Woo-hoo, I ran a 10k on Sunday and my foot felt fine!

I figured I would just get right to the point and let all of you know that without having to read through an entire blog post to find out.

So, if you want to hear all of the nitty gritty details of this 10k feel free to keep reading.

I was really nervous about getting out there to run again because the solution from my doctor just seemed too simple. Seriously, buy these insoles and ease back into running when the foot doesn’t hurt. At one point a remember thinking that I was very happy that my deductible was met early on in the year and that guidance by the doctor didn’t cost me anything out of pocket.

As you know, I got the insoles and they felt great walking. No pain in the foot which meant I could try to run. Too many things happened on Thursday and Friday that prevented the run. I decided not to run on Saturday and save it all for the race on Sunday.

Again, this was a two loop 10k and I figured if things were going wrong I could always drop out after the first loop.

Things started out pretty well. The course is very narrow so it almost forces you to go out slow and be conservative in whatever racing strategy you had for that day. Since mine was to just finish without pain in my foot I was more than satisfied with how things were going.

I kept checking in with my foot waiting for the usual pain to start after the first mile it felt fine, the same with second and third. But I kept thinking it was too early to think that I was in the clear. Then my quads started to feel pretty beat up. I’m not sure if this was due to the three week layoff or because the insoles were forcing my body to be properly aligned. Maybe even a combination of both.

Around the 3.5 mile mark I felt a teeny tiny bit of discomfort in the foot. I think my worry lasted longer than the discomfort. It went away and I kept running for the second loop of the course. This was where I realized how quickly you can get out running shape. I’ve been doing my Deep Water Running and comes cycling on my bike trainer but as we know that doesn’t keep you in running shape.

My decent pace dropped a bit but I wasn’t worried about that. I was actually just happy to be out running again and being a part of this wonderful community. I had great views of the water — things were good.

I felt some more discomfort around 5.5 miles but again this went away almost as quickly as it came. I took this to be normal as there are so many times we feel discomfort when we run and that’s when we start learn the difference between discomfort and pain.

Even with my grumpy quads, I probably could have pushed myself harder during the final two miles but I was just happy picking off a few people here and there. Today was not about PRs but about getting my confidence back and sticking with my plan of just finishing with a non-hurting foot. That is exactly what I did.

I tried to stay off the foot the rest of the day as a precaution and foam rolled my quads and the usual suspects.

A full 24 hours later the foot still feels great and I have some achy quads. I was going to try running again today but am giving myself a rest day less for the foot and more the quads.

The insoles appear to still be magic but at times feel hard and I’m wondering how I’ll feel running a half marathon or even a full marathon when I get back to that level.

But right now, all appears to be good and fingers and toes crossed that my foot remains pain free!