Learning to Run Again

This fall I am on an interesting journey to take care of all those niggling parts of my body that aren't exactly performing like they should.  #1 in this area is to spend some time with my trainer at Adapt to work on my right hip.  Just for a brief history, I have popped my right hip out of its socket twice in my life.  Being out was painful, putting it back in was painful and rehabbing from it being out was also painful.  I have been living with a less than 100% right hip for the past several years.  The guys at Adapt think that they can get it back to close to 100%.  Given the results I have seen from several of my friends, I believe them.  So, for off-season I have given myself over to Scott and am doing whatever he says.  Luckily, unlike Chris, he has said I can do some light running and biking during the therapy.

#2 niggling body part if my left foot - specifically the bunion on my left foot.  I have lived with it for years - -it mostly pops its head up at the end of a long bike - after being in the cycling shoe for 5 or 6 hrs if gets really stiff and sore.  If anyone has watched me start the run of an ironman, most of the weird run style is from the fact that the big toe on my left foot won't bend for the first mile or so.  Through the Adapt exercises I have been doing I have also discovered that the range of motion reduction isn't just at the end of a long bike, it's there all the time.  Scott recommended that I go see the podiatrist and get it taken care of before it gets worse.
A month ago I went to see Dr Ray McClanahan at NW Foot and Ankle.  He specialized in sports podiatry.  His assessment was that he can fix my bunion (without surgery) as long as I am willing to make a few changes.
So first change:  I have braces for my toes!  The purpose is to gradually move my big toe out over time.  He said it will take close to a year to do it completely, but I will see some improvement quickly.








Second change -- well, throw out all my shoes and get new ones.  Oh, yeah, forget about buying anything that is remotely stylish.  Basically, I need shoes that will allow my toes to straighten out and have no heel or toe spring (toe spring is the little upward curve that pretty much all shoes have right at the toe).  I don't think that I will be able to be 100% on this one.  I found a pair of shoes that I can wear to work on most days -- but they definitely won't cut it with a dress.  I also have a new pair of running shoes: Altra Intuitions.  They are zero drop shoes with a big toe box.  So basically, I am to learn barefoot running with a bit more protection/cushioning than barefoot or Vibram 5 fingers will give you.   I was already running in Newtons -- but they actually have several mm or drop and they also have a pretty big toe spring.  He said that I could bend my Newtons to get rid of the toe spring and then I could at least wear them until they wore out.  So like transitioning into Newtons from other running shoes, I have the same slow, gradual ramp up to running in the Altra's to do.  The recommendation was to just walk around in them, and my other new shoes for 2 weeks so that my feet would get a bit stronger and my achilles would start to stretch out before attempting any run in them.  Yesterday I went for my first run - -a little less than 2 miles.  They are definitely light and you can definitely feel that your calves are working harder than even with the Newtons.  I am going to take this slowly.  As for the toe -- it is starting to bend a bit further than it used to, but still has a ways to go.