Just a note: I'm getting a late start to this blog. I started my transition a couple weeks ago and kept records of it in one of those old, heavy, leafy storage devices ( I believe the ancients refered to them as books). So these first few posts wont reflect my realtime progression.
I began to take the transition seriously when I started to feel the slightest inkling of achilles tendonitis in my left leg. I was so frustrated with myself and myhardheaded desire to run regardless of the consequences, that I forbade any running.Iwanted to takeat least a week offto ensure that my AT was in good shapebeforeI started to run. I also took this time to prepare other muscles and tendons for the newloads they would be bearing. After reading Jason Robillard's transition planI decided to extend this period to two weeks. I began wearing only"zero-drop" shoesto ensure that my achilles tendons would be long and supple before I started running. I also incorporated some calf raises and stretching into my routine. I actually didn't have any zero-drop shoes and I didn't want to buy any because... well I'm cheap, but also becauseI've heard that even the thinnest soles will make you land harder than you should. So, I spent most of the weekbarefoot and ripped the soles off of my old boat shoes to make a sort of moccasin to wearin stores, school, etc.
In this stage I didn't feel anyphysical pain, besides a little tendernesson my soles. However, the emotional stress was torturous. All I wanted to do was run! These two weeks coincided with my final exams and Ispent more timelooking atthe BFRS site and reading aboutAnton Krupicka than Idid studying. Reading about the elite ultra runners actually helped mea little; it made me realize that proper recovery time or mileage progressionconstitutes an essential part of any athletes training plan. This was definitely the toughest stage of the transition for me.
I began to take the transition seriously when I started to feel the slightest inkling of achilles tendonitis in my left leg. I was so frustrated with myself and myhardheaded desire to run regardless of the consequences, that I forbade any running.Iwanted to takeat least a week offto ensure that my AT was in good shapebeforeI started to run. I also took this time to prepare other muscles and tendons for the newloads they would be bearing. After reading Jason Robillard's transition planI decided to extend this period to two weeks. I began wearing only"zero-drop" shoesto ensure that my achilles tendons would be long and supple before I started running. I also incorporated some calf raises and stretching into my routine. I actually didn't have any zero-drop shoes and I didn't want to buy any because... well I'm cheap, but also becauseI've heard that even the thinnest soles will make you land harder than you should. So, I spent most of the weekbarefoot and ripped the soles off of my old boat shoes to make a sort of moccasin to wearin stores, school, etc.
In this stage I didn't feel anyphysical pain, besides a little tendernesson my soles. However, the emotional stress was torturous. All I wanted to do was run! These two weeks coincided with my final exams and Ispent more timelooking atthe BFRS site and reading aboutAnton Krupicka than Idid studying. Reading about the elite ultra runners actually helped mea little; it made me realize that proper recovery time or mileage progressionconstitutes an essential part of any athletes training plan. This was definitely the toughest stage of the transition for me.
