Running Can Be Such a Pain (in the Foot)

I had plans to get out on Sunday morning for a nice 8 mile run with Michelle, but with temperatures plummeting to Arctic-like conditions we decided we just didn't have it in us.  This was a bit of a disappointment, but was probably for the best as my foot really started to bother me as the morning went on.  Out of nowhere I had developed pain on the outside bottom of my left foot, in what I guess you would call the "outside arch".

I decided to just take it easy and not run the next day either, opting for a swim instead (which went pretty well by the way)…but the weather was beautiful on Tuesday so I decided to hit the trails at lunch without a jacket

I run an out and back at lunch and I had it in my mind that I would start with a 5K in mind and check my pain at the 2.5K mark, then if that was good I would attempt a 5-miler at the 4K point and finally if that was still good I would go with my usual 10K route.All was fine other than one little twinge so I went for the 10K…probably a mistake.  by the time I got to 7.5K (just shy of 5 miles) my foot flared up, and I was still 3K from the office.  I dialed it back a bit and made it back in one piece, but I hobbled a bit that afternoon.  Funny enough I had a great pace of 4:29/km(7:13/mile)…maybe my legs were just happy to run in real running shoes again as I broke out my Saucony Kinvara 4's for the first time in about 4 months.

When I got home it was ice and compression socks.  I unfortunately had beach volleyball that night as well, which I took as easy as I could.  I also decided to head on over to Dr. Google and he told me it could be a number of scary things up to and including a stress fracture.  It seems like the most likely diagnosis is something called peroneal tendonitis, for which the treatment is rest (duh), ice, anti-inflamitories, and stretching/massage (good old tennis ball).  Here are some pictures I found at Athletes Treating Athletes (not my feet!)

So it looks like it is rest time (from running) for me, probably a little over a week until I test it before next Sunday's Around the Bay 30K race.  Luckily swimming and biking are still okay!

I got out for another swim at lunch on Wednesday, getting in 1200m in a little under half an hour.  I'm not really sure if the time is good or not, but I'm happy with how I feel during and after the session now, which is more than I was able to say when I started up 3 weeks ago.  I'm now halfway through my Swim a Mile app program and gaining confidence, and I'm now able to say that I really enjoy swimming!

On a happy note, welcome to Spring!  Here in London we were greeted with a dusting of snow and temperatures below freezing…yay!  It is also officially the coldest winter we have experienced here since 1976-77, which was before I was born, so my personal coldest winter ever!

Have any of you dealt with Peroneal Tendonitis before?

Is it looking Spring-like where you are?

Bucket List and a Winner

And the winner is.....

Please email me to cheaprunnermichelle (at) 3cheaprunners (dot) com and I'll send you your code for your race entry! Congratulations!!! And for those of you who would still like to do a Spartan Race, later on this week we'll have a discount code for you under our deals page.
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Back in the summer when I was celebrating my bday, I had decided that I would do a "34 Bucket List"...since we are more than 1/2 way through the year till my bday again, I figured that I better revisit those goals that I set for myself, to see how I'm doing. So let's recap:

1. Run 1,200 km...I've still got a long way to go with this one, but I am convinced once our weather co-operates and I am able to start running outside again, my mileage will increase.

2. Sign up for 2 more 1/2 marathons so sorta...I signed up for the FCRR 1/2 marathon this year and although I have not signed up for another 1/2 I am signed up and running ATB next weekend, and that's a 30k race...so I am going to give myself credit for that and day that I have completed this goal

3. Sign up and complete a min. of 2 duathlons - I am not officially signed up yet but Mike and I are currently figuring out logistics of which triathlons we are going to participate in this year

4. Go to Key West...sadly I don't think this one is going to happen :(

5. Save $ for our trip to Hawaii...so far so good. T minus approx. 12 months...the kids are already asking if they can come with us....ummmm....no ;)

6. Eat at an iHop  got to do this on our trip to Chicago back in October

7. Go on a date night with my hubby once a month although a lot of our dates end up at the gym - we really look forward to working out together and then grabbing a martini to top off date night

8. Take the kids swimming at least twice a month we have really been as a family trying to take advantage of going to the Y together, and outside of their swimming lessons, we on average have been taking them swimming 1-2 times per week!

9. Organize and purge all of my clothes...has not happened yet...but I've continued to "add" to my closet (totally the opposite of what I should have been doing)

10. Take more pictures of my kids...I tend to go in spurts with this...but good news for me that my kids like taking selfies

11. Read a book a month since I set this goal I have been probably averaging 2-3 books per month...way better then the big fat 0 I was reading before

12. Go zip-lining...I actually forgot about this one...

13. Add at least 3 more cups (from different city's) to my Starbucks collection...I'm 1/3 of the way there...this has proved to be more difficult then I originally thought

14. Bake with the kids...nope...has not happened yet, but looks like we might have to do this within the next week since J has to do this for his homework for school

15. Get a massage...has not happened yet

16. Visit my mom more...I definitely think that I have been way more consistent with spending time with her

17. Play volleyball...has not happened...BUT I saw the other night at the Y that they have a drop in league on Monday nights, so I will need to check that out 

18. Try a new-to-me food...I am pretty sure I have done this, but the meal does not come to mind, so I'll leave this one the list

19. Be present with my kids while they are kids and do my best to raise them to be responsible, happy adults...being present is something that I have really been making a conscience effort of...by putting the electronics away, so I am not distracted when we are spending time together

20. Do an un-assisted pull-up...nope...have not even worked on this

21. Host a games night party...I went to a games night...does that count...lol?!?

22. Start a "my favourites" girls night...have not had the 1st one yet, but I am looking forward to putting something together

23. Write up a bunch of blog posts to have ready for when we are on vacation...we were able to get some awesome blogging friends to do guest posts for us while we were away!

24. Book an all inclusive vacation for February...and it was awesome!!!!

25. Meet up with blogging friends in Chicago when we are all there for marathon weekend in October

26. Reach my Louis Vuitton weight...I  am currently really focusing on this, and have finally decided to take it seriously...so this one is a work in progress

27. Ride my bike to work...has happened...but not for a number of months now...come one spring weather

28. Go to Cedar Point...not yet

29. Go to a concert...hmmm...I forgot this one was on the list too

30. Sign up for a family membership at the YMCA...and get lots of family use out of it Yup!

31. Do core/ab work 3 times a week...has/is not happening. This is one that I should really start working on

32. Run a 5km in 28min...does 28 and change count?!?

33. Finish a 1/2 marathon in 2:30...I have succeeded on the treadmill...now my goal is to be able to meet this time at the Niagara Falls Women's 1/2 marathon in June

34.  Take a girl's weekend trip...hmmm where do you want to go Rhoda?

How are your goals going so far this year?

What's your favourite day of the week?

CRR’s MEC 10 Km Race Talk and A Wee Bit of Shopping

Good morning! I am going to tag onto Mike’s recap from yesterday with a brief (and I mean brief) recap of my own.

Saturday was the 2^nd race of the year for the MEC race series. I decided to run it a couple weeks ago because I felt like it was time for another race, and lets be honest, I wanted to rock my Pro Compression Shamrock socks!!

I also was wearing a really cute t-shirt but I made the mistake of listening to my pre-run cold voice and did not take off my jacket like I had planned so y’all can’t see it. Oh well, there is always next year!

Anyways, it was a fun little run that I didn’t take seriously, meaning, I didn’t once look at my watch and I just let my legs take me through the run. It was raining slightly when we started and quickly turned into snow for a portion of the race. The path was clean except for a few icy and wet patches. I did get a soaker about 2km into the race so that did not feel good at all for the rest of the run. I don’t know what my official finish time was because I forgot to turn my watch off until much later after I finished running. When I was looking at the clock as I approached the finish line, I believe I would have finished between 50 and 51 minutes. Not my fastest at all but that is okay. It was enough to give me a 2^nd place for the women!

Afterwards, they had a very nice array of refreshments, which I took full advantage of!

Thanks to my superb photography skills you can see all that they offered! There were bananas, bagels, peanut butter, coffee and some other wet beverages! The main thing is, they had coffee! I was freezing as soon as I finished running so the coffee was great for a little bit of warming up! Thanks MEC for another great race! I hope to see you at Race #3.

I also indulged in a wee bit of shopping over the weekend. I made a trip to Lululemon and bought these bright babies!!

I am hopeful that I will be wearing shorts very soon to run in!

Michelle and I ordered some new kicks from Running Warehouse a few weeks back so I picked them up yesterday.

The Saucony Kinvara’s are my first love so we bought a “4” edition in preparation for an upcoming race outfit, and because we needed another pair.

I have been wanting to try out the Mizuno Wave Sayonara’s since Mike did his review on them several months back but hadn’t loved any of the colours they had yet. When this colour scheme was released, it was a done deal!

I am excited to try them out!

Anybody wear shorts to run on the weekend?

Any Sayonara fan’s out there?