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Armed with a doctor’s prescription, I went to Kintec to have my feet checked. My family doctor thinks that I have a flat feet which contributes to the pain on my left foot. He thinks I need a custom orthotics fitted.

I knew it would be expensive and from what I hear, it’ll be somewhere in the region of $300 to $500, or maybe even more. Good thing my extended healthcare benefits covers that.

Yesterday, TS posted a comment with a link to a CBC Marketplace program (link here) that talks about some unethical practices in the orthotics industry. Pretty interesting stuff. That show made me feel somewhat wary going to Kintec thinking that they might just get me to get expensive orthotics that I do not really need.

Long story short, they could not conclusively find that I needed custom orthotics but did find other things about me … my left leg appears shorter then my right leg. LOL! Well, at least that seems the case from the rough approximation measurement they made.

Moreover, they also found that I had been using my off-the-shelf orthotics wrongly. You see, I should have removed my insoles before slipping in the Superfeet which I got from my physioherapist. They suspect that that might just be the cause of the pain on my foot I had when I run longer distances.

I like them, Kintec. At least they were honest people. So, they wrote an assessment and asked that I bring it back to my physiotherapist to check my foot and wait a few more weeks to decide if the pain goes away. If the pain does not go away, only then will they consider custom orthotics.

I feel like a ping-pong ball. Anyway, the foot felt much better today. I’ll try running again tomorrow. The 8K run is just 15 days away …

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The right knee is doing very well the past few weeks but now I am having a new set of problem. This time it is with my left foot. The runs in the past two weeks had been particularly painful, some days more than others. The worse was when I laid off running for an entire week after having done 3.8 miles on the threadmill.

So, two days ago, I decided to go see my family doctor and he gave me a prescription to go see a foot doctor. I am going tomorrow. He thinks that the arch of my foot is too flat which really also what my physiotherapist was also saying. Well, I’ll see what the podiatrist say tomorrow. Looks like I am going to get fitted with custom orthotics.

I had never been running so much in my life. Maybe the constant pounding on the pavement the past weeks is really showing through my problem. I mean, it will never been a problem to me doing walking and all but running is an entire beast all together.

The only thing I am quite worried about is if I am ready for the 8K Harry’s Spring Run Off two Sundays from today. I am determined to make it to the finish line and does not really care for the timings seeing after all this is my first race.

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This week I was supposed to take it easy. It is going to be a recovery week for me.

So Monday, I went to the Minoru Track to try to just jog laps but gave up after 3 laps. I stopped because I felt so lethargic and tired. Little did I know I had the same old intestinal blockage I get every now and then. I fell quite ill and spent the next couple of days recovering.

I am better now, and I decided to start running again today.  I started off cautiously, after all, my belly is still quite sore and I had not been eating well.  I tried the same 3.36 mile circuit around the neighborhood block and came away with another best time.  It was over 1 minute better than my previous best.

Frankly I could have gone faster but reminded myself that this is supposed to be a recovery week!  Next week, I push … this week, I take it easy.

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Tiffanie brought to my attention this video from Nova PBS. It is simply called the Marathon Challenge. For those of you planning the run the Marathon, this is a must-watch video.

It chronicles a group of normal people like you and I who trained together to complete the ultimate test of human endurance. The site is here — go check it out. Below is a little of the video which I gotten from the PBS Nova website:

Chapter 1 - The Training Begins Can a group of sedentary non-athletes be transformed in nine months into a team that can complete the Boston Marathon?

Chapter 2 - A Long Way to Go Serious training gets under way, and some members of team NOVA struggle with their own unique problems.

Chapter 3 - Born to Run? As the team moves into longer runs the injuries begin to mount, and one runner has to be replaced.

Chapter 4 - Mental Toughness For the longest training run—20 miles—more than fitness is required.

Chapter 5 - The Finish Line On the day of the race Team NOVA battles with severe weather conditions, and 40 weeks of preparation are put to the test.

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Alrighty.

I signed up for another race. This time it’s a 8K race called Harry’s Spring Run Off. I figure this will be good as a first race ahead of the 10K Sun Run which is my first real test of my readiness.

8 km does seems like a short distance since I had just done 6 km just yesterday.  With just 4.5 weeks to go, I should be ready for it.  I am going to aim for a slow time and hope to gain experience in a race.

So, for now, am going to aim for 8K in 1 hour.  At the rate I had been running, it should be easy to achieve.

The run should be fun too as it’s a loop around the Seawall in Stanley Park.   I’ll do a loop around Stanley Park one of these days before the race.

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Arkensen is still sore from the run two days ago and he decided not to join me today. He has a sore ankle and he’s complaining that his head hurt. I think it’s from the constant jolts which he was not used to. Key thing about running is not to push oneself too much until there are pain!

So, I ran by myself today and decided to do a slightly longer run. It was not very far but as far as distance is concerned, I am past half way mark to 10km. I did 44 minutes over a distance of 5.4 km (3.3 miles).

I am encouraged from the run today. There are still work ahead for sure and am not near the 60 minute 10K run I am working towards. But from my fitness level, it is a far cry from what I was capable of just two months ago.

I think I better take it easy next week and take a step back from running longer distances. It’s about time I take it easy and before forging on again.

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From the TrainHarder.com I found a nifty little website that I could use to keep a log of my training. Frankly, I am very impressed by it. Not only that it keeps track of my physical activities but I could also use it to map my run, and find running routes and trails.

You will need to register your self on MapMyRun.com before using it. There are quite a bit of functionality on it but for now, I am only using the “Log Training” module.

I had been keeping track of my runs on it for two weeks now and I diligently update it after each run. The calendar view gives me a quick overview of my runs.  It helps me see at a glance if I had actually been putting in 3-4 runs a week.  When I hover over each run icon, a popup shows me all the important stats:

• Time taken
• Average pace
• Average speed
• Total distance
• Calories burned
• Workout weight

It even keeps track of the total distance ran on my shoes.  Fancy!

I am quite sure that there are other sites like MapMyRun.com out there but for now, I am quite happy with it.  Are there other websites like this you know of?

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