January - May 2009
So far this year, things have not gone exactly as planned. I hoped to be fitter than I actually am, but that’s ok as my A race is not until October, where I’ll be taking part in the Dublin City Marathon.

I started out the year with a sprained Ankle, but still managed to run a good (for me) Half Marathon down at the Phoenix Rock and Roll Marathon. Things where pretty quite then until March when I ran the Provincial indoor Championships 3k race, which I won the over 35’s event. In April I had one race which went alright, it was the St. Albert 10 Mile Road Race I managed to pull out a PB for the distance and get under the hour.

I’ve been trying to get control of a nagging injury that just doesn’t want to go away, since I’ve been battling this since the beginning of April. Tight Calf muscles, it started out in my right leg but now it feels like it has crept into both legs. I’ve gone to the Physio and had IMS needling done to my legs and I’ve had it taped, I started using “The Stick” as well as using a Foam Roller, I’ve started to stretch more and have recently gone back to Yoga classes as well as incorporating massage into my recovery. Some days I don’t feel it and other days I very aware of it, with all of the work done so far, it has loosened up a little as it doesn’t hurt to walk anymore. I have found that “The Stick” is very good at getting the calf to loosen up compared to the Foam Roller which I find just makes a sore Calf worse However when using the Stick its best to have something between your skin and the stick, unless of course you shave your legs. I’ve also started to use “The Strassburg Sock” which works like an ankle splint except that it’s less cumbersome, apart from it being pretty odd looking it’s not very comfortable to sleep with it the whole night.

I had this crop up on me while building up to the Kelowna Marathon last season, where I got IMS work done on it, It was suggested to me that I use orthotics as my feet/ankles roll way too much to the inside however this same Physio (six months) later is now telling me that I should do ALL of my running in race flats. In doing so I would be building the strength in my feet and helping the ankle gain stability. While I have read that this will help there are a lot of problems to the process. Interestingly enough I did start running in Newton running shoes, and yes my Calves hurt initially but I have gotten used to the shoes. Now I find that when I go back to regular running shoes without the Ortho that the calf tightness really becomes an issue.

If anyone does in fact read this: Has anyone ever tried to run a Marathon in very light race flats with their Ortho in the shoe? – I read somewhere that Ryan Hall raced the Boston Marathon with shoes that only weigh 4oz’s.

So this is how I plan to keep on top of it.

1. Go back to using my Ortho’s on a semi regular basis
2. Run barefoot for 5 – 10 minutes daily
3. Do some Yoga after running daily
4. Get in at least 1 Yoga class a week
5. Use “The Stick” in the evenings
6. Get a massage every couple of weeks
So what’s up next? My next race will be the Half Marathon in Red Deer and then I think it will be the 10k at the Big Run.

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