I'm not the Terminator, but I am a Supinator!

Google is a wonderful tool for self-diagnosis don't you think? I've diagnosed myself with tuberculosis, spinal meningitis, frost bite, macular degeneration and Asian Flu before.

Thankfully I was completely wrong on all those diagnoses, but I really think I'm right on this one. I oversupinate. For you non-runners out there, it means I land on the outside edge of my foot and it doesn't roll inward like it's supposed to naturally. This means I have less cushioning when my foot strikes since pronating (foot rolling inward slightly) allows your feet to absorb some of the shock of slamming three times your body weight onto the ground with every step.

My right foot hurt after my 15K a couple of weeks ago. I iced it, rested it for six days and that has seemed to abate the symptoms of what I was about to diagnose as plantar fasciitis--something I really don't want it to be. Now after my runs I ice it and it seems to work. From what I've learned at the University of Google my slight bow-leggedness contributes to my oversupination and so I'm not sure what I can do mechanically to fix it. Hopefully being conscious about trying to push off more from my big toes and icing any soreness after a run will prevent further pain. This girl has a half-marathon to run!

Race Weekend

And I do mean "Race Weekend" not just "Race Day." I'm a running machine and signed up for two races this weekend. The first was the Race for Freedom 5K on Saturday. It raised money for the ICT S.O.S., a non-profit organization that helps human trafficking victims. Yes, human trafficking occurs in Wichita.

 

My best timed 5K to date was 29:30. I felt pretty tired running this race, but kept chugging right along. No wonder I was tired. I ran a personal best of 27:29! That's an 8:50 pace. Training runs I usually run 10:30-11:00 minute miles so this was quite a bit faster.

My second race was on Sunday, and I was really nervous about this one. It was the Meritrust Tiger Trot 15K (9.32 miles) at Tanganyika. My longest training run prior to this race was 8 miles the week before. I made sure I paced myself with this one! I felt really good and was able to pick up the pace a bit about half way through. The last mile was pretty tough though and my legs got tired. No official time yet as results haven't been posted, but my iPod shows 1:36:33. I never remember to turn it off right away, so I probably ran it about 10 seconds faster. No action shots for this race so here's a picture of me with my ferocious little black tiger (otherwise known as domesticus cattus).

Although it was nice to get a PR in the 5K I think I may have just fallen in love with long-distance running. How can you not love something that you do so long that your stomach starts growling near the end, which means you get to eat a lot of food afterwards and not feel guilty about it?!

I'm a...runner?!

I originally posted this blog on my Sparkpeople page in June 2012. I figured if I'm going to think about starting this blog up again, I might as well start easy and post something I'd already written.

Something odd happened to me a couple of months ago...I became a runner. I've dabbled in it a few times in my life, but neither my body nor my mind ever took me seriously. Until now. I signed up for a two mile "fun" run and "trained" on my lunch hour. I was nervous at the race; it was my first ever organized race, and I wasn't sure if I could jog the whole thing. My friend, who had run a couple of 5Ks before, took off and I knew I had to keep up with her or get swallowed by the masses. We finished that run in less than 20 minutes, and I knew I was hooked.

This weekend I "ran" my first 5K: The Color Run in Kansas City. There were over ten thousand runners; so many that it was impossible to run the entire time if you wanted to get water or get color thrown on you at each kilometer. But it was still a 5K, and if I did it in about 40 minutes then I can only get PRs from here on out!