Two years ago, in the lead up to Ironman South Africa and then Kona, I knew I had a problem. For two decades, only when I ran, my feet had been telling me that they weren't healthy. Achilles would ache, feet would be sore, and running, frankly, was too often not the barrel of fun it had been way back in the '70s, when I first fell in love with the sport.
Yet here I was in 2011, swimming and cycling well, with time on my hands to train, and excited to be having the opportunity to get back into top tri form at the golden age of 50. Problem was, my feet just weren't cooperating - just when I knew I had a few marathons to run, tired, off the bike, when feet aren't known to be at their best.
In 2011 the marathon in Port Elizabeth was fine (3:35ish), but six months later, when I got to Kona, I simply could not run without pain, not even a little bit. What was worse, the lingering pain after any run, sometimes lasting days, was enough to gut the mileage I'd hoped to run in the lead-up to the Worlds. Like many others that day, I made it through the lava fields during the marathon, but it wasn't pretty. Formally accustomed to passing runners during the final leg of any triathlon, I found myself in survival mode, in retreat in the standings and, like a soldier who must fight on, hoping to limit the losses. I still don't know how I hung in there for 5th place in the 50-54 age-group, but I can tell you it wasn't because of running preparation or running mileage or any of the rest of it.
After Kona, my feet told me that they'd had enough. In fact, pretty much generally my body told me it had had enough.
The achilles problem I knew I'd had was now literally tied up with a plantar fasciaetis syndrome that seemed to be redefining my poor feet in a very bad way. A guy who had once been told by a doctor that he had the "perfect feet for running" knew he was a far cry from that world, with little hope of returning to health that he could see.
For about six months I did no running, and instead only biked and walked and swam and strengthened and stretched. Oh yeah, and I also found out that I had thyroid cancer, which has a way of putting a dampener on running, and pretty much everything else in your life.
A year post-op, with the thyroxin/calcium/vitamin D balance continuing to come into focus, a new place to call home in Stuttgart, Germany and, more specifically, some of the most amazing places to run that any urban area could boast, my feet are going through a bit of a renaissance, though not by chance.
Here's how:
A) Four months back, when visiting the States and about to move to Germany, I finally decided that I wanted to run well again, without pain, but that I needed a new game-plan. 52 just seemed too young to give up on running, a sport which had so defined my life. I knew that just resting, etc., wasn't going to work, that the pain would just return, and that I had a more fundamental problem that had to be addressed by someone who knew feet for better than I. It just so happens my father-in-law in Denver knew of a guy in the shoe/foot business who, he claimed, was an expert in analyzing feet and mitigating foot problems. We went to see him at his shoe/orthotic store, and I must say I was fairly skeptical when I saw that most of the clientele seemed non-athletic, and certainly not triathletic. Yet this guy took one look at my feet, felt underneath my arch carefully with his hands, and quickly told me that I had the typical syndrome of those blessed with high arches who are of a "certain age." Apparently, he told me, my tendon to my big toe was tighter than a drum, and that was leading to all sorts of problems, including the fascaeitis and the tendonitis and probably just about any "itis" that can be attached to a foot problem. To begin treating the problem he proposed a regimen of regular stretching and strengthening for the foot and, perhaps most importantly, he sold me a basic pair of inserts, which I have been using religiously, as I promised him I would. The changes began almost immediately.
B) About three weeks later we were visiting the other set of our boys' grandparents, which is to say my parents, when we happened to be in Traverse City for the day and happened to walk into the only running store downtown. My wife noticed a small, textured ball for sale, read the claim that it helped keep feet healthy, whereupon we purchased it. Again, I was skeptical that something so small and unassuming would help. I'd used tennis balls to massage my feet, with only limited results, so my feeling was that something related would only work the same way. Yet I began using it each day, sometimes two or three times a day, and the changes were evident quickly.
C) We (my wife has her own foot issues) also agreed to have an in-house pair of supportive shoes, which we would wear, since the foot guy said that going barefoot, especially on hard floors, can be a problem for those with a foot problem.
D) Stretching the foot and foot muscles, and strengthening that general area, has also been part of the regimen. Each day I stretch as soon as I get up, and throughout the day I stretch on a fairly consistent basis, though now I give special attention to the feet, two appendages I had pretty much ignored for most of my life. My respect for feet is growing, and with this their health is gradually returning.
E) I also got a new pair of running shoes, a pair of trail running shoes, and with all the other changes the improvements only became easier.
The difficult part is separating the above components and passing on helpful commentary. As a math teacher, I can tell you that having four or five variables in a single equation is unsolvable, at least uniquely, so there's really no telling what is making the biggest difference in all of this.
However, I can say that I'm running again, and that a "long run" is up to about an hour or 7 or 8 miles, which is a whole heck of a lot farther than I was running, ever, the last few years, if I ran at all.
The inserts feel quite helpful, and I know that I need them on the rare occasions that I have gone without them. The little ball is perhaps making the biggest difference, however. It has given vitality and strength to the undercarriage of the running platform, making my feet feel healthy and strong again in ways that I'd forgotten my feet could feel. The stretching and strengthening helps. Moving out of Saudi and the constant reliance on treadmill running helped. So did moving to a city with miles and miles of great running trails, with beckoning fields and forests to run in.
The process is ongoing. My feet are much better, to be sure, but years and years of willful ignoring will not be undone in a few months, and so I'm taking the long view and working toward gradual changes in foot health. Like my return to general health and fitness over the last year, this new lease on foot health has been fun and unexpected. If I'm patient and smart, I expect to be running totally pain free shortly - something I honestly thought I'd never do again as I limped across the finish in Kona two years ago.
Yet here I was in 2011, swimming and cycling well, with time on my hands to train, and excited to be having the opportunity to get back into top tri form at the golden age of 50. Problem was, my feet just weren't cooperating - just when I knew I had a few marathons to run, tired, off the bike, when feet aren't known to be at their best.
In 2011 the marathon in Port Elizabeth was fine (3:35ish), but six months later, when I got to Kona, I simply could not run without pain, not even a little bit. What was worse, the lingering pain after any run, sometimes lasting days, was enough to gut the mileage I'd hoped to run in the lead-up to the Worlds. Like many others that day, I made it through the lava fields during the marathon, but it wasn't pretty. Formally accustomed to passing runners during the final leg of any triathlon, I found myself in survival mode, in retreat in the standings and, like a soldier who must fight on, hoping to limit the losses. I still don't know how I hung in there for 5th place in the 50-54 age-group, but I can tell you it wasn't because of running preparation or running mileage or any of the rest of it.
After Kona, my feet told me that they'd had enough. In fact, pretty much generally my body told me it had had enough.
The achilles problem I knew I'd had was now literally tied up with a plantar fasciaetis syndrome that seemed to be redefining my poor feet in a very bad way. A guy who had once been told by a doctor that he had the "perfect feet for running" knew he was a far cry from that world, with little hope of returning to health that he could see.
For about six months I did no running, and instead only biked and walked and swam and strengthened and stretched. Oh yeah, and I also found out that I had thyroid cancer, which has a way of putting a dampener on running, and pretty much everything else in your life.
A year post-op, with the thyroxin/calcium/vitamin D balance continuing to come into focus, a new place to call home in Stuttgart, Germany and, more specifically, some of the most amazing places to run that any urban area could boast, my feet are going through a bit of a renaissance, though not by chance.
Here's how:
A) Four months back, when visiting the States and about to move to Germany, I finally decided that I wanted to run well again, without pain, but that I needed a new game-plan. 52 just seemed too young to give up on running, a sport which had so defined my life. I knew that just resting, etc., wasn't going to work, that the pain would just return, and that I had a more fundamental problem that had to be addressed by someone who knew feet for better than I. It just so happens my father-in-law in Denver knew of a guy in the shoe/foot business who, he claimed, was an expert in analyzing feet and mitigating foot problems. We went to see him at his shoe/orthotic store, and I must say I was fairly skeptical when I saw that most of the clientele seemed non-athletic, and certainly not triathletic. Yet this guy took one look at my feet, felt underneath my arch carefully with his hands, and quickly told me that I had the typical syndrome of those blessed with high arches who are of a "certain age." Apparently, he told me, my tendon to my big toe was tighter than a drum, and that was leading to all sorts of problems, including the fascaeitis and the tendonitis and probably just about any "itis" that can be attached to a foot problem. To begin treating the problem he proposed a regimen of regular stretching and strengthening for the foot and, perhaps most importantly, he sold me a basic pair of inserts, which I have been using religiously, as I promised him I would. The changes began almost immediately.
B) About three weeks later we were visiting the other set of our boys' grandparents, which is to say my parents, when we happened to be in Traverse City for the day and happened to walk into the only running store downtown. My wife noticed a small, textured ball for sale, read the claim that it helped keep feet healthy, whereupon we purchased it. Again, I was skeptical that something so small and unassuming would help. I'd used tennis balls to massage my feet, with only limited results, so my feeling was that something related would only work the same way. Yet I began using it each day, sometimes two or three times a day, and the changes were evident quickly.
C) We (my wife has her own foot issues) also agreed to have an in-house pair of supportive shoes, which we would wear, since the foot guy said that going barefoot, especially on hard floors, can be a problem for those with a foot problem.
D) Stretching the foot and foot muscles, and strengthening that general area, has also been part of the regimen. Each day I stretch as soon as I get up, and throughout the day I stretch on a fairly consistent basis, though now I give special attention to the feet, two appendages I had pretty much ignored for most of my life. My respect for feet is growing, and with this their health is gradually returning.
E) I also got a new pair of running shoes, a pair of trail running shoes, and with all the other changes the improvements only became easier.
The difficult part is separating the above components and passing on helpful commentary. As a math teacher, I can tell you that having four or five variables in a single equation is unsolvable, at least uniquely, so there's really no telling what is making the biggest difference in all of this.
However, I can say that I'm running again, and that a "long run" is up to about an hour or 7 or 8 miles, which is a whole heck of a lot farther than I was running, ever, the last few years, if I ran at all.
The inserts feel quite helpful, and I know that I need them on the rare occasions that I have gone without them. The little ball is perhaps making the biggest difference, however. It has given vitality and strength to the undercarriage of the running platform, making my feet feel healthy and strong again in ways that I'd forgotten my feet could feel. The stretching and strengthening helps. Moving out of Saudi and the constant reliance on treadmill running helped. So did moving to a city with miles and miles of great running trails, with beckoning fields and forests to run in.
The process is ongoing. My feet are much better, to be sure, but years and years of willful ignoring will not be undone in a few months, and so I'm taking the long view and working toward gradual changes in foot health. Like my return to general health and fitness over the last year, this new lease on foot health has been fun and unexpected. If I'm patient and smart, I expect to be running totally pain free shortly - something I honestly thought I'd never do again as I limped across the finish in Kona two years ago.
