Last Week's Workout Re Cap

March 17th - March 23rd

Monday-Wednesday

My left big toe and now my right big toe had been bothering me from the 7 mile run on Sunday so I ended up taking Monday through Wednesday off from training.  I decided to give it a rest in an attempt not to irritate things TOO much before the Hot Chocolate 15k on April 6th. Not to mention, it was also snowing on Monday, cold on Tuesday, and POURING rain on Wednesday.

Thursday

Still having pain in my toe so I decided to just do a short, short tempo run.  I ran a mile out, then did a FAST mile, pushing the pace down to around a 7:30 at times, then cooled down with a slow jog.  My toe was still bothering me, but after doing 7 on Sunday, doing only  2 1/4 felt like nothing even with the speed. It was definitely a cold, windy evening though, only about 44 degrees by the time I got out there.  Not the greatest first day of Spring--but much improved from earlier in the week.

Friday:

My new passion (besides running): Barre class!  I am actually hoping that this class might improve the strength in my toes, besides the obvious core and leg benefits.  The class was tougher than the previous weeks, and I REALLY felt like I got a great work out.  It was a warmer evening too, so the hubs and I were also able to take the dogs out on a walk afterwards.

Saturday

I decided that it would be smart to do our long run in the same basic area as the Hot Chocolate 15k, so I decided to head down to the city.  Kelly Drive was closed for tree removal, so I headed over to MLK drive.  I believe the Hot Chocolate course is going to be on that side of the river anyway.  I parked near the Roosevelt Bridge, and ran down to the Art Museum, around, and back for a total of 8.44 miles, 9:23 average pace.  Unfortunately, my toe hurt so bad by the end I couldn't even stand it.  I also had to stop and stretch for a quick second at 6 1/2 as my back had gone out and I was no longer able to move my left leg at the hip.  I am a total mess.  I am hoping that my body magically just feels good and pain free for the Hot Chocolate 15k and the other various races I have coming up.  I know that isn't how it works, but I'm still wearing my Correct Toes as often as I can hoping they will work!

Sunday

This was supposed to be my cross training day, but my feet were not feeling up to much after the run the day before.  I took the dogs for a walk at the park, but other than that just took it easy and did some errands and things around the house.  Shifting cross training to Monday since it is too cold (for me) to run anyway!

Total Miles in March (so far): 44.5 

Correct Toes and Bunions

I have some pretty serious bunions (genetic) that have been irritated by years of distance running.  Starting last June I began to have some MAJOR pain in my left big toe while training for a half marathon that was making it difficult to run at all, let alone long distances.  I detailed some of what I have done in an attempt to cure this/avoid surgery in a previous post.  Today I wanted to talk about Correct Toes since they seem to be the best non-surgery option I can find through my personal research.

The reviews that are available for Correct Toes are INCREDIBLE and when I first learned about them, it made me want to order them immediately.  Correct Toes is basically a spacer that fits between your toes that can specifically eliminate bunion issues.  Review after review says that they have straightened people's feet and eliminated their foot pain for bunions and other toe related issues.  They seem to be a really great, non-surgery option for a lot of people. I can't even describe how excited I was to order them after reading the reviews this past fall.

I am still  wearing mine in the hopes that they will work, but so far they haven't seemed to help me very much.  I know this is probably because I can not wear them with my work shoes as any shoes that I own that are "work appropriate" would definitely not allow for the toe spread that is required for this product.  Also, I have been unable to run in them since the silicon in my toes hurts me when I run making it basically impossible, not the actual toe spacing, but the product rubbing between my toes pushes and puts too much pressure.

I try to wear them after work and to sleep in every night.  Today I wore them when I took the dogs on a short walk.  I still haven't seen much progress though.  My left toe is definitely getting WORSE if anything.  I was on a training run today where my toe hurt so bad by the end I could barely move.

I am SO INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATED because running is my absolute favorite activity and, honestly, a huge part of my personal identity.  Am I not using the Correct Toes correctly?  I want them to work for me as they did for so many others SO badly!  Anyone else try this product?  Anyone have any suggestions for how to use them better or to solve bunion related big toe pain?  HELP!