And still learning

Ok I am going to try to Blog more and keep it shorter.. Even I can't tolerate reading my blog it is so long.

Summary of this season. I injured my knee in Jan, stopped running and started PT to deal with the issue. PT helped with the pain and pain management as well as made me understand I have a weak core and need help.

I also found I was running in the wrong shoes. I was in a stability shoe, most likely carry over from weighing as much as I do and being fitted again into slightly less shoe but still stability. I was wearing the outside of my shoe off. Turns out I supinate. Only about 10% of people do, my feet naturally roll out. So I managed to select another store and get fitted again. I am now wearing a Mizuno Wave Rider 14 neutral shoe and bought two pairs. Love them.

What else... oh ya my real weak left side core was because my hip was out of place. So 2 months after starting PT the pain was gone, range of motion was back core was improving. But every time I tried to run I had pain in my patella tendon. I had a couple of meltdowns and stress about it. The support of my Wife Tina and my Friend Stef was great and helpful. Tina kept encouraging me that I had to be patient. Stef kept encouraging me telling me that my other workouts would help and I would still be able to run well when I was back to running. Brought me over a magazine with a story about a triathlete that was injured, swam 5-6 days a week and spun on their bike. When she got back to running she broke some of her personal records.

Regardless I didn't think this would happen. Anyways after Chiro appointment I was running lightly with Stef and the Learn to run group we are doing.. ok she is I am just helping. Free clinic with over 20 people that joined us for the learn to run and her sister is doing a 10K clinic. Amazing women really. K back on track. Monday night clinic run after chiro appointment went really well.. so that Wed I went out and ran hills without a single sign of pain or tracking. 5.3 km and I didn't go easy. I ran 4km that weekend non stop as well. Following week I went out and ran 4km then 5km WOW no pain.. tight muscles from not running for 3 months.

So this past weekend I went out to do my first 5km run race since November.. and wouldn't you know it I ran my first Sub 30 min 5k race after not running for 3 months. So it is possible to not only keep up your cardio while injured but it is possible to keep improving. My previous best was 33:06 for 5km and I ran 29:16 on the weekend that is over 12.5% improvement. I do feel I could have pushed a bit harder on my previous best but maybe no better then 32 mins... So still would have been a 9% improvement..

And in this time Tina has made me very proud she picked up more volume tried more classes at the gym and is trying new things all the time. Made more improvements in weight loss and even did a 2.5 hour gym workout with 5 classes that raised money for Charity... Very proud of my wife for her accomplishments.