Pain

I went to run on the treadmill this morning and I was in pain. I think that there are probably two things that I could change to make things feel better, or maybe three things. First, and most importantly, I think that my shoes are about used up. Things I have read in the past suggest that running shoes have a lifetime of only about 350 to 550 miles of reliable support and cushioning. I honestly have no idea how many miles my shoes have right now but I have had them for nearly a year and I have run somewhat consistently during that whole time period. More to the point, I can tell that they are not providing the sort of cushioning now that they used to provide. The next thing that I think might help is more track running as opposed to treadmill running. In some ways the track is much easier to run on than the treadmill. For one, it is easier for me to adjust my pace as necessary (both to speed up and to slow down) when I am not running on a treadmill. The treadmill is pretty unrelenting – you set a speed and it goes that speed. I know that I can adjust the speed but I still don't feel like it is as comfortable as running on the ground. That, and it seems to me like it would be annoying to adjust the speed every few hundred yards when using a treadmill but that sort of second to second adjustment happens all the time while running outside. The other complaint that I have with the treadmill this morning is that on the treadmill the running motion (and the actual muscles involved in the running) is unbalanced. It is a workout because there is some work being done – period. But the legs don't do the same work on the treadmill that they do on the ground. On the ground, I have to push off to move forward. I use my calves. On the treadmill, the 'ground' is already moving so most of the work done involves picking the foot up with the shin muscles and bringing it forward. I feel the difference when I run miles on the treadmill as opposed to running on the track – I feel more tightness and pain in my shins on the treadmill.

Right now, I don't remember what the third thing was that I was getting at earlier. I have gained some weight. I am a fit 185 to 190 lbs right now. That is at least 15 lbs more than I weighed this summer when I was running under 7 minutes per mile in a 5k. I am sure that the added weight brings with it more strain on my skinny little chicken legs.

I have nothing real to write and I perfer to keep things on the level of the superficial anyway.