Fall Running

[rocknrollgirl]

Well,

Not technically, but we are back to school so it is fall in our house. After trudging through endlessly hot miserable runs this summer, we are longing for cooler weather. Making the transition from hot steamy morning running to really hot steamy afternoon running when school starts gets harder and harder every year.
Once we settle in and the weather starts to cool down, it will be much easier.

We braved our first foray into the woods this week with a short 6 mile run at our local park. Sprayed from stem to stern with bug spray to try and avoid chiggers which apparently on a rampage this year. At least according to my students that run cross country. I have seen the evidence. Not fun.

It ended up to be a nice run. It was a slightly cooler day and low humidity. But boy my legs felt it after running on a flat rail trail all summer. Even with all the hiking. I also had some pretty good fatigue in my legs from lifting this week and from a very hard trainer workout on Tuesday.

We have started mountain biking again too after a 6+ month hiatus ( DH separated his shoulder in a rider/tree interaction). It feels good to be back on my mt bike, and in my opinion only helps build trail running strength.

And so off we go. let the games begin. No races solidly on the calendar until November. A tentative 25k in January and the North Face DC in April.

I have some bone spurs that have formed at the top of my feet ( high arch, over pronator issues), so I think keeping the distance in that 10-15 mile range is all I will do for now, Eventually the will need to go, but for now, it is orthotics and good running shoes.) My doc is awesome, same guy that did my plantar surgery 2 years ago. He says wait to take them off, so I wait. I lovingly refer to them as Bump. So if I say Bump is not happy, you will now know what I am talking about.

[Catrin]

I hear you about the bone spurs on the top, mine can make it challenging to find shoes - especially with the new orthotics. It sounds like you've a great foot doc! Glad that you are getting some relief with the orthotics! Keep us posted on how things go.

[rocknrollgirl]

I hear you about the bone spurs on the top, mine can make it challenging to find shoes - especially with the new orthotics. It sounds like you've a great foot doc! Glad that you are getting some relief with the orthotics! Keep us posted on how things go.

The real challenge as I am sure you know, is every day shoes, shoes for work etc. If it is summer or I am just bumming around, my old running shoes with orthotics do just fine. Going to school and being on my feet all day is tough. It has been a challenge to fine work shoes with enough support.

[Catrin]

Thankfully I can get away with Keene hiking shoes in the office as I've few meetings. I did find a pair of Keene Presidio shoes that work fine with dressier slacks as they are black. The toe bumper is less obvious as they really aren't meant for actual hiking.

I've found that both Mephisto and Finn Comfort make dressier comfort shoes that would also work. Well, dressier than Keenes. Finn Comfort shoes are very expensive, over $300 and Mephisto start at the same price point as Keenes but also get much higher in price.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[emily_in_nc]

I am hoping to start back to running before too long. I haven't run in months other than occasional short bursts of jogging when playing with our dog. I've a lot of reasons, such as weather and busy doing other things with DH (cycling, hiking, traveling), but part of the problem is that whenever I've run in the past couple of months, my legs have felt really funny -- achy and heavy and painful in a strange way, almost like nerve pain. It comes on quite suddenly and is in both legs at the same time. Never when cycling, walking, or hiking that I've noticed, only running.

I figured it was just another part of aging, but I finally googled it tonight and am now wondering if it is from the black cohosh I've been taking for a few months for hot flashes & night sweats??? Apparently "heaviness in the legs" and leg pain is a fairly common side effect of this herb. I had no idea. My hot flashes have almost disappeared, but I would rather sweat than have leg pain of any sort! So, I threw the rest of the bottle (almost empty anyway) into the trash and will see if the pain disappears over the next few weeks.

It is truly always something!