Trail Running and orthotics

I started trail running this week. Sunday I took Niko out to the North Bivouac Trailhead where he can be off leash. We took off, winding through the woods, leaping over puddles and bouncing down rooted hills for one of the best runs I have had in awhile.

I did some running on trails last year, but for the most part I would find the steepest mountain around, power hike up, then run down, in preparation for Mt. Marathon. Not much straight trail running. Trails with rolling hills that I can actually run on are a blast. It's a nice break from pounding the pavement (or ice) on the Chester Creek Trail.

I plan on doing a little bit of each kind of training this summer. The Lost Lake run has some significant elevation gain (about 2000), but the middle section is rolling and flat until you come down the other side. Actually this is just what I have heard. I have never actually been on the trail!



I got this photo from www.lostlakerun.org

Yesterday I got fitted for custom orthotics for my running shoes. My doctor mentioned last week that my back and hip problems are probably a result of me having a collapsed arch on one foot. We did a scan of my feet and low and behold, there it was, my left foot is mostly flat the whole way through and the right foot is slightly collapsed around the outside edge. You are supposed to have even pressure across your toes when you stand and my toes barely touched the scanner. The doctor said this results in very inefficient running! Aha! That is why I am so slow! When I get my orthotics no one will be able to catch me.

Back to reality, they should arrive in about 10 days. I've been reading up on orthotics lately and I have only heard good things. It's interesting that most of the injuries of our lower bodies (and even all the way up to the neck) can be traced back to problems in our feet.

So training continues. Now that I've got this momentum, I'm not sure it is going to end.