ACL Plan B in Place

After my normal run this morning, I ventured across the freeway to do a little trail exploring. I need to find a 2-hour run that's as far away as possible from the cluster that will be the Austin City Limits Music Festival this weekend. I found enough trails and a way to get there without having to cross the freeway. There are some trails that run to some tunnels under the freeway. They're dark, long and a little creepy but it's better than sucking all the exhaust from above.

It's hard to believe I haven't used this trail more often as it's super close to the house and is hardly used.

Just as I was finishing I stepped in a hole and I felt my ankle go sideways as I braced my fall crashing down on my hands. I think it'll be ok as there's hardly any swelling.

Back to the Drawing Board

The orthotic experiment didn't exactly workout great. One of the cuts in the orthotic caused a blister during my last 13-mile run on Saturday. As Murphy's Law would have it, I was as far from my car as possible, crossing the Longhorn Dam (6.5 mile mark) when I felt a pinch on the arch of my foot. I knew immediately what was about to happen, but short of running barefoot on the gravel trail, there was little to do but suck it up and finish the run. It turned out to be a silver-dollar-sized blister.

If that wasn't enough, I still have the remnants of an upper respiratory infection and my Achilles tendons are still injured from thinking the Stairmaster was a good idea last week. Needless to say, I've scheduled a needed rest day for today.

It could've been worse. As my run took longer on Saturday, I was forced to ice down the legs on the outside of the Barton Springs Pool, in the unofficial dog park. As a couple of cold fronts have come through recently there was nobody except one golden retriever catching a stick int he water. With the lack of splashing and wading, more nature ventures into the area. Make that two water snakes, at least three-feet long, one alligator-snapping turtle, two red eared turtles and 15-20 baby blue gill that swam around my ankles.

What I've Been Reading This Week - Link Friday

Kindle and the future of reading : The New Yorker

Really? - The Claim - Cinnamon Oil Kills Bacteria. - Question - NYTimes.com

Phys Ed: Does Ibuprofen Help or Hurt During Exercise? - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

Go the Distance: Tips to Make Your Energy Last | Active.com

Build the Perfect Training Week | Active.com

How to Gain More By Running Less | Active.com

My Pandora stations I've created this week have been based on Nirvana, Peter Paul & Mary and Philip Glass.

My workouts are returning to normal after getting over the head cold, which then turned into a chest cold.

Autumn Has Finally Arrived

A note to summer, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Jeeeeeeeeez, second hottest summer on record for Austin. There were 68 days over 100 degrees. The record in 1925 was 69.

And how things have changed. Particulate matter at 2.8 this morning, cool and humidity at 67%. It was the perfect way to glide into an El Nino fall. Some have predicted El Nino will bring a wet fall and winter to Central Texas.

After checking the air quality and weather readings I dressed and opened the front door in my new shoes, anticipating a wonderful run only to be greeted with the smell of skunk. I paused at the front step in the dark to try and see if it was still around but couldn't tell. It took running to the next house and the smell was gone.

The first run of fall was just as I had dreamed it would be as I ran that afternoon in July with 100-plus-degrees beating down on my forehead. I haven't worn a shirt while running in months. Today, it was just chilly enough to wear one.

UPDATE - Learning More About Feet

Well the Dr. Scholl's advice was thrown out the window. Not entirely, but the part that stated my feet were identical was false. The arches are definitely different. They looked the same on the scanner but when I looked at them side-by-side, they are different height-wise.

Last night I sat in front of the TV watching Monday Night Football with a box full of various orthotic products, a pair of scissors and a roll of green duct tape. I vowed not to get up, except for running out the door to try the latest orthotic experiment, until I had found the perfect combination of orthotic footsy mix-mash that left my dogs feeling like they were resting in pillows.

I used this same thought as I shopped for a new pair of running shoes the other night. I said I was not leaving the store until I found the pair of shoes that made my feet feel like they were resting in pillows. It took an hour and a half and I'm sure the shoe clerks were really ticked with me stacking pair after pair next to the try-on-chair but hey, it's my money and it's my feet. I tried $39.00 shoes and $139 shoes. I tried Asics, Nike and New Balance. I tried trail, rode and trainers. I tried full running and minimalist running. I ended up with a pair of New Balance 431 ($39.00), which is similar to the pair of 413 I bought nine months ago.

I'll save you a step-by-step details of my trial and error and summarize. The left foot needed a gel arch support and extra heel padding. The right foot didn't need anything except for the gel insole. On the left foot I ended up taping the arch support in place as it has a tendency to move. I then cut the left gel insole so I wouldn't double layer, tucked it inside and then placed the heel support orthotic and took them for a spin.

Felt. Like. Running. On. Pillows.

My feet look ok but they are definitely different. But hey, I'm gellin!

Learning More About Feet

There's no escaping computer technology if you're a runner. Most notable of pervasive technologies is the iPod where you'll see people listening to their favorite tunes as they run their miles at the Lady Bird Lake Trail. GPS technology, Nike chips inserted into shoes, Times watches that track distance and heart rate monitors that monitor the effort being placed on the body all help the runner perform a little better.

Dr. Scholl's has now brought computer technology for walkers and runners to the neighborhood pharmacy or grocery store with a foot-scanning kiosk. In the past, a person needed someone knowledgeable about feet or running shoes to take a look at how they walked or ran. Even with video analysis and so-called experts, the shoe recommendation was many times inaccurate.

It's very rare that a person's body is perfectly symmetrical. If one foot is a little longer than the other it can change the way a person runs, and thus cause a problem somewhere else in the body, usually the knees or the hips. As one gets older, past injuries, muscle imbalances and plain old aging of the body make selecting proper footwear more difficult.

Nike, Asics, New Balance and other show manufacturers create various types of shoes to account for differences in stride mechanics and type of running surface. You will also see various orthotics, arch supports, heel supports, etc. that'll make your feet feel good or correct foot abnormalities. But up until now it was mostly trial and error with the selection of running shoes and the additional products. For many people it wasn't until after a visit with their podiatrist that they were educated about the nature of their feet and what shoe products they should purchase.

Dr. Scholl's is placing a mobile point-of-purchase foot scanner kiosks at thousands of locations around the country. You remove your shoes and stand on the scanner and allow 2,000 pressure sensors to identify where you place the most weight. There are several scans made and you'll be required to hold the provided handles while you lift the right and left foot individually off the scanner. It also measures foot length and arch type and then recommends a custom fit orthotic. The price of the custom orthotic was $49.99, which is a little steep for my budget, but 1/10th the price of true custom orthotics which can easily cost upwards of $400.



I had always thought I had high arches. I don't recall where I received that analysis nor can I recollect an expert or shoe salesman telling me I had high arches. The Dr. Scholl's scanner indicated I had low arches with high pressure put on the heels, as well as equal pressure between the feet. Given my plantar fasciitis last year and seeing the scan of the feet, I would say this was an accurate read. I'm not sure if I'll purchase a pair of the custom orthotics but I will log the information it gave me in order to make more informed running shoe and shoe product purchases in the future.

By the way, the scanner I used was in the pharmacy section of my neighborhood HEB.

Pandora Carolyn Wonderland

Just created a Pandora radio station on Carolyn Wonderland and it's the best so far. So many talents like Saving Jane, now to see live and Carolyn at Stubbs, Oct. 18.