As the running volume grows in my new training program, I’ve had a flare-up of some foot soreness from a couple of months ago, which I’ve had in the past. At the time, I thought it was just soreness from my feet getting used to hitting the pavement after a few quiet months, but then it hung around for a bit longer than that soreness usually would.
I collaborated with Google to diagnose some inflammation in the tendon and followed the plan. It settled down, responded well to the deload and felt fine after the first run on my new program. But then it returned in the second week, this time hanging around for a bit longer.
It was feeling OK by the time I was meant to run this week, so I went ahead with the session as planned. As I was my shoes up, for some reason, I decided to use the top lace holes, which I don’t think I have ever done before. As a result, my shoes felt different during the run but also much more stable.
At the end of the run, I had barely any foot soreness - so maybe these lace holes are there for a reason. It will be interesting to see if this rectifies the issue over the coming weeks. If so, I’m glad I finally learned to tie my shoes properly.
Article: Getting Comfortable in the Gym
The gym can be intimidating, particularly when starting at a new facility or coming back after a while out of the gym. Although, while deep down, we know that no one else is worried about us, it’s normal to feel self-conscious during those first sessions.
If we don’t overcome these voices to develop a routine in the early stages, it becomes easy to fall away from the program and not go at all. There is a reason many gyms have more than 40% of their members train less than ten times a year.
I understand the intimidation. On the one hand, I’m probably the person people are intimidated by when they go in. But on the other hand, I still get that myself. I did an eight-week powerlifting training course in 2015 and was nervous about going to the first few sessions. I wasn’t sure if my technique was up to their standard (it wasn’t, but that what why I was there) and didn’t want people who’d read my articles thinking I was less strong than they thought.
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