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I’m Still Running

May 2, 2022 Leave a Comment

Week 7 of Hal Higdon’s Novice Supreme Marathon training is completed! And I’m still running – did the song “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John pop into your head? Okay, maybe it was just me. Ha! Yes, still running, but I have had a couple of little problem areas that are concerning.

First, I have a history of ITBS (iliotibial band syndrome) on the right leg, and it has been very tight lately. So tight that it is causing pain on the outside of the right knee. Secondly, I have developed some mild low back pain. Then, I was reaching into the freezer and had a sudden sharp pain on the right side of my upper back. I believe these are all connected in some way and if I don’t do something about them now, they are only going to get worse. And when things like that get worse, they can affect or even prevent running at all.

And this explains it all…definitely connected!!

The Kinetic Chain

I have been doing strengthening exercises consistently since January. I stretch and foam roll every single night! I literally don’t know what else I can do. I suppose my form could use some work?? Recall, this is the year that I said I was going to give running my best shot and if it doesn’t work out, then I know I have tried everything. I’m tired of starting over every few weeks. As you know, a diagnosis of Knee Osteoarthritis has kept me from running for the past few years. Armed with more information, I decided to give running this last chance. I have a dream to run Boston one day. I can’t quit now!

So, I decided to get professional help before I can’t run any longer. The type of professional that knows a little something about running and especially running with knee osteoarthritis. And I found a physical therapist that I have actually worked with in the past. Zuzana, who is now with the Runners’ Edge Alaska, is someone that has tried to help me before but to be honest, when her plan didn’t work in a couple of weeks, I just gave up on it. That was probably part of my depression of having been diagnosed (not by her) with knee OA and not being able to run I’m sure. I just felt hopeless.

But, after just one visit, I learned quite a bit, and more importantly, I am open to doing what I need to do regardless of how long it takes.

First, an evaluation of running on the treadmill let her know (my understanding anyway) that although my hips stayed level and my knees didn’t turn out (she seemed impressed by these facts), I didn’t have much of a hip drive. In addition, I tend to run with my knees bent and I have a lot of bounce in my stride. Plus, I hit the ground really hard. When she demonstrated this with a bit of an over-exaggeration, I was worried! My poor knees! I even reviewed a slow-motion running reel that I did on IG a while back and I didn’t even see it at that time. Looking at it now, I see there is more to be concerned about than just that bounce. But, that is why professional help is warranted sometimes.

During that running evaluation, she stated that my cadence (total number of steps you take per minute) was 164. That is about what my Garmin usually reads on average. However, she wants me to bump it up to 170 spm.

Zuzana suggested using music that has a beat equivalent to about 170 cadence. Yes, you can find music online to run to whatever cadence you want practically. “I’m Still Standing” is 177 BPM just as an example. Or you can use a metronome which can be set to whatever cadence you want to run at. I have used the Run Tempo metronome app in the past, but I felt like it was hard to stay focused on the beeping tones so I decided on music.

Run Tempo - Runners Metronome
Run Tempo-Runners
Metronome

I put it to the test. The first graphic below was on Thursday before my Friday PT appointment. On Thursdays, I do like to increase the pace a bit. My average cadence truly is around 164 spm typically. And the “After” graphic was on Saturday. I was so optimistic about my average cadence being at 170 spm. I ran about the same pace as Thursday, but I didn’t feel like it took more effort. Plus, I felt much lighter on my feet. That slight increase in cadence may not seem like a lot but for me it’s huge. I feel like a slug running sometimes. But the biggest thing that happened was that I actually felt a toe push off. When I look at that slow-motion video of me running, I seem to plant my foot, my knee stays bent, and there is no real push-off. Plus, I have been having some mild arthritic knee pain with the last couple of runs and on Saturday, the pain was very minimal to none! Now that’s exciting!

Garmin cadence graphics

In addition, Zuzana gave me exercises to improve on other areas of weakness that she identified during her evaluation. One of the things I appreciated was when I couldn’t do the exercise 100%, she made some adjustments – maybe by using less weight or as in this photo, keeping my feet flat on the ground and progressing to the toes – with a plan to progress vs just being given an exercise to “work on”. She also clarified how to do a bridge (I have issues with the bridge!) and evaluated return demonstrations on all the exercises.

Running on Wall exercise

And the ITB with knee pain was taken care of with dry needling while the low back pain and the pain from the freezer reach just miraculously disappeared after that procedure. I knew they were connected! I also received instructions on the proper use of a foam roller. I didn’t realize I shouldn’t foam roll all the way into the knee area. There was just so much information in that one-hour session that was so helpful.

We even talked about running shoes and how rotating your shoes can help to prevent injury and keep the feet strong. Lots of runners have many shoes in their rotation for different types of runs but I have always just trained and raced in the same shoe. Zuzana gave me options of the different shoe types in the brand that I like which I could add to my soon-to-be running shoe rotation.

Also, I thought as long as I was running in a low heel-to-toe drop shoe, all was good. Apparently, the stack height (the material in the shoe between the ground and your foot-cushioning) is something to consider as well. The stack height in my Altra Paradigm 5 is 34mm and the Paradigm 6 is 30mm. Other Altra options like the Torrin is 28mm and the Escalante is 25mm.

So why do I need to be concerned about stack height? This article from Run Forefoot states… “cushioned running shoes impair foot function, pushing walkers and runners more towards knee-joint dysfunction.” That is all I need to know.

For comparison sake, runrepeat.com grouped shoes into 4 stack height categories:

  1. Barefoot running shoes (the lowest stack height: 3-8mm)
  2. Minimalist running shoes (minimal stack height: 3-13mm)
  3. Regular running shoes (medium stack height: 9-29mm)
  4. Maximalist running shoes (maximal stack height: 30-50mm)

So it looks like my running shoes are in the maximal stack height category. I will say they are very comfortable and I do love them, but if they are not good for my knees, I am willing to try something different.

I am very glad that I decided to get professional help with these running issues. Getting a personalized plan is very important and I am looking forward to seeing how this all pans out. I have a follow-up later this month so I will keep you posted.

And…I’m still running!!

Running and Strengthening

  • Monday Postural Exercises
  • Tuesday Run 2 miles/ Strengthening Exercises
  • Wednesday Run 3 miles
  • Thursday Run 2 miles
  • Friday Physical Therapy
  • Saturday Run 3 miles
  • Sunday Physical Therapy Exercises/Hiking 1.3 miles

As usual, I do a warm-up and cool down before and after the run along with stretching and foam rolling nightly.

Being that this is getting a tad long, I will leave you with a couple of pictures from our hike on Sunday.

Chugach Mountains and my pup

And the sunsets this past week have been amazing!

Alaska Sunset

It’s gonna be a good week! Until next time…

Happy Running

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Sharing the challenges that I face while training for marathons in my 60s! I'm determined to reach these goals while also meeting life's demands and spending time with my awesome and very supportive family! Read More…

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Oh these hills!! I have advanced on my run/walk cy Oh these hills!! I have advanced on my run/walk cycles to a 4:1 ratio and my 4 min runs were up the hills!! Good training right? Swipe to see what happens every single time I put my mat down to do my exercises.  #ilovetorun❤️ #runalaska #runnersover60  #hillrunningishard #runningpartnerneedsarest
The wind died down today so we took a nice little The wind died down today so we took a nice little snow shoe up the mountain. The scenery was beautiful, just hard to capture it.  #snowshoeingadventures #snowshoealaska  #chugachmountains  #crosstraining #opt outside alaska
It’s been hard to get anything done or even thin It’s been hard to get anything done or even think about running with all that is happening in the world🥲 but I managed to get down my icy driveway to run on the dry roads. Super windy!!! I had a really hard time on the hills  against that wind. But I got it done and I increased my run/walk to a 4:1 ratio x 7 so I am happy about that. #runnersofalaska #runalaska #runwalkrun #runnersover60 #ilovetorun #buildingarunningbase #windyalaska #crazywinterweather
Sonja - @nurse_sonja_ak - and I had planned to cel Sonja - @nurse_sonja_ak - and I had planned to celebrate in memory of my Mother on her birthday but I had minor surgery that left me down and out longer than I had expected and Sonja ended up positive for Covid. But, despite that look what she did! She is so talented and creative. She remembered Mom as someone who was always stylish. She took pride in her appearance. A specific memory inspired Sonja to make these beautiful clay earrings! How special is that? My Mother would have loved these. #inmemory #rememberingyouonyourbirthday  #neverforgetyou  #bestdaughterintheworld❤️ #talenteddaughter❤️ #clayearrings #madespeciallyformom  #thelittlethings❤️
I’m obsessed with the sun finally clearing the m I’m obsessed with the sun finally clearing the mountains. Haha sunshine during my run is so nice. It wasn’t that bright today but it’s still shining ❤️#sunnydaysarehereagain #runningonsunshine #run #runnersover60 #runak #optoutside
My running views have just been awesome. I am inc My running views have just been awesome.  I am increasing my running time 3:1 this week. Keeping my fingers crossed that it goes well🤞 #runwalkrunrepeat #runnersover60 #backtorunning #buildingarunningbase #myrunningviews #runak #kneeosteoarthritis
Running with knee OA is interesting. Take yesterd Running with knee OA is interesting.  Take yesterday, my knees were bothering me a little, to the point that I wasn’t sure if I should run. But, I thought… give it a try, see how it goes. I can always just walk. And it went great! I even added an extra run/walk cycle to the program. And today I have absolutely no knee pain. I’m even running up and down stairs (when I need to go up them) trying to create some pain (I know sicko) but nothing??? Go figure! Nothing has changed. But hey, I’ll take it! #runningwithosteoarthritis #kneearthritis #runnersover60 #runwalkrun #kneepain #nokneepaintoday
Yay, the sun was briefly above the mountain for th Yay, the sun was briefly above the mountain for the first time since November! We will be gaining about 37 minutes of daylight this week! It’s the little things 😂  It was a beautiful Alaskan day but it was very cold!  I took a rest day today.  #restdayforrunners  #runnersover60 #olderwomenrunners #runak #winterwonderlandalaska #winterwonderland #readyforspringtime #optoutsideak
I wasn’t feeling like getting out today but my h I wasn’t feeling like getting out today but my hubby convinced me to go out for a ski. I did need to get in some cross-training so off we went. It actually was really nice to get out. Isn’t that usually the case?  #skiak #skieagleriver #crosstraining #optoutside #getoutside  #getfit #winterwinderland❄️
My running views today. I think I am finally settl My running views today. I think I am finally settling in to being back home and appreciating the beauty of the state. Don’t get me wrong though, I would be in a flight back to HawIi given the chance!! #runak #myrunningviews #buildingarunningbase #backtorunningagain #runwalkrun #winterwonderland #chimarathon2022
I’m not sure that I should go on vacation especi I’m not sure that I should go on vacation especially if I am going to have such a hard time adjusting back to the cold!  I’m beginning to believe that the cold and dark is not good for my health. It was soooo nice in Hawaii!! I’m still getting out for my runs and bike rides but I have been slow to get back to the exercises and stretching.  I’ll get there! #backtothecoldweather #runak #buildingarunningbase #crosstraining🚴#winterbiking🚴❄️ #fattirebiking #runnersover60  #keeponkeepingon🏃‍♀️
We are back to snow and ice. While we were away th We are back to snow and ice. While we were away the temps warmed up to in the 40s causing everything to melt just so it can freeze over once the temp drops!! Please send me back to #mauisun . We did get out for a bike ride today so it wasn’t too bad I guess. The new snow made conditions a little tolerable.  #winterinalaska #snowandice #fattirebiking #winterbiking #ilovemyfattirebike #ilovetorun #running2run #getfitalaska #optoutside
Hawaii Vacation Hawaii Vacation
Another awesome day in Hawaii with @nurse_sonja_ak Another awesome day in Hawaii with @nurse_sonja_ak  and fam! #vacaywithfamily  #familytimeisthebesttime💕  #hawaiiansunsetsnevergetold
Fun day at the beach! Even found a boardwalk to ge Fun day at the beach! Even found a boardwalk to get my run in. #familyfun❤️❤️ #spendingtimewithfamily❤️ #familyiseverything
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