Lisa Sabin’s - Running And Being

Michelle and I got up after a nice 10 hour sleep to go for a run.  We both ran 10 yesterday, so today’s run was an easy pace.  It was only 5 degrees according to the news.  We put on our layers and headed out to the running path.

We ran out and back and followed our tracks back to the room.  Last year I spent almost a full year suffering from plantar fasciitis on my left foot.  I went through massage, yoga, new orthodics, cortisone shot, physical therapy and time off.  The phsical therapy and time off gave me some relief.  Through PT, I had gait analysis.  We took video of me running on the treadmill and made some interesting discoveries.  1. I’m working harder on the right side  2.  I’m not getting as much lift on the left side with the hamstring (rear view)  3.  The left foot toes in at the last moment (front view).  What my PT and I think is happening is that my left glutes are weaker.  The other thing is that I pronote more on the right, so the left side is trying to match the pronation by moving the hip and ankle to get an even strike. 

What I noticed today is the I am dragging my right foot.  I don’t quite understand why.  It feel like I’m so much stronger on the right and yet I am dragging this foot .  I feel like I am not dorsi-flexing equally on the left.  The left side feels so much looser.  I truly believe that I’m a little twisted in my pelvis because I keep having these alignment issues.  My massage therapist says that my body feels different.  It’s hard acheiving balance.  I think this is why the longer distances are hard on my body.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?  Can you shed some light on this subject?

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/29/2008
• Time: 08:47:37
• Total Time: 00:44:52.00
• Average Heart rate: 147
• Max Heart rate: 176
• Calories: 350
• Distance: 5 miles
• Average Pace: 8:58.12/mile

Does anyone else have this problem?  I know we are not all symetrical.  Maybe the problems appear when you push your body to it’s limits.  I guess marathon is the limit for me.  No ultras are in my future!

Ran from my house down to Kenmore and back.  This is one of the tough courses I do when I want to challenge myself.  Michelle and I ran this course a couple weeks back, but added on to it to make it 12 miles.  Last time, I did a cool down mile with Murphy, my golden retriever puppy to make it 13.

Today was a beautiful day.  It was only 47 degrees, but the sun was shining almost like Spring.  I was a bit tired from a 9 hour volleyball tournament yesterday.  I felt like I was sleeping through the first few miles.  By the time I got to mile 3 I was feeling pretty good though. 

I still feel like I need to work on my gait.  I had plantar fasciitis on my left side.  Sometimes my left bicep tendon gets really tight after running.  I am starting to wonder why all this is going on on the left side.  I went to a biomechanics workshop last weekend.  One of the things I learned in the workshop is that if your body can’t rotate at a given joint, it will compensate by finding a way to rotate at another joint to get the rotation needed to accomplish the task.  I seem to have a weak external hip rotator on the left.  When my gait was analyzed, I internally rotated at the last moment before striking.  Another interesting thing I discovered in the workshop is that I actually pronate more on the right side.  Maybe I am trying pronate equally on the left, but it’s not happening, so I somehow try to make it happen by internally rotating at the hip and shoulder, to make up for the lack in my foot.  I’m speculating here.  It’s interesting what your body will do to get from point A to point B.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 02/17/2008
• Time: 10:30:00
• Total Time: 1:30:05.00
• Average Heart rate: 158
• Max Heart rate: 169
• Calories: 800
• Distance: 10 miles
• Average Pace: 9:00.54/mile
• Ascent: 760 ft

I went to physical therapy yesterday.  My running has been going well.  I’ve been consistently working on my core. I’ve been a good girl, taking time off when I needed to. I’ve eased back into my training and it’s all good. Right?

Well, it turns out that I have a problem with turning in. My running gait analysis video revealed that my left foot toes in the last second before push off. The right side is solid with a nice normal strike that goes from supination to pronation. The left side does the weird toe in thing. It’s almost as if a string were attached to my left foot that jerks  my toes towards the midline. Funky!

There is a strength imbalance between my external hip rotators (glute minimus) on the left and the right side. The interesting thing is that I’ve seen race photos of myself from the 80’s with this toe in gait. I can do some strengthening exercises to help balance out the descrepancy.  However, this could be my own unique asymetry.  I’ll try working on external rotation to see if this helps.