whoops!

Well, today's visit with the Marathon Doc wasn't a good one. He had a smirk pasted on his face most of the time.

He asked me how I'm doing.

"Well, the knees seem OK these days, nothing terrible there that consistent stretching won't cure, but..." and I proceed to detail the pains I've been feeling since Monday's "recovery" run.

Oh, yes, boys and girls. Monday's run absolutely killed me. Sure, it was an easy one at the time, but then about two hours later - LOCKDOWN. For the last 48 hours, I've barely been able to walk; my quads feel like rusty cables and my left foot has a pain the top of it. I showed the doc where that pain was, how I could press on it and not feel it, but if I walked around...

He looked at me for a second then guessed (accurately) that I'd tied my shoes tighter or relaced them in a different way. Guilty! I thought I was helping with heel stability; turns out I should leave 'em loose like my feet like 'em and, basically, not fucking with a good thing. So that will resolve at some point.

Then the doctor has my lay down, puts two fingers on either side about mid-thigh and sqeezed. YIKES! Doc had a big grin at this point. "You have runner's legs... your quads are week, your hamstrings especially so..." He detailed out that I'm to do five pound hamstring curls every day for 50 reps. This will be good, because doing hamstring curls tends to put me out like a light. But I'll need heavier weights for the quads, as I'm already up to 14 at the therapists' office...*sigh*

So was it the long, fast-paced run on Sunday? Was it the recovery run (not taking the next day off)? Was it really just the tighter lacing? Maybe a combo of all three.

Well, I took today off from running and might do Friday's, if my little foot thing is feeling better. I have the Fifth Avenue Mile to run on Saturday, so I'm saving the last of my legs for that; then I can concentrate on Staten Island Half.

In related news, got my custom orthotics today. In my walking sneakers, they're a little small and allow my toes to overhang the edge, but in my running shoes, they'll bejust right. I pray for the "no pain" route to breaking them in and hope that I am able to run on happy feet for the Staten Island Half. Doc McNeerny advised not to push it; getting used to the orthotics is supposed to take time. Time....