Yes! Yes! Yes! They work! My new insoles work!
I'm now in week two of running with my new insoles and I can't believe the change.
As is my way, I started off with some caution; trepidatious about what was going to happen. My shoes felt full of feet and I could feel that my balance had shifted even as I walked towards the treadmill, carrying the original insoles with me in case it all ended in tears.
The first few steps felt very strange indeed. Some bits felt light and floaty, others protested about having to work harder than usual. Things twanged, shuggled and moved about, but before too long, it felt great. Suddenly I was focussed on running, not worrying about what bit of me I was at risk of damaging. I was just running normally and it felt good. Nothing hurt in a worrying sort of way and I could feel my body adapting bit by bit. I gradually speeded up and increased the mileage and used them in other shoes and even used them on my longest run ever and ..... it was fine.
When I finished my run, I felt better than I've done for ages and what was even better, the next day nothing hurt.Well that's not quite true, my knee was still a bit sore, but it responded well to some applied thumb pressure. The other thing that hurt was my muscles! For the first time in ages, I had some muscle tiredness after my tempo run because I ran a little bit faster for a little bit longer. I'm actively looking forward to getting DOMS! Bloody luxury!
All the insoles do is fill the space between where my heel is and where it should be, plus they're extra cushioned to reduce the impact all that running has on my big toe joint. It's amazing what a difference that couple of millimetre heel lift makes, it brings my body back into balance so it can work properly. I guess pounding the streets when you're out of kilter is bound to strain things as your muscles, tendons etc all struggle to keep everything together.
So my goals these last 2 weeks were to get used to the insoles, keep my right knee under control and get that long run up. Week 1 I kept things steady, so my mileage only went up by 1/2 mile to 30.5 miles but I did my first 15 miles in one go (just under 3 hours - slow but I know I can speed up). I had no knee problems at all. Week 2, I added a bit of speed and a bit of distance - up to 33 and a bit miles. I did another 15 miler (very slow, hard work and not fun as I did it at 9 am without fuelling properly - a mistake I won;t do again). At the end of these 2 weeks, things hurt a bit more and my knee is a bit niggly but not sore going up and down stairs. I'm seeing Pam to check on my progress with the insoles so I'll see what she says.
So, I'm still running and still sticking to that schedule. I can't quite imagine I can run 26.2 miles, but I'm so happy to be running with both feet firmly on the ground. That tiny adjustment has made a tremendous difference already; if I can curb my exuberance then I really hope I can keep on track.
Next week I'm planning to up the long run, but keep the weekly mileage more or less the same and slow the speed right down, take the pressure off a bit.
I hope you're running or pedalling strong and enjoying the bit of extra daylight we're getting. Not long before I'll be joining the #4.44 club again I hope!
Take care
Suex
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