Week 14

Went to sports med on Tuesday for my feet pain. xrays normal. Exam normal. Differential diagnosis: achilles, plantar fasciitis, tarsal tunnel, stress fracture- nothing seemed to fit. I am wondering if my insoles I bought from Fleet Feet last year are part of the problem. The underside of the insoles are quite hard. My doctor said to consider PT and custom-made orthotics but I am wary this close to the marathon. I may consider it after the marathon if my feet are still bothering me.

I concentrated this week on using more of a shuffling stride, landing on my midfoot instead of my heel.

I did my second 20 mile run with Molly and Friday. Time was about 3 hours 10 minutes. It went much better the second time around! I felt strong. Had a side ache around mile 19 and had to walk a block or two but finished strong. My feet weren't too bad afterward. My calves did hurt for a few days after I think because of the new stride.

Ran 40 miles this week. My second highest mileage week.

Week 13

This was easy week. Which was very fortunate because my heel pain seems to be worse. I did all my running on the treadmill because my feet feel much better when I don't run on the roads. I have also been taking naproxen almost daily. I am getting a little nervous about being able to finish my training properly because of my feet pain. It is mainly my heels, the left is worse than the right. Sometimes if feels like the soles of my heels have a dull ache , other times I have a sharp shooting pain in the mid of the left sole. Then sometimes, I have a burning pain along the medial aspect of my heel or the back of my heel.

It is getting very frustrating, because otherwise I am feeling great from a cardiopulmonary standpoint. Also (knock-on-wood) I have no hip or knee pain.

I ran 29 miles this week. The long run was a half-marathon on the treadmill, which is my longest TM run to date.

I am going to see my sports medicine physician this week and hope to receive a diagnosis and treatment plan to get me through the marathon!

I am going to make an appointment

Week 12

This was the biggest running week of my life! My first 20 miler was done on Friday August 6th. Ran with Molly and Nicole out and back to my parent's house with an extra 4 mile loop thrown in the middle. This was my longest and also my hardest run. Around mile 11 started having some stomach cramps and needed to make a pit stop at a gas station bathroom about mile 13 or so. This really got me down mentally. Also, I waited too long to fuel up so my energy got low. Didn't really take in much sugar until mile 17. However, we maintained a great 9:03 pace for 20 miles for a total time of 3 hours 1 minute! Total miles for the week was 42! My first 40 mile week!! Overall, feeling pretty well. My feet hurt pretty bad after the 20 miler but today (2 days later) able to do a 10K on the treadmill no problem. Now I get to say hello to easy week. Long run will "only" be 13 miles! :)