I then did half an hour resistance weights, followed by 20 minutes on the Stairmaster; level 10, steady hills. I did 105 floors this time. This is the only machine in the gym that sweat is literally dripping off me during the session.
I'd normally go to the gym this evening, but I had a pre-booked appointment with the place that makes my shoe orthotics. It was basically a review to see if the orthotics were working for me. I had the orthotics built about 15 months ago. At the time they pushed and prodded me, measured everything, pressure plate analysis, gait analysis etc. They did the same again today. I've printed off one of the sheets, a before and after if you like, 15 months ago at the top and today at the bottom.
The first picture is my foot strike as I walk over a pressure plate; it shows the areas of my foot that make contact with the ground. The second is simply a static analysis showing how your weight is distributed.
You can see how my stance has altered. I was very surprised actually. My left foot now makes much better contact with the floor. On the original print you see part of my left foot never even made contact with the floor. This was my foot arching to try and make my left leg (the 8mm shorter one) longer. Now after 15 months of orthotics I am leaving a much more normal footprint. Also on the second diagram, my weight is more evenly distributed.
My original problem of 2 years ago; left knee and left hip pain has totally gone, and has been for over a year. I've had issues with my right hip more recently, which may well have been as a consequence of this orthotic correction to some degree. Today I have had another slight change to my left orthotic. Additional support and height has been added to the area beneath my left arch. Before, just my heal had the 8mm lift, now my mid-foot will get almost as much, so my pelvis (which is tilted without a lift) stays level during almost the whole stride. I am hoping that this will eliminate all of my hip pain once and for all. I'll let you know how it goes, but Orthotics do work!
As part of today’s examination I did some running on a treadmill. I was a little nervous about this, because of my injured foot. However, it felt fine. I did only run a half a mile though! It has felt much better over the last few days, especially after some ultrasound on it on Tuesday.
I think I should be OK for this Sundays 21 mile Beacon Bash near Wigan. I've deciphered the written instructions provided and created myself a map of the route in Memory Map as usual. Amusingly, I had to phone up the race organiser and tell them they had two grid references wrong. They said no one had pointed that out before, in 6 years! I was right as well! Just goes to show you how much attention the people pay to the grid references. They were all just following the text (i.e. Turn left over Stile, ahead 400yrds, bear left to follow stone wall up to top of hill etc). Now, I don't use the route description at all. I use it at home and transfer it onto Memory Map, and then use Satellite Navigation to follow it on the day. I'm not sure who is worse, the 'readers' or the 'gadget runner'.
I'm making the experience more real this weekend. I'll be running with 1 x 800ml drinks bottle on the front of my rucksack shoulder strap, instead of the 1.5l camel back I have been using. Ultimately I will use 2 x 800ml, but that's too much for this event. Its winter and the checkpoints are only about 4 miles apart. I'll be using SIS Go electrolyte this time, instead of the Vitargo I have been using. That's not the say I don't like the Vitargo, I'm just trying something new. I've got time to experiment at the moment. I may also try some of the snacks I plan to use; M&M's and cashew nuts to see how they agree with me.
I'm going to have to run in my road shoes (New Balance 1060s) as I think my 1100 trail shoes are a possible contributor to my foot problems. I looked back in my blog and I bought them in May last year. I had no idea it was that long ago. I must have done many many hundreds of miles in them, so the cushioning will have run out. I have ordered some replacement 1100's but they won't arrive until next week.
This route looks to have less climbing, perhaps around 2200ft, so I hope the shoes won't let me down. I'm not sure if I will take my trekking poles yet. I might do, just in case my foot has a relapse.
I'll write up a full report on Sunday night.
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