"They're RACING flats dammit, not TRAINING flats!"

I recently started an email dialog with RunBlogger's Peter Larson, and found a kindred spirit concerning some of the more technical issues of running. Here's a slightly edited version of what I sent him:

Hi Pete,

It's been 4 weeks since I broke a 2nd metatarsal running on hard surfaces in my racing flats. I got my flats in early September in preparation for my first-ever Olympic-distance triathlon (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run). The shoes (Saucony Kilkenny) gave me the Winged Feet of Mercury, immediately slicing 30 seconds per mile from my 4 mile training runs, taking me to a 9:00 PR pace for the distance (with rolling hills).

My last prior 10K was nearly 25 years ago (I'm now 54). I stopped running when the pain in all my leg joints didn't go away for days after even mild training runs. I was a hard heel-striker then, with flat feet, skinny weak ankles, and slightly bowed legs. Getting into triathlon 2 years ago meant I needed to find a new way to run.

First I went with shoes that would keep the road as far from my legs as possible (Mizuno Wave Creation 10), which made a return to light running possible. But I was physically unable to go much faster than a fast jog. I added orthotics, which helped a little. Then I got knee pain (chondromalacia caused by ITB Syndrome), and I searched for a new stride. I read about POSE and Chi Running, adopted a mid-sole strike, and 3 months later my PRs started to improve, though they soon topped out again.

Then in August of 2009 I lost my L5-S1 disc: It simply degenerated away, leaving no padding and lots of pain behind. Since I had by then become addicted to each of the triathlon sports, I refused the offered spinal fusion surgery and endured months of physical therapy to learn how to live with a damaged back. And in February of this year I became a forefoot runner: Any significant heel contact would cause intense pain at the site of my degenerated disc, so I had no alternative, since I refused to give up running (and triathlon).

My initial web searches failed to uncover any useful forefoot running resources. I had to feel my way into forefoot running on my own. The first thing I noticed was that the towering heel of my Mizuno Wave Creation 10 was hitting the ground way too early, and was forcing me to run either on my tip-toes or in a slight squat in order to avoid a painful heel impact, each of which caused other problems.

I switched to a cheap pair of Asics that had a much softer and slightly lower heel. By mid-summer my PRs again started to improve. Since I wasn't placing as much weight on my midfoot, I removed the heavy orthotics, and saw another improvement in my PRs. At this point, I was much more comfortable running a mile than walking one!

When a friend suggested racing flats, I went to each of my local specialty running stores, tried everything, and when I finally tried the Kilkenny, it was love at first step. I got the shoes, trained well, did my race, beat my optimistic goal time, and kept on running in my racing flats. I searched the local shops for road shoes that would have a low heel compatible with a forefoot strike, but found nothing that fit my narrow flat foot.

In hindsight, a stress fracture was inevitable. Sure, it was not smart to run exclusively on hard surfaces in racing flats. But I also must share some blame with the shoe market, for not having a road trainer available that would fit my foot and running style, and also be stocked by local shops.

I somehow didn't find your blog until today, when I was again searching for road shoes. I've read a dozen of your general posts, and am working my way through your shoe reviews: We appear to generally think alike regarding technique and equipment, though we approached our beliefs from very different paths.

While I now consider myself to be a minimalist runner due to my forefoot stride, I also realize I'm a 'maximalist' runner: Maximally ignorant, that is. It took me way too long to learn the running vocabulary, which is the only way to get useful search results (when entering any area of specialization, first becoming 'buzz-word compliant' is mandatory). Where are the running glossaries?

I've reached the point where I'm willing to believe that my ideal road shoe, a padded racing flat, may simply not exist. And I'm wondering what I can do about that situation. So far, I've come up with five options:

1. Accept the situation: Do what's needed to adapt to the best fitting shoe available that has an acceptably low heel-to-toe (H2T) drop. But I'm concerned I'll have to adapt my stride to the point that I'll have problems switching back to my racing flats before races. And I refuse to give up my racing flats!

2. Find a shoe that's ideal in all respects OTHER than H2T drop, and have a cobbler slice away some foam to remove the excess heel height (a trivial task for any qualified cobbler). This would require a shoe with minimal heel structure, lacking things like wave plates and air/gel layers. The Brooks Green Silence may be a candidate, which I'll try out after my foot finishes healing.

3. Eliminate all hard-surface running, except for final race training and race day. Which means I keep running in my racing flats, but only on sand and turf. Not an easy thing to accomplish in my densely packed suburb, but not impossible (just impractical).

4. Add a thin Sof Sole gel cushion to the forefoot of my racing flats. I've already done this, just for insurance, but I doubt it is enough to prevent another stress fracture. And I haven't yet run in the modified shoe, so it may prove unworkable.

5. Create my own shoe.

As I've wailed and moaned about my shoe situation to friends, family, and members of the Triathlon Club of San Diego (TCSD, the Best Damn Club on the Planet, no lie), I found some kindred souls, one of whom is a mechanical engineer, and another who is a materials engineer with deep knowledge of polymers and foams. Me, I'm a software engineer with lots of simulation experience, and I also know my way around a sewing machine.

Unfortunately, we're all either lazy, time-crunched, or both, and would much rather work with an existing manufacturer than go off on our own. We simply want the shoes we want, and don't necessarily want to get into the shoe business.

Yes, I'm finally getting to the point:Some questions for you!
- What do you think of my options above? Did I miss any?
- Does my dream shoe already exist?
- What would you like to see in a new minimalist shoe suitable for forefoot road runners?
- Which manufacturers do you think would be most willing to work with motivated amateurs?

We've also discussed a shoe with a negative static H2T drop that would become zero when the forefoot sole is compressed. The shoe design would vary not only by foot size, but also by runner weight (possibly by swapping the insole). This would allow us to add sophistication to the forefoot without having to thicken or complicate the heel. It would be a shoe designed exclusively for forefoot hard-surface runners, though we might also be able to market it as a butt-lifting, leg-toning walking shoe!

Time for me to get back to reading your blog. Thanks!

-BobC

Pain-Free Running, Part V

Much of the stuff in my prior running posts (here, here, here and here) went out the window when my back gave out on me almost exactly a year ago. This year (2010) has been a rebuilding year for me: Once my back recovered (see my back injury post here), I had to completely change my run and bike, both equipment and technique.

If you've read my posts about TitanFlex bikes (here, here, here, here and here), you know what I did: I got a TitanFlex Veteran bike. A future post will discuss the details of the bike changes: This post is about running.

As my back injury post mentioned, I've had to become a toe runner. When I began triathlon, my running technique started with me as a hard heel-striker. Early pain caused me to become a mid-sole runner with a strong arm-swing. When I tried to run after my back recovered, even the impact of a mid-sole strike was more than I could tolerate.

I had to find a way to keep the impact of my feet hitting the ground from reaching my lower back. I was already wearing some of the most advanced shoes available, and adding more cushioning would mean reducing the stability I needed. I didn't need cushioning: I needed suspension.

When I had my carbon bike, the saddle soreness issues I had were handled by switching to a seat with a better design and more cushioning. My running shoes already had the best design with the most cushioning I could find. When my back problems persisted, I was certain a TitanFlex was in my future, because I knew I could add suspension via the TitanFlex titanium boom. Could I add something similar to my run?

The only things I could think of were either to run with my knees bent, or switch to toe-running. Since running in a squat didn't seem practical, that meant toe-running was my only viable option. Toe-running would permit my foot to flex up and down to absorb more of the running impact before it got to my knees, hips and then to my low back. From a kinematics perspective, it was an elegant solution.

From the perspective of my body, it seemed to be an impossible goal. I have always had plantar fascia (PF) issues related to my extraordinarily flat feet, something handled by orthotics (to provide PF support) combined with reducing toe/calf use (to minimize PF stress). While running on my toes would reduce impact, it would cause a massive increase in PF stress. It would also mean my heel-stabilized running shoe would no longer be able to help keep my feet and knees aligned, meaning more torque could be delivered to my knees, and I already had a history of minor knee problems.

Things did not look good at that point. I was very worried that I would have to stop running, which would mean no more triathlons for me. Which meant I had nothing to lose by trying toe-running, even if it did cause additional damage. The irony of the situation is that I had spent the prior year learning to reduce calf muscle use in both my run and bike techniques.

I started toe-running during the last part of the physical therapy (PT) I was receiving from Rehab United for my back. I started with slow toe-jogging for 1/4 mile, gradually building my calf strength. The first thing I noticed was that the thick heels of my 'motion-control' running shoe were getting in the way, allowing my heel to strike before the calf had finished its job. So I went and bought some running shoes with thinner heels. I didn't really care about what shoe I got, since I had no idea how to tell a good toe-running shoe from a bad one. All I knew was that I wanted a shoe with a lower heel and a good fit. I wound up with and pair of last-year Asics that were on sale for dirt cheap.

By the end of my PT I could toe-run for a mile on a treadmill at a 10-minute pace. And I was doing it pain-free! There was one very odd thing about this: I had never before been able to comfortably run on a treadmill! My bowed legs meant I needed to do a bit of heel pivoting between my heel strike and the rest of my foot coming down, which the rubber treadmill resisted, meaning that treadmill running always gave me knee pain. What was going on here?

Moving from the treadmill back to the street had its own issues. When I started to run more often and at longer distances, my knees started to hurt again. This time, I knew it wasn't ITB Syndrome; It had to be something related to the foot and/or ankle. The only thing I could figure was that errors in toe placement and/or foot angle were adding torque to my knees. I needed to control both where I put my toe down, and ensure my foot angle was correct.

Since the biggest kinematic change was that my heel was no longer touching the ground, I adjusted my stride to allow my heel to barely touch before I pushed off. No impact, just a touch, to make it easier for me to tell what my foot angle really was. The thing is, when I made that change, the knee pain went away! I had no conscious awareness of my foot ever being at the wrong angle, so I wasn't sure what was going on. My best guess is that touching the heel gave enough feedback for me to intuitively (sub-consciously) adjust my stride to keep things in alignment.

As for the rest of my running gait, everything I had learned before about arm swing and body position still applied, though one minor change was needed: When going uphill, my calves really took a beating (remember that I touch my heel every time), so I needed much more assistance from my arms than my normal swing could provide. I first tried to simply swing my arms harder, but I soon reached the limit of useful motion. At the suggestion of a friend, I added some elbow-flexing during each stride (previously I had adjusted elbow angle only slowly, to account for the terrain, and not during each step). On steep hills, during each stride my arm swing starts with my arm straight at the bottom, and finishes with my elbow fully bent at the top. I use less elbow motion on medium hills, and none at all otherwise.

I soon was back to running my regular 2-mile run pain-free, though at a slower pace. I decided to try to pick up the pace, and found that the extra energy used by the calf was really costing me: I'd suddenly get exhausted, and have to walk for a minute before I could resume running (at my slowest pace). I assumed this was due not only to the increased calf use, but was also due to poor conditioning, and that I needed to improve in that area too.

It is common knowledge that to improve speed and conditioning, we must do intervals. In biking, hill-climbing is often the interval of choice, with timed sprints also included (often in the form of pace-line drills). In running, you can run hills too, but they generally take too long to be short enough to be effective for interval training. That left timed sprints, which in running are included in "wind sprints" and "fartleks".

OK, so I was going to do some intervals, which meant I had to run very fast over short distances. Which led to the question: How fast could I run as a toe-runner? Did toe-running have a kinematic speed limit? Since starting to run mile+ distances as a toe-runner, I had tried to slowly increase my speed, but only over a long-ish distance, which I had found was initially limited by my calf development, and was later limited by my conditioning.

Time for some test sprints. After warming up, I first sprinted for only about 20 steps, to see if anything felt obviously wrong. After briefly recovering at a slower pace, I upped the distance of each subsequent sprint, going flat-out each time. By the time I was too tired to extend the sprint distance, I had covered about a mile, all of which was done with no pain at all.

During the sprints, I didn't pay any attention to my Garmin, since I was totally focused on how the fast pace felt, and to try to maintain a very uniform and controlled stride. And my stride felt very smooth: I remembered what wind sprints felt like 20 years ago, when I was training to improve my 10K speed, and I recalled that they felt very jarring and uncomfortable. Now my fast stride felt like I was gliding over the ground, rather than trying to beat it to death with my feet.

When I got home and downloaded the Garmin data, I was astounded to find that some of my sprints were at a 5:30 pace, and all of them were faster than a 6:30 pace! I don't recall ever having run that fast before. And I did this while running as smooth as silk.

I started alternating my training runs between interval runs and distance runs. I've been seeing improvements in speed over my traditional 2-mile run, and I've been able to extend my distance to include 10K (6.2 miles), all without pain during the run. I've had some minor knee pain after the longer/faster runs, but it is in a new place, just above and below the knee cap (instead of under it), and the pain always fades within an hour or so. I've also had some hamstring weakness, so I've added exercises to my strength training to address that issue. And I've had some ball-of-the-foot discomfort too, so I suppose it is time to go shopping for 'real' toe-running shoes.

The oddest thing is that during this entire process I have had no PF pain, or even discomfort, at all! I'm at a loss to explain this. I did start out gradually, and I'm sure that helped, but it can't be the full explanation. Could it be that toe-running has helped my feet to become better than they were? I've been experimenting with removing the orthotics from my shoes, and so far I see no difference. They still hurt when I stand still for a while, but no worse than before. Yes, my feet are still flat, but they seem to be working just fine that way, with extra support no longer being needed.

That's about where I am today, still working on the sprints and distance. I've equaled my prior PR of 16 minutes for my 2-mile run, and I expect to get faster. My 10K time is approaching an hour, and I expect that to improve as well. It has to! I'll be doing my first-ever Olympic distance race in the Tri Classic in 6 weeks, on September 18th, and I want to finish in under 3:30, hopefully under 3:00!

But to get under 3:00, my bike time has to improve too. Evidently, I need to do more hills and pace-lines.

The Frugal Triathlete

The first thing a new triathlete gets is a list of equipment needed to start training, which typically includes the following (minor generic items and consumables have been left off):

General Stuff:

• TCSD Membership (required to get discounts from club sponsors)
• TCSD timing chip (highly recommended: helps for the free club races)
• Tri-kit (two-piece top/shorts pair) or trisuit (one-piece) (highly recommended)
• Sports GPS (monitor and track run/bike/swim, recommended)
• Heart monitor (recommended if no Sports GPS)
• Gear bag (recommended) or Transition bag (optional)

Run Stuff:

• Running shoes (highly recommended if you don't go barefoot)
• Elastic laces (recommended)
• Race belt (recommended)
• Fuel belt (optional)
• Hydration pack (optional)

Swim Stuff:

• Triathlon swimming wetsuit (long-sleeved and/or sleeveless, highly recommended)
• Latex swim cap (freely available)
• BodyGlide and/or TriSlide (skin/wetsuit lubricant, highly recommended)
• Open-water swim goggles (highly recommended)
• Nose/ear plugs (as needed)
• Neoprene swim cap (recommended for cold swim conditions)
• Swim booties (recommended for cold swim conditions)
• Swim suit (optional)
• Pull buoy (optional)

Bike Stuff:

• Road bike (required for beginners)
• Bike shoes (highly recommended)
• Tri/TT bike (optional)
• Tri-shoes (optional)
• Clipless (cleat) pedals (highly recommended)
• Clip-on aero bars for road bike (optional)
• Bike computer (recommended if no Sports GPS)
• Spare tire (recommended)
• Spare tubes (highly recommended)
• Chain lube (required)
• Tube repair kit (highly recommended)
• Tire levers (if using clinchers, highly recommended)
• Sew-up glue (if using sew-up tires - not for beginners!)
• Floor pump (required)
• Hand pump and/or CO2 inflater + cylinders (highly recommended)
• Allen wrenches (highly recommended)
• Under-seat tool bag or tail mount (highly recommended)
• Food box ('speed/bento box', recommended)
• Water bottles and cages (at least 1 of each highly recommended)

Whew! If you walk into local stores and try to buy all of the required and highly-recommended items above, it is impossible to get minimally 'decent' equipment for less than $2000, even if you make full use of all available TCSD discounts. Even $3000 would still be near the low end. I've seen new triathletes with money to burn easily spend $5000. And there is no limit: Some triathlon addicts spend over $10,000 on their gear!

There is an important saying in triathlon, something I call the 'Comfort Rule': Everything that touches your body must be comfortable. And, unfortunately, low-end gear is seldom comfortable.

Does this mean you should take on debt or liquidate a large chunk of your savings just to get into triathlon? What can you do if your budget is more in the range of around $1000? What trade-offs are available? Let's look at the more expensive items one at a time.

First, the bike: The obvious cost-saving measure would be to get a good used bike. When it comes to value, a good used bike will have higher-quality components than a low-end new bike. The 'Comfort Rule' above absolutely applies, which means you must get a bike that fits you, and is comfortable to ride for hours at a time.

What does it mean for a bike to 'fit' you? It means the fundamental dimensions of the bike frame, stem, bars and seat-post are compatible with your body, and the bike bars and seat have been adjusted to maximize your riding comfort, power and efficiency. Getting all this done is called a 'bike fit'. When buying a new bike from a local bike shop, a bike fit is included in the cost of the bike. It is not uncommon for the stem to have to be replaced as part of the bike fit process, and occasionally even the seat-post and/or bars.

If you choose to get a used bike, plan to spend additional money for a good bike fit at your local bike shop. However, most bike fits are done after the bike is purchased. How can you tell if a specific used bike will fit you before you buy it? I know of only one solution to this problem: Buy your bike fit first, then go shopping for your used bike!

Unfortunately, there are very few bike shops in the nation that will sell you a bike fit without either buying a bike from them or already owning a bike. Fortunately, we have one bike shop in San Diego that provides this service as a separate product: TCSD sponsor Moment Cycle Sport in Point Loma offers their 'Fit First' service, which puts you on a 'fit bike' that is adjusted until a good fit is obtained. A set of numbers describing the fit are given to you at the end, along with a thorough explanation. They charge about $200 for this service, though they do offer a substantial discount to TCSD members. (It is possible that other bike shops will provide a similar service in the near future, so be sure to ask around.)

So, you got your bike fit numbers, and now you're ready to buy a good used bike. The first place to shop is the TCSD Classified Ads, on the TCSD website. I've seen many truly excellent bikes listed there for around $400. Then check Craigslist, eBay (local only), local bike club sites, and the classified listings at local newspaper sites. You should be able to quickly find a decent bike that's within your budget. The goal is not to get 'the perfect bike', but instead to get a bike that won't hinder your first year of triathlon training and racing. The good thing about a $400 bike is that you'll probably be able to sell it in a year for the same price you paid, assuming you take good care of it. Think of it as a only a 'first bike', and not a lifetime commitment.

After you buy your bike, you may be able to adjust it to your fit numbers on your own, though if you have problems, a local bike shop may make the adjustments for a small fee (or possibly for free).

Now, I've talked only about getting a road bike. You could get a tri/TT bike, but that is certainly not recommended starting out, though you may well want to get one eventually as a second bike.

A side note: When shopping for used triathlon gear, it very much matters when you shop! Many triathletes get the urge to upgrade in the late winter or early spring, and will sell their old gear for whatever they can get in order to help fund their new gear. Another thing to keep in mind is to maximize the use of coupons, sales, and your TCSD discounts. There are several local vendors who, even though they are not TCSD sponsors, will still offer impressive discounts to TCSD members. And remember, REI annual member rebates are usually 8-10% of the price paid, so combining that with an REI sale can sometimes yield an unbeatable price.

So far we've spent under $200 for a bike fit, and about $400 for a decent used bike, for a total of $600 spent. Can we get everything else we need for just $400 more?

The next most expensive item is typically the swim wetsuit. A new one can range in price from $150 to $800. There certainly are used wetsuits available, but many of these will have some degree of damage that may be expensive to repair. Another option is to get a 'seconds' or 'demo' or 'return' wetsuit from a local manufacturer (of which there are at least 3 in San Diego, and at least 1 of them is a TCSD Sponsor). If you shop carefully, you should be able to find a quality wetsuit that fits very well for no more than $100. If you ask around, you may be able to get a perfectly serviceable wetsuit for free. I would recommend getting a long-sleeve wetsuit first, since sleeveless wetsuits can have several disadvantages for beginners.

One important note: Be sure to swim in your wetsuit before you buy it, or ensure you can return it. A wetsuit that fits well on land can have serious friction spots when worn in the water. Be sure to use BodyGlide around the neck when wearing a long-sleeve wetsuit. TCSD has a free Wetsuit Loaner Program (no link available) that lets you easily try many different wetsuits, and the Thursday evening TCSD Open Water Bay Swim clinic (see the TCSD Calendar) has its own inventory of free loaner wetsuits provided by clinic sponsor WetsuitRental.com.

Let's say you got lucky and found a comfortable wetsuit for free (it isn't really all that hard - just ask around on the TCSD email list), so we still about $400 left to spend.

The next most expensive must-have item brings us back to the bike: Bike shoes and pedals. It is almost impossible to find road shoes + pedals for less than $200 new, and tri-specific bike shoes and 'cool' pedals can add much more to the cost. Getting them used is difficult. And remember, the 'Comfort Rule' certainly applies here!

Fortunately, you can get new mountain bike (MTB) shoes + MTB clipless pedals (clone of Shimano SPD) for well under $100 (as low as $50 is you shop hard). Mechanically they work just as well as fancier road-specific shoes and pedals, and they even have some advantages for beginners. If you go this route, get MTB shoes with non-flexible soles that have laces with a single velcro strap over the instep (such as the Shimano MT31), then replace the laces with elastic laces. You will get most of the convenience and functionality of tri-shoes for a fraction of the price. Plus, the stationary spin bikes in many gyms are SPD-compatible.

That gets the total spent so far up near $700, leaving at least $300 to get everything else. If you shop carefully, you can get all the non-electronic items remaining on the list for under $300. For your apparel, be sure to check the TCSD Online Store, which has the best-looking and highest-quality stuff for great prices.

A note about electronics: This is one area where I urge beginners to either splurge a little, or have a serious talk with Santa. Rather than get a separate bike computer, heart monitor, pedometer and sports GPS, I'd recommend getting them combined in a single multi-sport unit. If you shop carefully, you can get a Garmin Forerunner 305 with heart monitor, bike pod, shoe pod (optional), and bike mount kit (which also includes a velcro wrist-band) all for under $300. Having this unit, and using its features as part of your training and racing, will pay significant dividends. And the bang-for-the-buck for this specific model is huge, since it can give you detailed performance data for all 3 sports: Run, bike and even swim.

So, if you do get the Garmin, then we've blown the $1000 budget. But you'll certainly be under $1500, even if you have to pay for your wetsuit.

Another important item to consider spending extra on is your bike saddle. This is where the 'Comfort Rule' really matters. If you have any discomfort or numbness after your first 10 hours of riding, consider getting an ISM Adamo Road saddle. It costs under $150, and even elite competitors use it. When I got mine, it changed everything for me.

Finally, a note about online shopping (other than at the TCSD Store): I'm against it, particularly for beginners. You will very much need the support and wisdom of local vendors, since you will have a million questions, need some fast returns, and quick service. They are well worth it, and deserve to be supported, especially if they are one of our amazing TCSD club sponsors! The only possible exception would be for the electronics.

Back in the game...

After replying to a post on the TCSD email list, I realized I hadn't posted here in a while. Here's the post:

I have a friend who is a strength and conditioning coach with whom we were doing some circuit training. One circuit being a dumbbell clean & jerk.

Well....i believe this was the motion that has now left me almost immobilized.

At work today only because i work in an office environment.

I have the SDIT this Sunday and this injury (one that has never happened before) could not have come at WORST time!

Last week of training will be severely hampered if not totally eliminated.

Have any Club Members had lower back strains / sprains ect....

How long were you on the mend and what recovery aids did you use, if any, to speed up the recovery time of this injury.

Thank in advance for any input.

My training has been the best it ever has and i was looking forward to one good final week, before my first International Distance Race Sunday!

And my reply:

I'm no medical professional, but I have learned a few things about my own back over the past year.

First, find out just what HAS happened to your back: It could be anything from a muscle strain (most common) to a damaged/displaced disc (especially if over 40), or a damaged vertebra (rarely). Go to a Sports Medicine MD for a diagnosis, and also be sure to stop by Rehab United for a FREE Injury Assessment.

For what follows, I'm assuming your back hurts all the time, even first thing in the morning. I'll also assume some motions are impossible for you due to back weakness, and other motions cause varying degrees of added pain.

Since muscle strain is a common factor to just about all back injuries, you may be treating that anyway, no matter what else may be wrong, possibly with a combination of physical therapy and muscle relaxants. My own experiences over the past year with a degenerated disc taught me a few things:

1. Don't wait to seek professional opinions! See your Sports MD and Rehab United immediately. Waiting increases the risk of further injury, and needlessly prolongs the pain. I waited over 4 months, hoping to adjust my training to take the load off my back. Dumbest thing I've ever done (well, that depends on who you ask).

2. There are some things that can help temporarily, but may NOT lead to any real recovery: Applying heat/cold, sports massage, very gentle stretching, and NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.). I used these, and the partial improvement I saw is what led me to delay diagnosis and treatment. Not smart! But do use them to help you "get by", but only until you do get your diagnosis.

3. Trying to "train around" a back injury is also of doubtful usefulness. I recommend you stop all running, biking and weight training until you get a diagnosis and training advice, though you may be able to continue swimming in the ocean or bay (avoid pool turns). After my initial injury, I spent months modifying my training, all of which simply made things worse and delayed my eventual recovery.


My current philosophy concerning fitness and competition is simple: I want to be doing this when I'm 80! Any injury or over-training that jeopardizes that goal gets corrected promptly and thoroughly.

My specific injury was a degenerated L5-S1 disc. The disc had been degenerating for a decade, but it became an issue only when my bike training reached new PRs. I was really hammering hard on the hills, and going faster than ever in aero. So when I started getting back pain, I naturally blamed my bike workouts. Turned out my flat-footed running was also a factor, and the two together did a double-whammy on my lowest disc and my back muscles.

The good news is that, once I was properly diagnosed, my recovery literally started with my first physical therapy session. After my therapy ended, I completely overhauled my training to minimize back stresses: First, I became a toe runner (I've got the calves to prove it). Second, I switched from my carbon princess to a TitanFlex (like switching from a hard-tail Harley to a SuperGlide), and I raised my bars 4 inches.

My expectation was that I would eventually compete again, but that I would be much slower than I was before (not that I was ever that fast). The reality has been surprisingly different! I'm now running at speeds I haven't seen in 25 years (though I'm still building my distance back up), and my bike endurance (comfort in the saddle) is better than before (though I'm still building power).

My new expectation is that my race times will become faster than ever! Strange but true: I never would have reached this place if my back had NOT failed. That failure led me to learn more about how my body really works, and to also learn how to use it better.

I also had a huge piece of Pure Luck: About 90% of those with my level of disc degeneration and pain get an immediate spinal fusion. I was a candidate for PT only because my core fitness permitted my back to take tons of punishment without allowing my spine to slip out of alignment. My Sports MD said my successful therapy and return to training will probably postpone my need for spinal fusion by 5 years. I'm hoping for 20.


'Nuf said: Take it easy, get to your Sports MD, and get a FREE Injury Assessment from Rehab United.

Hopefully, my next post won't be so long in coming...

Back Pain

Time to 'fess up: I've been having low-back pain since mid-August.  It is worst when getting up in the morning, and flares whenever I try to lift anything, including myself.  Even picking up a penny on the ground requires that I squat way down.  I can't even put on my pants standing up!

I can walk and sit without pain, but that's about it.  If I'm careful, I can exercise without pain.  But even the slightest mistake guarantees the pain will increase, if not immediately, then soon after the workout ends.

At first, I thought the back pain was due simply to all the additional time I'd been spending cycling in the aero position.  But cutting back on my bike time, then zeroing it, did not affect the pain at all.

I talked to a personal trainer, who recommended things not to do, activities and motions to avoid, to help prevent making it worse.  It hasn't gotten worse overall, but there are certainly good days and bad days.

I got several massages, and while they felt great and gave me temporary pain relief, they had no lasting effect.  But a massage therapist did recommend some changes to my body position when I sleep.  That did help reduce, but did not eliminate, the morning discomfort.

I met with a physical therapist, who recommended some simple stretches, mainly for the hamstring, to try to remove stress from the back.  No immediate change in the first couple weeks, but I'm sticking with them.

I saw my primary physician to get a referral to my sports medicine doctor, but he said that since I was pain-free for my day-to-day activities, my condition did not rise to the level of clinical significance, so there was no need for immediate treatment.  But he did give me a thorough physical to ensure my back pain wasn't a precursor to another condition.

The personal trainer did some research, and uncovered a surprise: Everyone experiences back pain sooner or later in life, and for many people, their back pain lacks a direct cause (such as injury, mis-use or over-use).  There isn't all that much known about back pain that lacks a clear and direct cause.  One fairly common factor is emotional/life stress, and I do have tons of stress in my life right now.

I should mention that when I was in college I had developed severe back spasms that sometimes kept me from walking upright, and that required medication to relieve.  I was scheduled for physical therapy after the spasms subsided, but it turned out not to be necessary.  Evidently, just turning off the spasms for a while was all that was needed for me to heal on my own.  For the next 25 years I had no significant back pain.

So I know what back spasms are, and I'm certain I don't have them now.  The current pain really feels like my back was over-fatigued, but my back hasn't responded to my efforts to eliminate all forms of back fatigue from my daily life.

Could stress be the main issue?  The timing is interesting, since the back pain arrived about 2 months after a major increase in the stress present in my life (about 7 months ago).

During this entire year, I had been carefully and steadily increasing my training load (mainly distance and time, not peak effort) in all 3 triathlon sports.  The only constant has been my strength training, which I have been doing for about 8 years now.

I have lost about 20 pounds during the past year, which I attribute not only to the higher training load, but also to significant improvements to my eating patterns (I'm not on a "diet").  Thanks to the Holidays, and my currently reduced training levels, 8 pounds of that loss has returned.  Not enough to be a strain on my back!

Most importantly, aside from my mystery back pain, I have otherwise been injury-free since starting triathlon: I have tailored my training with the long-view in mind, and have no desire to push myself hard enough to risk injury.  But I do want to see steady improvement in all areas, since I know I have lots of room to improve both my speed and endurance.

Fortunately, short runs and long swims still feel good (well, they don't make my back worse), so I do them both in moderation, being careful not to start a run or swim if I'm too fatigued or in pain, and I stop the moment I feel any new pain in my back.  And I'm still doing my strength training, modified to avoid loading up my back.

Cycling on the road is out, since I can't hold my back up, and my arms don't handle the extra load very well (hands go numb).  Worse is that I can't pedal anywhere near full power, since I need to use my back to get power to the pedals when I'm in the saddle.  I'd be more comfortable on the bike if I could sit vertically, but neither my road bike nor my hybrid bike supports that position.  All that leaves me with is cycling out of the saddle, which I can't do long enough to last a whole ride.  So, I haven't been cycling at all.

That's what I've been telling myself, at least.  But the simple truth is there is a way to get lots of biking in, sitting vertically, with plenty of time out of the seat: Spin classes.  For some unknown reason, I've been resisting going to class: I think I became spoiled by all the road riding I was doing.

Time for that to change!

Pain-Free Running, Part V

I promise not to mention either Mr. Bean or Pee-wee Herman in this post. Oops. Let's talk about arm swinging.

Is there a useful limit to arm swinging? A useful minimum? Should my arms be more bent, or more straight? It turns out, there is lots of discussion online about arm swinging. While everyone had an opinion, and some differed significantly, unlike the foot strike discussions, there was very little religious warfare. Bottom line, the arms should feel like they are doing work, and not just swinging passively.

I thought about what my arms did when hiking with poles, or alpine (cross-country) skiing. Sometimes I'm using my arms to push along with my legs (uphill and downhill), and other times my arms swing more freely to provide smoothness and stability (fast, flat conditions). Running shared all of those situations. How can/should my arms support my run?

I next did a series of test runs on a fairly flat road, varying only the swing of my arms, holding my elbows at 90 degrees while keeping my stride and cadence constant. It immediately became clear that if I wanted to use a heel-push and a short stride with a high cadence, I would have to swing my arms hard to smooth things out. And I had to swing them fast. The next runs explored how big an arc, and where the arc was centered (elbows more up in front, or more up in back).

I really wish I had started with the arms instead of the feet. Really. I clearly remember the first run I had when all the pieces started coming together. My arms were swinging like I was a Rock'em-Sock'em Robot. I tried swinging my arms as hard as I could, and found I was literally lifting myself off the ground, amplifying my heel-push, which made it much easier to run without a toe-push. A forceful arm swing could nicely balance the removal of the toe-push!

My level stride came together. Soon I had run 1 flat mile several times, with no foot or joint pain! This was really a magical moment, so I didn't look at how long it took to do each of those 1 mile runs. Success mattered far more than speed!

Next, I added very small hills. I'm pumping my arms hard on my flat run, and the first tiny hill approaches. Like hiking, I let my stride get shorter. But now my arms were swinging too much, so I had to shorten the swing as well, while still keeping the cadence the same. But going up hill needed more force, and my arms were doing less! So I dropped my hands slightly to add more inertia to each swing of my arms.

And I felt like I flew up that hill! It was the easiest uphill run I could ever recall. When I got to the top, I brought my elbows back to 90 degrees, increased my arm swing, lengthened my stride, and resumed my flat run. All at the same cadence. I felt like I had gears!

The mild downhill came next. Back in my earlier days, downhill running always gave me shin splints, and I never learned how to avoid them. It seemed clear that if lowering the hands helped uphill, raising them should help downhill. And I flew downhill. The best part? No sign of shin splints! I never tried to slow down (though I may have). I maintained cadence, and used my arms to adjust for the terrain.

I wish I could describe how I felt coming off that run. It was as if I had been touched by the Hand of God, and my crippled run was miraculously healed! Sure, I knew the work it took, but that's how it felt right then.

I did several more 1 mile runs over the coming weeks, and gradually increased my distance. I soon found that it was almost impossible for me to hold a 90 cadence past the first mile, but a slight drop to 85 worked fine. The best part was that I was soon covering 2 miles in under 20 minutes. I had gone from having no running at all, to having a sub-10:00 mile!

Of course, the next thing I did was go looking for another miracle: Sure, I could run on the flats, and uphill and downhill, but how fast could this new pace go?

One problem: When I'm already swinging my arms at an 85 cadence, with no easy way to increase it, what do I do to go faster? Clearly, I'd have to lengthen my stride. But wouldn't that change everything? Would the hard heel strike return? How would my arms compensate? Was I going to have to start all over again?

How to go faster? Well, there was that mysterious saying I had encountered earlier: "To run faster, lean forward!" So I leaned forward. And I went faster!

But what was really going on here? What changed? How did I do that?

Surprisingly, my arms already knew what to do, and they did it. When I leaned forward, my elbows moved back, maintaining my center of balance, but letting it shift forward just enough to match my slightly longer stride.

It turns out, this had happened to me before! When going uphill, I had leaned forward and my elbows had gone back. But I was so focused on the bend of my elbows and the shorter uphill stride, that I hadn't noticed that my elbows had changed were they were going!

That's about where I am today. I'm still doing my 2 mile run twice a week, though I've been adding in occasional longer runs: I did a 5 mile run 2 weeks ago, pain-free! My first in over 16 years.

I forgot to tell you how fast I went in my speed tests: My PR for my 2 mile run is 16 minutes flat. That's an 8:00 mile! However, my normal 2 mile run is consistently around 17 minutes, and is never slower than 18 minutes.

I can't believe it. Sixteen years ago I was running at a 7:30 pace with bad pain. Now, at age 53, I'm running at an 8:30 pace pain-free. Lose the pain, add 16 years, lose only a minute.

I'm OK with that. Because it means I'll be doing my first Olympic distance race next year, and a half-IM doesn't look impossible for the year after.

Yeah, I'm really, really, really OK with that.

Pain-Free Running, Part IV

Some of my favorite memories from my earlier running years center on "zoning-out" during long runs. This was different than the euphoric "runner's high", since for me that only happened after I broke through a wall of pain. My "zone" was more of a meditative place, where I could let my body do its thing, and my mind was free to look at everything happening around me. If I managed to zone-out during a 10K race, I knew I was running near peak efficiency, since any body problems would always keep me out of the zone.

My new long-distance swim skills had allowed me to experience a similar meditative feeling, but it wasn't quite the same, since it was more of a turning inward, where the running state was more outward. I realized I would dearly love to not only run again, but to have a stride that would work on "autopilot" and permit me to "zone out" and cruise through the miles.

My most recent attempts at shortening my stride, easing my foot impact, and increasing my cadence/turnover, were about as far from "zoning out" as I could imagine. But I was beginning to feel I may be on the right track.

I figured I needed to look at the whole picture, at what each part of my body was doing while I ran, and stop focusing exclusively on my feet and legs. Where am I holding my head? What are my shoulders doing? What is my spine doing? What are my arms doing?

One of the best web sites I found that took a similar whole-body view was Chi Running. No, I didn't buy the book, but what I gathered from online discussions helped me realize I may be on the right track. My new stride must involve my whole body, and poking at isolated pieces of the puzzle would no longer suffice.

I researched the parts of a stride, and how they fit together. I looked at my old stride, and tried to identify what was actually going on with it. I examined the strides of other runners to learn about the range of variations in running technique. It was tough going, since I was very suspicious that what I thought I was seeing may be completely different from what the runner was actually doing! I simply didn't know enough about how the human body moves, and I wasn't about to master body kinematics to figure it out.

I decided to change how I observed other runners. Instead of trying to figure out what all the pieces were doing, I'd first see which runners looked smooth and relaxed. If they weren't in pain and weren't flailing about, they probably had all their pieces working well together. I looked at both "natural" runners, and those who were heavy and/or old.

My online searches sometimes led me into interesting corners. At one point, I started looking up some running-specific terms I had previously stumbled across. The one that interested me most was: "To go faster, lean forward." That didn't make much sense to me, unless the goal was to land on your face. What does it really mean to "lean forward" while running? Was it just a psychological thing, to "think forward", or was there a real physical change involved?

I saw lots of videos and pictures online, but none of them made sense to me. Sure, the runner sometimes looked to be "leaning forward", but nobody explained how they stayed in balance! What happened to the center of gravity? Did the stride get longer to restore balance, or what? I was left with more questions than I had started with.

Not all the searches led to corners. There was lots of common advice when it came to the parts of a run. The most prevalent was: "Keep your head up." That made sense, since it would reduce stress on the neck and upper back. Something else also became clear: "Lean forward" did not mean tilting your head forward, for that would violate the "head up" rule.

I next looked at the core, the torso, from the hips to the shoulders. What was going on there? The fastest runners, and the smoothest runners (independent of speed), all ran with very little bend in the spine, and very little twisting of the hips relative to the shoulders. Those that did run with lots of twisting were generally quite young (in puberty or younger), or had unusual weight distribution around the body.

This was especially evident for heavier runners who had far more weight below the belt line than above: It seemed the upper body had to do lots of extra twisting to counter-balance the motion of the lower body. When I looked closer, however, it was clear that not all low-heavy runners had lots of twisting. Some had no twist at all, and it wasn't immediately clear to me why not. But what was clear to me was that those who did the least twisting tended to be the better/smoother/faster runners.

I also looked at bounce, but learned nothing from it. It seems that some runners bounce, and other runners don't, and both can be excellent runners. But I did notice that most short-stride runners looked as if they bounced more than long-stride runners. Perhaps they did have more up-and-down motion, but the short stride could have simply made it an optical illusion. Since I had no reliable way to measure bounce, I also set it aside.

OK. What did I think I had learned so far? Not that much: Head up. Minimize torso twist. Short stride. Heel push. Fast turnover. I didn't quite see what kind of stride I could assemble from those parts. All that was left to examine was the arms. What should my arms be doing?

Once again, I looked a bit closer at some of the basics online. Every site always said: "Swing your arms!". Well, I thought that was just too obvious: Only Mr. Bean and Pee-wee Herman could run without swinging their arms. No way was I going to run like that! So arm swinging did indeed seem way too obvious.

But what if I were to swing my arms more or somehow differently? That's for the next post.