New Year's Day. Time to set goals, make resolutions, whatever you want to call it. These days I try and live in the moment as much as possible, with humility and gratitude. That doesn't mean I am without ambition; it just means I don't wanna miss what's happening NOW.
There are a lot of things I want to do as a runner and an athlete, but my physical fitness is in a precarious state. The muscle imbalances I had BEFORE my accident have been exacerbated, so my lower back keeps going into spasm. What that means for me is at least a week of compromised training every time it happens. I have a stretching and mobility routine I use whenever it happens, but it still means time off from my "real" training. As I write this I am at the tail end of a week and a half of rehab from my last back problem. I'm still not able to run, and it's making me crazy.
So what am I gonna do about it? Well, a couple things. This week I have an appointment with a physical therapist; she's going to tell me if I'm healthy enough to ease back into running. If not, she's gonna help me plan what I have to do to get healthy enough. I'm cautiously optimistic.
The other thing I've done is set a goal. Saturday, May 11 is a few days before my 54th birthday; my goal is to once again run the entire 11 miles of Leif Erickson Road. I'm gonna take off from the Thurman trailhead at around 2:00 PM; you're welcome to join me if you want. It's not a race, just a friendly little run.
Showing posts with label feet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feet. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Back To Work
I made it through the first week of work since my accident. It sure felt good to be back on the floor at the taekwondo studio! My students and co-workers have been incredibly supportive, and I'm grateful. When you work in the same place for 12 years it is easy to take it for granted, or let the annoyances (small and large) make you forget what led you there in the first place. I know I'm lucky; I love what I do, and my boss (Grand Master B. C. Kim) is also my mentor and friend.
My foot feels pretty good. It is still swollen, and by the end of the day it is pretty achy, but it feels good. I have remained pretty close to barefoot; my injured foot is still protected with gauze and an Ace bandage. At the gym I wear my old standby Vibram Five Fingers ("toe shoes") on my good foot. When I'm out and about I'm wearing flip-flops, but it keeps sliding off my injured foot. I guess you need all your toes to make them viable. After the stitches come out I'll go get some more substantial sandals such as huraches, but I will white-knuckle it through the next 1 1/2 weeks with what I have.
So what am I gonna wear on my feet for running? Good question. I had been running in Vibram Five Fingers KSO Treks, but I don't know if that's gonna work at first. This winter I acquired some Asics street running shoes that I think will be okay in the short term. They are designed to correct over-pronation (rotating your ankles outward as you run). As soon as possible I would like to go back to a minimalist-type shoe with not much heel support, preferably my VFFs.
One concern I have had is balance. The shape of my right foot has changed, so balance is gonna be different. I have been casually playing with simple exercises such as balancing on my right foot. Yeah, balance has been affected, but with the simple things I've done so far it isn't too bad. I did a few steps of slow jogging on the matted floor of the TKD studio, and it felt fine. Of course that was only a few steps, but taking them was good for my confidence.
So I'm back in taekwondo, and I now know that I'll be able to do everything I want and need to do for my work and my martial arts training. Hell, I might have to go compete in a tournament just to test myself. I have promised myself a trip to my beloved Forest Park on the weekend after my stitches come out, and I'm waiting impatiently to get out there. I'm gonna have to start out very slow, very low miles, but I AM gonna start.
My foot feels pretty good. It is still swollen, and by the end of the day it is pretty achy, but it feels good. I have remained pretty close to barefoot; my injured foot is still protected with gauze and an Ace bandage. At the gym I wear my old standby Vibram Five Fingers ("toe shoes") on my good foot. When I'm out and about I'm wearing flip-flops, but it keeps sliding off my injured foot. I guess you need all your toes to make them viable. After the stitches come out I'll go get some more substantial sandals such as huraches, but I will white-knuckle it through the next 1 1/2 weeks with what I have.
So what am I gonna wear on my feet for running? Good question. I had been running in Vibram Five Fingers KSO Treks, but I don't know if that's gonna work at first. This winter I acquired some Asics street running shoes that I think will be okay in the short term. They are designed to correct over-pronation (rotating your ankles outward as you run). As soon as possible I would like to go back to a minimalist-type shoe with not much heel support, preferably my VFFs.
One concern I have had is balance. The shape of my right foot has changed, so balance is gonna be different. I have been casually playing with simple exercises such as balancing on my right foot. Yeah, balance has been affected, but with the simple things I've done so far it isn't too bad. I did a few steps of slow jogging on the matted floor of the TKD studio, and it felt fine. Of course that was only a few steps, but taking them was good for my confidence.
So I'm back in taekwondo, and I now know that I'll be able to do everything I want and need to do for my work and my martial arts training. Hell, I might have to go compete in a tournament just to test myself. I have promised myself a trip to my beloved Forest Park on the weekend after my stitches come out, and I'm waiting impatiently to get out there. I'm gonna have to start out very slow, very low miles, but I AM gonna start.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Prognosis, and Back To Work
I saw my podiatrist Dr. Mah this morning. He was satisfied and pleased with the way my stitches are healing. He gave me a great prognosis: I can start work immediately, and when the stitches come out in two weeks I can start running again!
Yesterday (Monday) I started my rehab workouts at ADAPT Training. The folks at ADAPT were kind enough to provide me with several routines to keep me moving while my foot finishes healing. The workouts will help me retain as much mobility, flexibility, and muscular balance as possible during my recovery. I need to be vigilant about muscular balance. The shape of my right foot has changed, so the way I walk and run will have to adapt to the new shape without overcompensating and creating an imbalance in the rest of my body. This will be the biggest challenge of my recuperation.
For the last week I've been wearing a surgical boot on my right foot to protect the bandages. The boot was way too cumbersome (plus it was two sizes bigger than I need), so I wanted to find some comfortable footwear. If I was gonna go back to work I needed to protect my injury while still being able to move around as much as possible. Of course most people (myself included) train barefoot in a martial arts studio, but I didn't think that was an option. I bought a pair of inexpensive flip-flops with a velcro instep strap.
The flip-flops lasted about two minutes. That's how long it took for one of them to fall off my injured foot. I ended up just tossing them onto the shoe rack. My wound is covered with a thick layer of gauze bandages that are held in place by an elastic Ace bandage. Turns out that the Ace bandage holds everything together just fine. I had to adjust it several times, but that was no big deal. The floor at the TKD studio is covered by two layers of foam mats that, combined, are about three inches thick. This is a very comfortable surface for training AND for walking around with a forefoot injury.
By the end of the day I was exhausted but very happy. My bad wheel was a little achy but not even close to being a problem. My stamina isn't quite back to normal, but I see signs of improvement. Getting back to my work as a TKD instructor can only help me get it back. Plus I miss everyone. The staff and students at World Champion Taekwondo are part of my extended family.
I'm very excited to have a date when I can start running again! I believe that my existing running style (not very fast, smallish stride, medium to fast tempo) will lend itself to a good recovery. I am expecting my progress to be slow and probably a little painful. I'm also expecting some setbacks along the way; Dr. Mah warned me that my balance will most likely have been affected by the injury. That's fine, I'm not looking to set a world record or anything. The most important thing for me is to just get moving and keep moving.
Yesterday (Monday) I started my rehab workouts at ADAPT Training. The folks at ADAPT were kind enough to provide me with several routines to keep me moving while my foot finishes healing. The workouts will help me retain as much mobility, flexibility, and muscular balance as possible during my recovery. I need to be vigilant about muscular balance. The shape of my right foot has changed, so the way I walk and run will have to adapt to the new shape without overcompensating and creating an imbalance in the rest of my body. This will be the biggest challenge of my recuperation.
For the last week I've been wearing a surgical boot on my right foot to protect the bandages. The boot was way too cumbersome (plus it was two sizes bigger than I need), so I wanted to find some comfortable footwear. If I was gonna go back to work I needed to protect my injury while still being able to move around as much as possible. Of course most people (myself included) train barefoot in a martial arts studio, but I didn't think that was an option. I bought a pair of inexpensive flip-flops with a velcro instep strap.
The flip-flops lasted about two minutes. That's how long it took for one of them to fall off my injured foot. I ended up just tossing them onto the shoe rack. My wound is covered with a thick layer of gauze bandages that are held in place by an elastic Ace bandage. Turns out that the Ace bandage holds everything together just fine. I had to adjust it several times, but that was no big deal. The floor at the TKD studio is covered by two layers of foam mats that, combined, are about three inches thick. This is a very comfortable surface for training AND for walking around with a forefoot injury.
By the end of the day I was exhausted but very happy. My bad wheel was a little achy but not even close to being a problem. My stamina isn't quite back to normal, but I see signs of improvement. Getting back to my work as a TKD instructor can only help me get it back. Plus I miss everyone. The staff and students at World Champion Taekwondo are part of my extended family.
I'm very excited to have a date when I can start running again! I believe that my existing running style (not very fast, smallish stride, medium to fast tempo) will lend itself to a good recovery. I am expecting my progress to be slow and probably a little painful. I'm also expecting some setbacks along the way; Dr. Mah warned me that my balance will most likely have been affected by the injury. That's fine, I'm not looking to set a world record or anything. The most important thing for me is to just get moving and keep moving.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Feet, what a lovely invention
I really appreciate feet (not in any kind of fetish way, you sickos). They are a marvel of engineering. Next time you are barefoot, take a moment and consider your feet. Rotate your toes in a circle. Flex and extend your foot. Move them every way you can think to move them. Remarkable.
As a taekwondo practitioner since 1996 I've been training barefoot for a long time. Some TKD players do wear thin-soled shoes at least some of the time. I would sometimes wear them when I was teaching class all day (mostly to keep them clean) or if I had, say, cuts or bruises. All things being equal I'd prefer to do my martial arts training totally barefoot.
A couple years ago I started wearing Vibram Five Fingers (aka "toe shoes") for my gym workouts. I'm a big advocate of integrated cross-training: doing somewhat unorthodox movements such as climbing around on monkey bars, bear crawls up and down stairs, balance beam work, etc in addition to more conventional cardio and strength training. VFFs excellently lend themselves to my purposes. Being able to articulate my toes is great for balance and stability.
I didn't start wearing Five Fingers for running until this spring; I'd tried a couple neighborhood runs (ZZZZZ) and banged up my feet more than I like. VFFs were a no-brainer once I pretty much abandoned running on pavement and started training in Portland's wonderful Forest Park. They provide at least as much traction as conventional shoes, with the added benefit of feeling more sure-footed in mud (we're in Oregon, so traction in mud is a year-round issue). In the summertime I can take a refreshing wade through a cool stream, and the shoes are dry five minutes later. Try that with your $120 mega-engineered running shoes. Oh, and they're machine washable. My take? I totally love them for the gym and for trail running, but I didn't care for them for tons of pavement running or very eroded rocky terrain (they're just fine on loose gravel, though). I did just wear them for an urban 8K that was 2/3 pavement plus a crap-ton of concrete stairs, and they performed admirably.
You get the idea. I'm pretty in touch with my feet, and I like to rely on as little protection as I can. I like feeling connected to the earth. That being said, I was never one of those kids who was barefoot all the time. I respect and understand the total-barefoot running community, but I'd rather not risk cutting up my feet, so VFFs for me.
You can see how losing a toe has the potential to really get into my head. There are a lot of unanswered questions. What is my foot gonna look like? How will it feel to run? Will I still be able to wear my VFFs, or do I need to switch to more conventional shoes? Will the amputation site be so sensitive that my right foot will be useless for demonstrating taekwondo techniques? Will my students be grossed out by my disfigured foot? (My knee-jerk answer is "get over it".) How the hell am I gonna do push-ups without both big toes as an anchor point? (I do several push-up variations, including dive-bombers, SEAL push-ups, etc, so I can't just cross my ankles.) Make no mistake: as long as it's physically possible I'm gonna run again. For me, running on a trail isn't about speed, it's moving meditation. Even the worst trail session is a joyful exercise in living in the moment. I won't give that up without a fight. First things first: make sure my wound is healed.
As a taekwondo practitioner since 1996 I've been training barefoot for a long time. Some TKD players do wear thin-soled shoes at least some of the time. I would sometimes wear them when I was teaching class all day (mostly to keep them clean) or if I had, say, cuts or bruises. All things being equal I'd prefer to do my martial arts training totally barefoot.
A couple years ago I started wearing Vibram Five Fingers (aka "toe shoes") for my gym workouts. I'm a big advocate of integrated cross-training: doing somewhat unorthodox movements such as climbing around on monkey bars, bear crawls up and down stairs, balance beam work, etc in addition to more conventional cardio and strength training. VFFs excellently lend themselves to my purposes. Being able to articulate my toes is great for balance and stability.
I didn't start wearing Five Fingers for running until this spring; I'd tried a couple neighborhood runs (ZZZZZ) and banged up my feet more than I like. VFFs were a no-brainer once I pretty much abandoned running on pavement and started training in Portland's wonderful Forest Park. They provide at least as much traction as conventional shoes, with the added benefit of feeling more sure-footed in mud (we're in Oregon, so traction in mud is a year-round issue). In the summertime I can take a refreshing wade through a cool stream, and the shoes are dry five minutes later. Try that with your $120 mega-engineered running shoes. Oh, and they're machine washable. My take? I totally love them for the gym and for trail running, but I didn't care for them for tons of pavement running or very eroded rocky terrain (they're just fine on loose gravel, though). I did just wear them for an urban 8K that was 2/3 pavement plus a crap-ton of concrete stairs, and they performed admirably.
You get the idea. I'm pretty in touch with my feet, and I like to rely on as little protection as I can. I like feeling connected to the earth. That being said, I was never one of those kids who was barefoot all the time. I respect and understand the total-barefoot running community, but I'd rather not risk cutting up my feet, so VFFs for me.
You can see how losing a toe has the potential to really get into my head. There are a lot of unanswered questions. What is my foot gonna look like? How will it feel to run? Will I still be able to wear my VFFs, or do I need to switch to more conventional shoes? Will the amputation site be so sensitive that my right foot will be useless for demonstrating taekwondo techniques? Will my students be grossed out by my disfigured foot? (My knee-jerk answer is "get over it".) How the hell am I gonna do push-ups without both big toes as an anchor point? (I do several push-up variations, including dive-bombers, SEAL push-ups, etc, so I can't just cross my ankles.) Make no mistake: as long as it's physically possible I'm gonna run again. For me, running on a trail isn't about speed, it's moving meditation. Even the worst trail session is a joyful exercise in living in the moment. I won't give that up without a fight. First things first: make sure my wound is healed.
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