FlatFoot101

Flash back to two weeks ago. When training started, I figured I should go out and buy some running shoes. and i did. I went out to Dicks and bought some random New Balance shoes that looked pretty cool.

Later that day I ran like 5 miles or so, and I got off the treadmill limping because i had some crazy pain in the middle of my right foot… Turns out that the shoes that I got were the worst type of shoes I could have gotten… (The shoes that I got were designed for people with high arches…)

So. If you guys have not already known, i have flat feet! …. EXTREMELY flat feet!

here are some dog’s eye view pictures of my feet… (birds eye… dogs eye… get it? ha. ha.)

see how it bulges out on the inside when i wear my shoes???

Flat footed people are basically people that have very low arches compared to those of an average person… In severe cases, when a flat footed person stands up, the entire sole of the foot rests on the ground. (i’m one of those people…) Flat footed runners tend to get a lot of overuse injuries, including ankle, foot, knee, and lower-back pains…

I think i was pretty much born with flat feet, but I also heard from somewhere that you can acquire flat feet if your tendons and ligaments get weakened or something like that… and supposedly a lot of basketball players acquire flat feet… (i.e. kobe and lebron)

So after my terrible experience with the New Balance 8505s, I set out on a personal mission to buy some crucial running shoes that would not hurt my feet! I basically spent the whole day going to like a million different stores, and I ended up at my last one: Metro Run&Walk, located in Falls Church, VA.

So this is basically how it went down there:

Salesguy: I want you to take your shoes off so I can examine your feet and the way you walk and stuff.
Me: Okay… (takes shoes off…)
(guy stares at feet.)
Salesguy: oh my… Yo come check this out! (getting the attention of another salesguy. I stand in awkwardness)
Salesguy2: Whoa! I’ve seen some flat feet.. but this one is one of a kind!
Salesguy: Yea dude.. He’s basically like on the ground! (by now people sitting around me start staring at my feet as well)
Me: yea…

Anyways. The dude helped me out a lot and he got me my new Asics Gel Evolution III. He also hooked me up with a 10% discount, and a free pair of running socks… I think he felt bad for publicizing my flat feet to the entire store…

The shoe is basically designed for people with flat feet that tend to overpronate (release off the inside of your foot) a lot… I’ve been running with these for about two weeks now and I hardly feel any pain in my feet anymore… coool…

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so… i’m officially in day 22 of my training, but in week 8 of the 24 week schedule that leads right up to the marathon… This week is probably the easiest week left in my schedule… from now on im gonna be running 20-30 miles a week… but the show must go on… yes…

quick shoutout to those that have decided to donate to china!

 

8 Mile Run

YES! After about 65 minutes of running, watching episodes of the office, listening to switchfoot, wanting to throw up, i successfully completed my first ever 8 mile run…

rabbit run… yessssssssssss…

Anyways… Man… It shouldn’t have been as hard as it was, but it was harder than normal because:

1. I had a lock-in at church the night before and I stayed til 5 am…

2. I played football in the morning when I wasn’t really supposed to…

3. I ate TWICE before I ran… I wanted to throw up so bad halfway through my running…

but at the end of the day, I still completed my 8 mile run so I am happy.

Man… running is so hardcore… Yesterday there were so many times when I just wanted to reach my finger out press that STOP button on the machine… I think I had to pull myself back like ten times… It’s crazy because you can stop that machine so easily with just one push… but to keep on running takes so much physical and mental strength…

The key is to have your mind occupied with something… to get your eyes and your head off the clock hanging on the wall on the side… thats where music comes in. or in my case, The Office.

Watching The Office helps because I don’t think I can listen to 20 different songs, I just don’t have the patience for that. Two episodes of the Office gets me to about 40 minutes, then I can burn the final 20 minutes or so with some catchy songs that I know all the lyrics to, which is where switchfoot comes in.

So running 8 miles last night brings me to 46.3 miles total for the year… coool… 46.3 miles is about what… fredericksburg? hahaha that means with my training I could have run to fredericksburg… coool…

So what did I learn from last night?

1. I can run 8 miles on limited sleep, tired legs, and a full belly —- confidence for later

2. Do NOT eat anything involving kimchi hours prior to running.

3. Long distance running takes more than just physical ability. It’s a test of endurance, patience, not strength.

Yay. So thats about it. tomorrows a rest day so training continues on Tuesday again with 4 miles.

thanks for reading!

-Joe

 

day 14!!!!!!! HI WORDPRESS

today was mad tiring……..

tuesdays and thursdays I think are the hardest for me… I have class from 8am to 11am, then I gotta hit the gym and run and all that, and then I got class again from 2pm to 3:15pm…

I ran 4 miles today, which brings me up to a total of 38.3 training miles…

to give you an idea of how long 4 miles looks like…

home -> church

cool…

tomorrow is a rest day, then saturday i need to run 8 miles… it’s gonna be crazy… lets go…

It’s funny because before I started training, the most I’ve ran ever was 2 miles with a stop in between… But first day of training I had to run 3 miles, second day 5 miles… It’s been pretty intense, let’s just hope my body doesn’t give out before my mind does.

I can’t wait until the weather starts getting a little warmer… Then I won’t have to run on the treadmills… Go out to a trail…or a track… enjoy the sun and the breeze… cool…

I think this is a good enough post for now. I’ll update again soon.

go check out the “Why?” page on the right side if you haven’t yet!

-joe