Preparation H

I have two main foot problems. First, my feet seem to be sweating more than I remember them sweating in the past. My Nike socks are sopping wet when I’m done with even a moderate run. Second, if I don’t keep the nail on my middle toe (on my right foot) trimmed extremely short, the nail digs into the side of the nearby toe and I bleed all over the place. My sock pools with blood. Bad in that it’s painful. Good in that I look badass like Curt Schilling.

(Actually, didn’t someone say the bloody sock incident was fake? I always suspected Curt was a pussy.)

I’m trying out a new pair of socks today. They are made by Balega and they are the Ha-You-Just-Paid-10-Dollars-For-A-Pair-Of-Socks model. I had originally wanted to try the Injinji tetrasock, but the running store near me doesn’t stock them yet.

Saturday – Up at 6:15. 12 mile run planned. Banana and a glass of water before I leave. I still haven’t figured out the magic breakfast formula. I’m taking a 12 oz bottle of water and couple of Gu packets- one orange and one lemon. Why does the lemon have over twice as much vitamin c as the orange?

The out of shape old men are out in force today. Do man-breasts really require that much oxygen that a cotton t-shirt could possibly suffocate them?

Around mile 5, I get a pain on the top of my foot around the center. I find that I can run through just about every kind of pain that I experience by drawing on some of the things that I learned studying piano performance back in college. My professor was very big into Feldenkrise and she incorporated it into her teaching. Feldenkrise “is a method of movement re-education.” This meant that while 40 minutes of an hour long lesson would be sitting at the piano, 20 minutes of it might be on the floor just breathing or stretching or doing controlled movements. So when I feel pain or discomfort when I run, I find that it really helps to change something slightly. That might be the length of my stride or my breathing or it might just be to focus on a different part of my leg. For example, if my knee starts to hurt, I’ll try focussing on my toes. Is there a lot of tension? What would happen if I spread my toes a little bit?

This technique was very effective for me when I played piano. I can remember getting to the point where I no longer concentrated on the notes but more how the keys felt underneath my fingers. It sounds kind of trippy, but I think about that a lot when I run.

That said, it’s amazing how my mind will race if I let it. It makes running that much harder.

“Almost at Kohl’s. That’s 1/3 of the way there.”

“Directly underneath the bridge, that means I’m at 6.5 miles. Aw hell, only half way there?!”

I haven’t found a good answer for this phenomenon, that constant need to be further along. I always bring myself back to something someone once told me regarding the weather. It was an unbelievably hot day in the city and I was complaining about it. This person’s response was, “There’s nothing you can do about it. Why fight it?” Of course you could stay in the air conditioning or wear a short sleeved shirt, but his point was you can’t control the weather. It’s gonna happen whether you like it or not.

Speaking of, the woman who cuts my hair really wants me to attend a Buddhist service with her. I mean she REEEALLY wants me to go with her. That’s probably for another post.

Ended up running 12.5 miles. Couldn’t tell you the time because instead of hitting the “stop” button, I hit “reset” and lost my entire run. Maybe it’s time to take Kevin’s advice and get a Garmin.