Ice Ice Baby (and Insoles)

You may have noticed a shortage of blog posts about my running recently, and the explanation is simple: It isn’t funny. I haven’t had a relapse, and I’m running 8-10 miles a week, but I’m not 100%. I keep toying with the idea of visiting the sports medicine clinic, but I’m not having any trouble walking, my insurance won’t cover an MRI just for fun, and there’s a six-week lag between asking for an appointment and getting one. So I’m treating myself, and you know what they say about that.

Perhaps my chronic peroneal tendonitis has traveled to the top of my foot. Or maybe I have ankle synovitis. Or sinus tarsi syndrome. (I know, it sounds like a line from Star Trek: “Who is the alien guy with the tentacles?” “He’s the ambassador from Sinus Tarvi.”) Does it really matter? The treatment regimen is always the same: RICE. So I go out and do my 2.4 mile loop every other day, come back inside and use more ice than a bartender mixing a $1 margarita. It’s working great and cutting down on my Advil bills.

I was also up around 400 miles on my shoes, so I headed down to Fleet Feet for a pair of Asics Gel Evolution 5s. I have medium arches but I am an Olympic level over-pronator. Really. If I pronated more, I’d run sideways. So not only do I need a motion control shoe, but an insole that keeps me from overpronating inside the shoe. I chose the Superfeet greens. I’ve run in this set-up twice this week and so far, so good.

I’m still running at a decent clip, but I have to come to grips with the possibility that I might never get back to the 57-mile-weeks necessary for me to run another marathon. It might be “bust” for my “BQ or Bust” but I’ll still be a happy runner.