One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

When I was back in California in July, I had gotten some new shoes.  I wore them for a while, but while running felt great, afterwards I could barely walk.  My IT band was absolutely killing me.  Being the naive runner I am, I just figured that it was me breaking in the shoes... How wrong I was.

I talked to one of the physical therapists that were at the Tower of Terror run and they pretty much hit the nail on the head without me saying all that much.  They brought up a few points that I had never thought about.  When I got the new shoes, they had put me on a treadmill and video taped me running. However, I was barefoot and not running all that long or fast.  So pretty much, the video picked up the extreme issues with my running, not the everyday issues.

So I got fitted for a stability shoe when I needed a neutral, which I had in the first place.  So pretty much, every time I ran, I was overcorrecting for issues that weren't really issues.  Now, I'm suffering for that.

The same physical therapist told me to get Asics Cumulus, which guess what... was my original (and favorite) shoe!  I quickly bought another pair and have been getting better ever since.  The recovery process has been slow, but luckily this week I've finally been able to walk for most of the day (not all, but most) correctly and without too much pain.  Still, my IT band isn't totally better and my endurance has been shot.

So yes, I'm worried right now.  I've been able to get the right shoes so I can jump back into training, but unfortunately I'm not back up to where I need to be.  My endurance is shot, but hopefully that will start building back up quickly.  The good news is my speed is still there.  In fact, I ran 7 miles today and the last mile can in under 10 min pace!  Not all of the miles were like that, but it was a nice note to finish on.

The marathon is in just under 3 months and I don't know if physically I'm truly ready for it.  Mentally, I'm ready to take it on.  Let's just hope that my mental determination is enough to get me through the race if I'm not able to get my training back on track.