Tempting Fate & Trying Something New

This morning I went to the podiatrist and picked up my orthotics. The doctor said that I have to break them in for about a week before I started really running in them. She also said that I might experience some discomfort/pain when I do start running, but that doesn't mean that they're not working. It just means that my foot isn't used to them yet. So, to start breaking them in, I'm supposed to wear them for an hour today, two hours tomorrow, etc. until I get to 6 hours.

Because I knew I had this appointment this morning and I have plans this evening that prevent me from going to the gym later on, I decided to try out the gym at lunch time. I decided to go right at 12:00 to see if it was too busy or how I thought it would be. It actually wasn't bad at all. I'm guessing that the elliptical machines were pretty packed, but I was heading for the treadmill since it's been quite a while since I have been on one!

I started out walking for a half mile, which took me 6:55. I started at 4.5 but bumped it down to 4.0 after a few minutes. Then, I decided to tempt fate. I ran for a half mile. I know, I know, I shouldn't have done it. But I really wanted to see how the orthotics felt and if they would really help me off the bat. I did the running half mile in 5:30 at 5.5 speed on the treadmill. Then I pushed it back down to 4.0 to complete my half hour. My total distance was 2.2 miles and the whole thing was done at 1% incline.

What I learned is that I think they did help as I'm not feeling any worse than I was this morning (and the doctor did give me another prescription for Celebrex, so I will fill that if I do have any further pain). The other really important thing that I learned is that I need to make sure that they are pushed all the way against the back of my shoe because they were definitely uncomfortable because I was stepping on the edge the whole time. It wasn't as noticable while I was walking, but it was uncomfortable while running.