After getting my new transition shoes from Born To Run®, I had enough time to go home and make some chia seeds for an energizing snack and get back in the car to head to the RUNNING TEST!

With butterflies in my belly, my new transition shoes on my feet, and my Tiger Tail (a great muscle rolling pin device that helps to break up fascia and relieve muscle pain and soreness before, during and after workouts), I walked slowly toward my doom. As we all assembled, Coach Denise explained that we would be doing a three minute marching test to help get our heart rates up. Then, the fun would begin. We were outdoors at a dirt track about 1/4 mile long. The first heart rate test would be FOUR LAPS! WHAT?! I haven’t been able to run a half mile without pain much less ONE WHOLE MILE!!!

I looked down at my, now, miracle shoes. “Please get me through this without an injury. Please,” I pleaded in my head to my hot pink wonders.

The fun wouldn’t stop after the four laps. We would then be doing a 4 minute run two times, while sustaining a mildly difficult heart rate. The heart rate was to determine what heart rate is just under each person’s anarobic rate. I can explain all of this in another post, but for now, just bare with me 🙂

At this point, I felt like my heart was already beating at it’s highest rate because I was so nervous. So much running!

I set my jaw and thought about my new arsenal of information on reducing the strain on my ankle by landing my foot directly below my hip, and I decided that with my miracle shoes and that piece of knowledge I would get through just fine. I hoped.

The march was great. I had a max heart rate of 154.

The run consisted of a warm-up lap. My max was 144. Then, an easy lap where I got my heart rate up to 155. On my medium lap, my max heart rate was 170 followed by 189 on my hard lap. By adding some numbers together and averaging it out, my maximum heard rate for the Heart Zones Training program was determined to be 220. Woohoo! I think. What does it mean, well, there is a chart that has heart rates broken down into 5 zones ranging from 1 – super easy, to 5 – being your highest anaraobic heart rate (when your breathing cannot keep up with your need of oxygen and you begin to pant or hyperventilate).

How did my tendons feel? They felt….okay. What? Really? Yes, they felt fine. I walked an extra lap to cool down and let the endorphins wear off so that I could assess the damage, and I felt tightness in my calf, but none of the pain that I usually feel.

When you feel tight after/during a run, that’s when your Tiger Tail or The Stick will come in handy. Just roll the device firmly over the tight area for about 30 seconds to one minute until it begins to loosen up. Then, you can usually go back to what you were doing with greater success.

I grabbed my trusty Tiger Tail and set to work on that tendon and some other calf muscles. I also find that rolling the muscle on the outside of the shin helps, too.

After I rolled, I got my intermediate heart rate number, 176, and set to run 4 minutes (approximately 1.5 laps at my pace) at that heart rate. The theory here is that I will learn to pace based on heart rate. I am so glad for this because I truly have no idea how to pace. As I learn more, I will share this gem of knowledge.

I found 176 to be a fairly comfortably challenging rate to maintain. After a 2 minute walk, all still felt fine, and I continued on the next 4 minute run at 176 beats per minute.

I rolled with the Tiger Tail after finishing the 2X 4 minutes of running, opted out of the optional one mile run at the end for the sake of being able to actually walk the next day and went home.

This morning, I woke up and stretched my foot and ankle. It felt good – a little tight, but overall functional. I laid in bed for a long time dreading actually stepping out onto my foot because that is usually when the pain erupts completely. Then, I finally did it. I put my left foot down, then my right foot. As I stood on my feet I realized, my feet felt fine! They felt okay! Still a little tight in the ankle, but holding weight and walking without a limp! Wow! Super! HAPPY DANCE!

My little miracle transition shoes had done it! I had done it! I ran about 1.5 miles without severe repercussions the next morning. I could like this running stuff. I really could! What’s more is my right knee didn’t hurt, either. Even better!