or more)
M: 9k easy (47)
T: Off
W: 13k L easy (some grass) (68)
T:9k easy (47)
F: off
S: 10k easy with strides (51)

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