Week 5: Not Sure Where This Is Going

 (If you're new here you can read the article describing my project.)

Well, I don’t have much to report.  This past week I’ve done the PT exercises I was given.  Overall I’ve seen progress – I’m more proficient (strength, skill) now than I was when I first started doing them.  On the one hand the feet feel really good.  On the other hand, I’m not really testing them in any way.  I think I’m ready to “go to the next step”, although I don’t know that that is:  More exercises?  Some activity?  Something else?  Since I’m working with my PT I want his input before I figure out what is next on the agenda.

Rather than publishing weekly updates I'm going to now update this space when some meaty progress has been made.  I’ll be back when something interesting has happened.

Jim

Week 4: Some Non-Foot Issues…..Apparently

(If you're new here you can read the article describing my project.)

Summary: Heel pain has been minor-to-non-existent.  I’ve “regressed” to wearing the motion control shoes with the orthotics for roughly 14 hours per day, with 1-2 hours of around-the-house barefoot time each day as well.  I saw my pain level creeping up as I tried the low profile shoe transition and I realized I need to get back to a very solid, totally pain free state.

Activity Level: Essentially none.  Core work continues, but later on I’ll describe some new stuff I’ve been working on.  I am going to start walking.  I’ve found when I’m injured just walking some of the routes I normally run helps me mentally.  We’ve had some nice days in CO and I could look at getting the bike out, but that has been hard mentally because of all this cell phone use when driving.  If I was really proactive I’d get to the pool – but getting into water at 6:00AM is just a nightmare for me!  (Not from a fear of water perspective, but fear of cold!)

What Happened Last Week:  After seeking orthotic transition ideas from my PT we decided it made sense to make an appointment and get some things checked. 

It turns out each hip, even though they’re in a lot better shape than they used to be, aren’t in a state to provide the right stability the rest of the leg requires.  He had me perform a variety of tests and they all pretty much resulted in the following:  When I do some sort of one-legged stance my hip’s ability to stabilize the knee is very poor.  His belief (and what he has seen) is that when this occurs you’re creating a less-than-ideal situation for the ankle and foot.  Some ankles and feet can handle this, others cannot.

So I’ve been doing a variety of hip strengthening and balancing exercises.  The goal is to develop sufficient strength and skill (i.e. train the neuro-muscular system) to enable me to be in these one-legged stances and have my foot be “calm” – not firing all sorts of muscles to keep me balanced.  It’s kind of funny doing these in bare feet.  I can literally see how my feet work hard – and per the PT, harder than they should – to keep me balanced.

It feels a bit odd trying to solve foot problems by working on something “so far away” (the hips), but it makes sense.  (I don’t know if it is the thing that will actually solve it, but it makes sense.)

Everyone have a good week.  And if you’re in the US, have a good Thanksgiving.

Jim

“Running is a privilege.”

 

Week 3: Progress? I Think So………………

(If you're new here you can read the article describing my project.)

Summary: Heel pain has been minor-to-non-existent.

Activity Level: Essentially none.  I’ve been doing the core routine and balancing work.

Commentary:  This has been both a frustrating and encouraging week.  The frustrating part comes from the fact that I’ve accumulated all this foot gear:  Motion control shoes.  Superfeet Green inserts with some arch support.  And, of course, my custom orthotics which have a ton of arch support.  Add to the mix the low profile shoes which I described in last week’s report.

The focus of the week became answering this question:  What approach should I use to wean myself off of all this stuff?  Do I go straight to the new shoes wearing no arch support and slowly build up my time?  Do I stay in my motion control shoes but try to get to wearing Superfeet inserts with less arch support, and then repeat the process to get out of them entirely?  Fortunately I have a friend who 1) is very good at thinking things through and 2) is very interested in this project I’ve undertaken.  He and I had multiple, detailed conversations on the approach that would be best.  We didn’t always agree – but we kept hashing it out.

The encouraging part of the week was that I was able to get to wearing the Superfeet (in the motion control shoes) for 3 hours a day.  That, in addition to the 1.5 hours/day of barefoot walking I do, helped me feel that I was making progress.

However what we were both struggling with was the fact that these motion control shoes have a high heel.  (That term always makes me think of the line from the Steely Dan song FM:  “Kick off your high-heeled sneakers, it’s party time.”)  Given the motion control shoe has a high heel it’s really hard to optimize your footstrike, even with plain walking.  I found an article on the Pose website about weaning oneself off of orthotics.  Their suggestion was to start by wearing the orthotics in the target low profile shoe, and then start the weaning process from there.

My friend and I thought that was a good approach.  So my current plan is to first get to a point where I can wear the low profile shoes, with my orthotics, all day long.  Once that is in place I’ll begin experimenting with going without the orthotics while wearing the low profile shoes.  I just decided on this strategy a couple of days ago.  I can currently do 3-4 hours a day in the low profile shoes with orthotics.  We’ll see how long it takes to get to doing so all day.

So overall I think it was a positive week (I consistently was able to go without my monster orthotics) although thinking through the combinations and permutations of shoe and arch support hardware got a bit frustrating.  Hopefully now I’m on a pretty simple-to-execute plan to ultimately get off of this stuff.

Lastly, I want to give a shout-out to Mr. & Mrs. F (you’ll get the context when you visit there) for their accomplishment this weekend.  They’ve completed the C25K program and celebrated that fact with their first 5K run.  They’ve done a fabulous job of chronicling their efforts to take up the sport/hobby of running and I find their dedication very motivating.  You can find their blog here.

Jim

If you’re able to run now – relish in it.  If you can’t – don’t give up on your efforts to get better and get back on the road because………………….Running is a privilege.

 

Week 2: Getting My Feet Back Down To Earth

(If you're new here you can read the article describing my project.)

Summary: Heel pain has been a minor roller coaster – because I’ve been taking steps this week to get out of the orthotics.  New Pose-endorsed shoes:  Arrived.  Balance Disk:  Arrived.

Activity Level: Some, but very little.  Walked for 0.2 mi in the new shoes.  Tried a little Pose running – only a few minutes.

Commentary:  This week has primarily consisted of experimenting with weaning myself off of the orthotics.  Early in the week I had plans to go out for dinner.  I decided to take out the orthotics and use my Superfeet Green insoles instead.  Things went great!  I was without the orthotics for four hours.  I had to walk some – not a lot.  I got home and the feet felt perfect – fantastic.  I thought “Oh man this process is going to be a piece of cake!”

The next day I give it another go.  Same setup as the previous evening – Superfeet Green insoles.  I think ahead enough to throw my orthotics in my briefcase before I leave the house.  I figure, if something goes south during the day, I want to be able to put the orthotics back in.  The day goes great!  I have a desk job – but I still have to walk a bit.  Things went so well I completely forgot that I wasn’t wearing the orthotics.  I start packing up to head home and I feel a slight twinge in my heels.  Oh no – this can’t be good.  The pattern I’ve noticed with my heel pain is akin to what we hear when it comes to staying hydrated:  Once you’re thirsty it’s too late.  Well, once I start to feel anything in my heels, it’s too late.  That doesn’t mean the pain will be bad, but it does mean I’ve taken something too far.  So I get home and I immediately put in my orthotics.  My feet overall are sore (tired and achy) and my heels hurt a bit.  I’m smart enough to bring my orthotics to work, but dumb enough to not actually use them.

Before I go on I need to give a little background because it impacts the results through the rest of the week.  I’ll keep it short.  When I first got out of my hard orthotics two years ago my podiatrist said I should use Superfeet Green insoles.  They have a good amount of arch support, which I clearly needed.  When they failed to stop the acute Plantar Fasciitis pain we went to the custom flexible orthotics I have now.  My plan with regards to getting out of the orthotics was to first become able to use Superfeet Green full time, and then wean myself off of those.  After some reading I decided it wasn’t necessary to take that step – I should just go right to no arch support – but I obviously would need to be very careful as I do it.  So after the successful evening out (4 hours) and bad result following the seemingly good work day (10 hours) I figured my “baseline” was 4 hours, and that I would build up my wearing time from there.

The new shoes arrived mid-week.  Holy smokes – they’re like slippers!  They’re really comfortable.  It feels so good to not have all this hardware around my feet.  I think it’s kind of funny to compare what I use now (Saucony Grid-Stabil with orthotics) and where I’m trying to get to.  The first photo (obviously) is my current setup, including the orthotic.  I think when it’s all said and done and the orthotic is in the shoe my arch is over 1” above the foot bed.  The second photo (again obviously) is the new shoe.  Saucony Bullets – a model Saucony originally had in their lineup in 1985 I believe.  (I think they re-introduced them recently – they’re available “new” now – as sort of a retro/nostalgia thing.  But that’s just my guess.) 

So I have my no-orthotic baseline established (4 hours).  The new shoes are here.  We are ready to rock-and-roll.  The first day I have the new shoes I wear them around the house for four hours.  Astute readers will now realize a critical mistake:  I’d established the four hour baseline while using the Superfeet inserts.  When I wore the new Sauconys I didn’t put the Superfeet in.  So I did four hours with no arch support at all.  By this time my feet had recovered from the all-day work fiasco, but I essentially re-inured them.  Fortunately both of these episodes were minor and, as of this writing, the heels feel normal.

Jeremy from http://barefoot-running.com/ pointed me to his site and referenced some transition information there that is helpful.  I think my no-orthotic baseline is 60 min.  I’ll start building up my time from there.

On Saturday I went to a track and did a little (very little, about 200m) barefoot running.  The track was rougher than I anticipated, so the aggravation to the soles of my feet was more than I expected.  All-in-all it felt absolutely fantastic.  Unfortunately today (Sunday) I woke up and my heel was a bit sore.  I think I have to remember the very first bullet of my plan to make this project work:  No running.

The balance disk has been interesting.  I can see the skill level improving as I use it.  I think I’ve noticed when I use the disk in the Bullets my feet definitely get a workout.  I’ve continued the core work and other activities I documented in last week’s report.

This week’s goal:  Increase the no-orthotic time.  I think I’m going to approach it strictly by time:  Monitor very closely exactly how much time in the Bullets my feet can handle.

Jim

Running is a privilege.

Week 1: Getting Out Of Orthotics & Motion Control Shoes

(If you're new here you can read here the article describing my project.)

Summary: Heel pain almost non-existent: 0-.5. (using a 10 point scale - "10" being excrutiating pain)

Activity Level: None. (No walking or running outside.)

Commentary: The week has consisted of doing my indoor routine. The only outdoor activity I was half-way considering (barefoot walking/running in grass) at the beginning of the week was dashed when 15+" of snow were dumped on us.

My daily indoor routine has consisted of the following:

• Core Work: Various exercises on the exercise ball. I've been doing some of these, but not all. I've been doing The Pedestal which you can find here on YouTube.
  
• Glute Strengthening: I've been doing some one-legged squats. I can't go all the way to the floor in a real pistol squat, but I can get down to slightly above knee height. I've actually been doing them for a while - before this project began.
  
• Stretching & Fascia Release: Many thanks to Ozzie Gontang for some advice on this one. I've been focusing on two areas. First, the stirrup muscles - Posterior Tibialis and the Peroneus muscles. Both of these sets of muscles come down around the ankle and connect under the foot - impacting significantly foot dynamics. For Posterior Tibialis I've been using a massage technique that Ozzie has described here (look at the bottom of the page). For the Peroneus muscles I've been using a foam roller. It has also helped to use the edge of something hard - like a wooden step or edge of a table. Second, I've been using a tennis ball on the Plantar Fascia. You can stand/lean on the ball, focusing on three different areas of a the foot: right behind the balll of the foot, the middle of the arch, and right in front of the heel. Another activity has been using the nose of a wooden step to massage the Plantar Fascia. While wearing socks, placing the edge of the step right behind the ball of the foot, while pushing down fairly hard, slowly slide the foot so the step moves toward the heel. It's fairly painful - but I'm hopeful it will be less so as things loosen up.
  
• Foot Movement. I've been going without my orthotics or my motion control running shoes for limited amounts of time - about 1-2 hours each day. During this time I've either worn only socks or a pair of those cheapo (~$6) water shoes. The latter provides a little bit of padding for the large amount of wood flooring I have in my house.
  

The purchased items described in the article launching this project (my low profile Saucony Bullet shoes and the balance disc) have not yet arrived. I've also ordered Pose Method of Running by Dr. Nicholas Romanov. All items should be here this week, if the FedEx and USPS websites are telling me the truth.

Goal for the coming week: Use the new shoes for my "allow foot movement" time. Incorporate the balance disc as well as Pose drills (using the low profile shoes) into the daily routine. I hope to add some outdoor walking into the mix as well.

Jim

Running is a privilege.