I had to work last Saturday night and wasn't planning on
running after work and after I slept Easter Sunday morning. Normally I don't
run after nights that I work because walking up and down the hospital hallways
is really hard on my bad ankles. However when I woke up Sunday afternoon, my
ankles weren't feeling too sore so I thought I might try to run either on the
treadmill or outdoors, and get a break from stationary cycling. It turned out
to be a warm day so outdoors it was.
Several days prior, I had run very slowly
on the treadmill and tried landing more on the midfoot rather than the
rearfoot. It was somewhat successful for the most part, so on Easter Sunday I
thought I might try to replicate the technique on the roads. Well it was harder
than expected because I was the one who was trying to propel myself forward
rather than a treadbelt providing the motion. Besides, the road didn't have the
cushioning of the treadmill. What made it even harder was that the attempted
midfoot strike felt so unnatural to me and it took a lot of concentration to
maintain it, and I still mostly landed on my heels first. I tried to keep my
feet as close to the ground as possible to lessen the impact, that I felt my
shoes scraping the ground. It was so slow that it felt almost like racewalking
except at times both feet were off the ground. That would have disqualified it
as racewalking in the strict sense. Nevertheless, the thought of celebrating
Easter with a run enabled me to finish a very slow 45 minute non-stop workout. I
didn't use my GPS watch but I probably covered the least distance ever in 45
minutes. But I didn't care. I only cared that I was able to do it. The day
after, the ankles didn’t feel too bad but since I run too infrequently, it
appears like I developed some chafing in the nether regions, you know, close to
my personal Easter eggs ;). That was a surprise. Now, even my skin is out of
condition.
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