It has been about a month since I ran my first ever half marathon at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. I have had a lot of time to reflect on what I liked, disliked, and what I will change as I go into training for it next year.
First, you have to understand how I started this journey. 13.1 miles is a long distance and one that I didn't appreciate going into the race. I had run several 5ks and even a 15k Tough Mudder, but never had I even come close to running 13.1 miles. Training for a race like this in MN is hard. With the snow in the winter and random late spring snowstorms it really forces us to have to train indoors. This had me running on a treadmill for 3 months and gave way to my first running injury. Trying to push distances on a treadmill is not only difficult due to the shear boredom of having nothing to look besides a screen or the people lifting in front of you, but the biomechanics of it as well.
When running on a treadmill, the fact that you are running in place makes you change your stride. Instead of striding forward you must add an upward motion as well to clear the tread. This led to my calf injury. I had strained my calf because I was running more on my toes trying to stay in one place instead of moving forward and covering ground, as you do when you run outside. This is the first thing I'll change going into next year. I'll try to avoid the treadmill in the winter months and instead strength train in the gym and get cardio from biking. I think this will avoid me having rehab a calf injury and try and build up endurance at the same time.
As the summer drew nearer, I had worked through all the rehab and ART (Active Release Techniques) that Dr. Nik provided me to get me going. Now, I am not an amazing runner. I am someone just getting into it. So, for the first time in my life I ran a full mile without stopping. To avid runners this seems not all that special, but to me this was a great accomplishment.
The summer was rapidly approaching, and I realized that my shoes probably wouldn't make it through the half. So, I needed to find new shoes. Finding shoes for a runner is extremely personal and I would never try to tell someone what kind of shoes to wear unless they asked for help. For me, I look for a shoe that has a wide toe box, zero heel drop, and not too much cushion. It also helps if it comes in cool colors but isn't essential. I started running in Altras' Riviera 2's. This once broken in is a good shoe. The toe box is one of the Altras' narrower toe boxes but compared to other brands it is still pretty good. However, I haven't been a fan of their new shoes. I tried the Riviera 3's and found they made my toes go numb and so did their Torin 7's. I then ventured into the Flux brand which does have a good toe box, but also made my toes go numb. Dr. Nik actually ran in the Flux shoes for the marathon and had a host of problems. It rained the entire time for the full marathon and the shoes stretched and his foot moved around so much he got a lot of blisters. So, the moral of the story here is. Find shoes you like at the beginning of the season so you can test them in all conditions. If you find a pair, maybe buy a few as apparently, they like to change how they are made a lot.
I think it really helped me to have a poster board on the wall that I had drawn 3 months on. Here I wrote down all my miles and times and it was very motivational to see every day. It also showed me the big day creeping closer and closer. Until it was time to start packing to leave and praying that you did enough training and it will show on race day.
If you are a runner and have any other tips to share for training, please let us know! If you are a runner and wanted to talk more about how a chiropractor can support you feel free to reach out as well.
Stay tuned for the next post where I will talk more about where we stayed for Grandma's and how we packed.
Until next time!
~ Dr. Taylor
Dr. Taylor Gregg
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