Can running help heal Plantar Fasciitis?

PF stands for Plantar Fasciitis, but in my opinion it should just be called "Pain in the Foot" because that's really what it is, just an annoying pain in the foot that won't go away for months. I hope you never have it, but if you do, here are some helpful tips and suggestions to help you heal and get better soon!

How did I get it?

It is relatively easy to self diagnose plantar fasciitis. If after reading common symptoms, you feel like "that's exactly what I have!", then you most likely have plantar fasciitis: "stabbing pain (in the foot) that usually occurs with your very first steps in the morning. Once your foot limbers up, the pain of plantar fasciitis normally decreases, but it may return after long periods of standing or after getting up from a seated position."

For me one of my burning questions was how did I get it? and how do I prevent from making it worse and prevent from getting it again after healing? I'm not exactly sure how I got it, but I know it got noticeably worse after returning from a 2 week vacation. I am a frequent runner. I run 4-6 days a week and I try very hard to not go over 3 days without running. In this last vacation I went 7 days without running. I think I had symptoms before my vacation, I just did not realize that it was plantar fasciitis because I never had it before. Upon returning from vacation as I attempted to get back to my normal running routine, it was pretty evident I had plantar fasciitis. I only had it on my right foot, but I've heard is possible to get it on both feet at the same time (ouch!).

What I tried?

The first thing I tried based on the fact that running is a common cause of plantar fasciitis was to stop running for a few days. That didn't help, and in fact it seemed to make it worse. When I told a runner friend about my problem, he told me he had it before and that I needed to do stretching exercises to strengthen my fascia. I think I tried almost everything that was suggested to me. From my experience the first step is to get the pain under control, then focus on what will heal you in the long term. Here is a summary of the things I tried and that helped me the most:

• Icing
• This was one of the recommendations from my orthopedist and also from a fellow runner that went through this. Icing helps specially with relief. I learned that you don't necessarily have to do it right after running, you can do it at the end of the day, but you should do it at least 5 to 20 minutes per day.
• Ibuprofen
• Pain killers are a must for relief. Usually 1-2 per day was enough for me, but the goal is gradually wean off from taking them, so that you know the pain is going away because you're healing. Keeping a log can help you track improvement (e.g. level of discomfort and whether you took pain killers that day).
• Heel cups
• I was a bit skeptic about this, but a runner friend recommended it as well as my orthopedist. I was specifically recommended these ones by Dr. Scholl's Pain Relief Orthotics for Heel. You can find them at Target and most pharmacy stores and easily identify them by the "Plantar Fasciitis" label on them. I ended up buying 2-3 pairs and just putting them on the shoes I wore the most. My friend recommended me using them on my running shoes as well, which I tried, but abandoned after a few days as it felt awkward while running.

• Peppermint oil
• This was probably the most unconventional thing I tried from "typical" PF remedies. Specifically I tried Doterra oils. They have a product call Deepblue which is special for muscular pain relief, but the most effective for relief for me was a mix of their peppermint oil with lavender oil (one drop of each mixed with fractionated coconut oil).
• Stretching exercises.
• This helped me heal the most, although not immediately. The stretch exercise I would recommend the most is stretching your calf by leaning towards a wall or post. This is an exercise you should be doing as a runner anyway, both before and after running, but you can also do this throughout the day. The other 2 exercises I recommend are shown on this picture: pulling your toes towards you and picking up a towel with your toes.

• Foot Rolling exercises
• I first tried a foot massage roller, however I wouldn't recommend buying one unless you already have one. Instead what worked best for me was putting a bottle of water on the freezer, and then use that for rolling your foot. This way you kill two birds with one stone: you are effectively icing while rolling your foot at the same time!

• Night splint
• I was hesitant to try this, but my orthopedist recommended it. What the night splint helps with is to keep your feet from stretching over night which is what triggers the morning pain. The night splint keeps your foot at a 90 degree angle which is extremely hard to maintain consciously once you fall asleep. Using the splint can be very uncomfortable at first, but you will gradually get used to it. The Futuro Night Plantar Fasciitis is what I used.

• Reduce pace/long distance running
• This should be an obvious one, but "your mileage may vary" on this one. For me this meant going from a 9 min/mi pace to about 10 min/mi and from 30+ miles/week to 20+ miles/week. The great news is that I didn't have to stop running altogether and in fact going multiple days without running seemed to make things worse. This also meant that I had to compromise from running my fifth consecutive Pittsburgh Full Marathon. I could have probably done it, but did not want to risk getting worse and opted for running the Half Marathon instead, which ended up being a wise decision.
• See a doctor (specially if you are not getting better)
• When I reached out to my primary doctor he sent me a list of exercises to try first and asked me to visit him if I didn't get better. Since I wasn't getting better I decided to see an orthopedist in my area. The orthopedist did an x-ray to rule out I did not have a bone fracture, which I didn't. Other than that, there was not much value in seeing the doctor. He did not even asked how I got it. I had to volunteer the fact that I was a runner and even then he did not ask how much/frequent I ran. His estimate is that it would take me 2 months to heal, he was off by 3 months, but I did follow on a couple of his recommendations (night splint and icing/stretching more frequently), which eventually helped.

• Try changing running shoes
• After not getting better, I tried this suggestion and went into a running store for a shoe fitting, which I had never done before. This turned out to be a great suggestion. If you've read some of my earlier posts you'll find out that I'm a big proponent of minimalist running shoes. For the past few years I've been running with the same model of running shoes: Nike Free 3.0 (different generations of the 3.0 model), which are almost zero drop minimalist shoes from Nike. I tried multiple shoes and the ones that fit the best by far were the Mizuno Wave Rider 18. These shoes have a much ticker sole that I would have ever considered, but they have much better support and really liked how they feel when running and still use them even after healing.
• (Lots of) Patience and keeping a log
• Be (very) patient. There are days in which you feel you're doing better and then for no obvious reason you start feeling worse again. That's what bothered me the most about this. I could take a couple days of rest and not feel any better. I also went for a few long runs an felt great. Sometimes there was no obvious correlation into how I felt and what I tried. I think keeping a daily log would have helped. In this log you should track how you felt that day, whether you took pain killers how much you ran and any activities (other than running) you performed. There could be a lot of variation from day to day, but the goal is to feel better each week while still doing some activity and reducing the amount of pain killers you take.

How can you tell you're getting better?

Another burning question was how to tell I was actually getting better and whether I would ever get back to "normal". Healing completely takes time, in most cases months. In my case it was about 6 months before I could say I was back to normal. But by month 4, I could say I was mostly healed, i.e. the pain and discomfort was mostly gone, but I could still occasionally feel discomfort and mild pain which was concerning as I was afraid to get worse again. Keeping a running log certainly helps. In my case I use the Nike Running app. During my healing months (Jan-Apr) I was still able to get around 100 miles on average, which is pretty good, but I had to compromise on pace. My average pace gradually improved getting back to normal by April:

• Jan: 9'59", Feb: 9'54", Mar: 9'24", Apr: 9'01", May: 9'03"

The pain was not completely gone by April. I still remember feeling some discomfort in June when walking barefoot. But by July/August I don't remember having any bad days. For me the ultimate proof that I was healed was to be able to run a marathon again without any pain, which I was able to do on August 28th in Mexico City!

Can running really heal plantar fasciitis? 

Running by itself won't heal you, but it can definitely help heal as long as your don't over do it (by running too much or too fast) and I have empirical evidence to support this. The key to healing PF is by strengthening the fascia. Stretching exercises will help the most with this. This is what is most contradictory about PF. Resting is typically needed to heal muscle injuries. With PF resting too much can actually make the pain worse and resting on its own won't help you heal. Running can be a way to strengthen the fascia, as long as you don't over do it and do it properly (i.e. with a good running form, appropriate running shoes, etc.). Because healing can usually take months, you need to be VERY patient. Do not feel discouraged if you are not improving immediately. The pain and discomfort will eventually go away. Learn to listen to your body and you will gradually learn what can help you the most!

Why would anybody want to run an ultramarathon?

This Saturday I ran my first Ultramarathon, the Lt. JC Stone 50K Ultramarathon. I did it mostly out of curiosity. I had ran 2 marathons before and I wanted to see if I could run a longer distance. I chose the JC Stone ultra because it is one of the shorter distances for an ultramarathon (50K) and because it is 6 laps around the North Park lake in Wexford, PA, a course I'm very familiar with. This was a very low ceremonial race compared to your typical city marathon. The park is not closed to the public, so you run along with walkers, runners and bikers that regularly visit the park. Other than the bibs, it was very hard to tell apart the 85 runners in the race. There were 77 finishers this year. It was incredibly difficult for me, specially the last 2 laps.

Most people think running a Marathon is crazy, running anything longer is insane. The reaction I got from some friends is that I was nuts. Why would anybody want to run such a distance? That got me thinking... and my answer to them is: because I can. Because I am blessed with 2 healthy legs. Why wouldn't I? More importantly... why wouldn't you? It is definitely a daunting and challenging task. I could say it took me over 3 years of training. I had been running 5k and 10k races for years. However I had not run anything longer than 10K until less than 3 years ago. I ran my first half marathon in 2011, followed by first marathon in 2012 and my second in 2013. It does take training, dedication, persistence and a lot of will, but I'm convinced that if you have 2 healthy legs, you can do it too.

The 1st place Ben, finished in 3:17 and arrived almost a full lap before the 2nd place. Hats off to them! I do think they are in a gifted group of elite runners that has a unique talent that not anybody can develop. But when it comes to ordinary people, average runners like you and me, I am convinced that you can do it too. This race had a very unique set of runners, probably more so than any other race I have been to. To give you a sample of such average runners I'd like to share, what in my record book are the winners of this race:

3rd Place: Gerald with a finish time of 6:29. Gerald is only 71 years young! Enough said! Who wouldn't want to grow old like him? Of course, you may argue he has probably done this all his life. I do not know his background, but that is partially true, he actually finish this same race in 2013, 2012 and in 2011!

2nd place: Anthony with a finish time of 5:59. Anthony is only 17 years old! He finished right behind me, I didn't even see him closing in, otherwise I would have gladly conceded my finishing spot. You may argue that's easy for him because he is young and full life. But consider the irony in this, unless he is turning 18 by May 4th he is not allowed to participate in the Pittsburgh Marathon or most any other city Marathon! The minimum required age to participate is 18, how ironic. Congrats Anthony on a great race!

1st place: Tom with a finish time of 6:49. Tom proves my point that anybody can run this distance. Tom did not even run with what one would call "proper" running clothes. He was wearing a cotton shirt, regular shorts and his shoes don't even look like running shoes to me. I saw him running around the park, but I did not see his bib and I had no idea he was running this race. He also gets bonus points for being overweight. I have been overweight most of my life. I once got injured when I tried to run 10K while I was "severely obese" based on my BMI. I gave up running that distance for about 5 years and my advice to anyone with BMI over 30 points would be to stick to shorter distances (e.g. 5K). I have no idea what Tom's BMI is, but he has prove that I was completely wrong. Being overweight may be a deterrent to run long distances, but it's clearly possible to do it. Kudos to Tom for finishing this race!

My ChiRunning Quick Start Guide

Achieving a good ChiRunning technique is a gradual process and from personal experience it can take time and a lot of practice. However I also think there are some key principles that can show immediate results. My intent of this blog is not to oversimplify ChiRunning, but merely provide a quick start guide for those who are new to this technique and also share what has worked for me.

I discovered the ChiRunning book thanks to a “Customers Who Bought This Also Bought” recommendation from Amazon.com after reading the “Born to Run” book. I started improving my running technique after reading “Born To Run”, primarily from switching from a heel strike into a forefoot strike. I was also more aware of my running posture and was able to run farther distances (went from 6 miles to 10+ miles). I was ready for a more structured technique and ChiRunning was a natural fit for this transition.

I started reading ChiRunning on May 2011. This was shortly after I ran my first half Marathon. My experience running my first half was mostly good. I really enjoyed it and I felt mostly good after finishing it. I exceeded my expectations of finishing at 2:10 which was just under my average pace of 10 minutes/mile. However even though I did not immediately notice it, I had injured my left foot most likely from a bad step. After running the half I was able to run fine up to 3 miles, but the pain reappeared above this distance and it took close to 4 weeks before I was able to comfortably run longer distances again. It was obvious that I still had much room to improve my technique and the timing could have not been any better for discovering the ChiRunning book.

The benefits were not immediate for me. Most of the techniques made perfect sense in writing, but in practice it was hard to tell if I was on the right track. Some techniques were hard to follow just by seeing pictures and I felt overwhelmed by how many different things I had to become aware of. My reaction at that point is that it could not be natural to run that way if there were so many things to remember. I was skeptical, but at the same time I was seeing marginal improvement. One of my first surprises was that at times when I felt that I was running slow, after checking my pace (on my phone) I found out I was actually running faster. I was very impressed by that. Because I was using less effort I felt I was running slower, but in fact it was the opposite. And this is due to one of the principles of this technique: to run more efficiently.

I then decided to buy the ChiRunningDVD. This made a huge difference because it is much better to see the techniques applied in practice. There are several YouTube videos out there, some from Danny Dreyer and others from ChiRunning instructors. If you don’t want to buy the DVD, I certainly encourage you to watch these videos. While I was making progress I still felt there was much more to unlock. In particular I wanted to get feedback from someone that had already mastered ChiRunning. I decided to sign up for a ChiRunning Workshop with Danny Dreyer on August 2011 and it was a major breakthrough for me. The most encouraging part was to receive feedback that I was on the right track. The workshop was worth every penny, I encourage everyone that feels stuck to give this a try.

On May 2012 I ran my first Marathon. I could have not done it without ChiRunning. Even though I used a beginner marathon training program I would have not been able to run 6+ miles a couple days after running 20 miles. My recovery time between runs decreased significantly and I did not have to interrupt my training due to running injuries. I finished my first marathon just under 5 hours. This was a good time for me considering that I am over weight and this was my first time ever running this far (the longest I had run during training was 21 miles). After finishing my training, I was convinced that I could finish the marathon. The biggest test for me that ChiRunning works would be to be able to run comfortably a few days after the Marathon. I ran the Marathon on a Sunday. I rested for 2 days and on Wednesday I felt like I was ready to run again so I went for a 3 mile run and I did it comfortably and confirmed I had no injuries.

I know a still have a lot to improve. Even Danny Dreyer on his ChiMarathon book points out that he is still mastering his technique. If someone asks me what has worked for me and I only had 10 minutes to do so, these are the 10 steps I would share:

1.  Stand up straight, as tall as you can, as your grandma used to tell you.

2. While maintaining your straight posture lean forward slightly without bending at the hip. The hard part is to lean forward without bending. This is one of those ‘aha’ moments when you first do it, you will fall unless you move your feet forward. This is why some people call it ChiFalling. If you are having difficulties doing this, watch the DVD. We had a lot of practice doing this at the workshop, and it’s usually not hard for people to get this part. One of the tips we got at the workshop is that the lean is very small. They asked a partner to put a had one inch apart from your forehead, that is how much you need to lean forward (except for higher gears). The lean is a key principle of ChiRunning, by letting gravity do more work for you, you’re reducing effort required to run. The amazing part is that this works even going up the hills, just to a lesser extent.

3. Relax your lower legs. Imagine you are numb from the knees downward. You use your feet only to support you while running. The strength comes from your ‘core’: the lower abdomen and upper leg muscles. This was one of the less intuitive parts for me. For years we have been trained to do ‘power running’, i.e. to use your legs as much as possible to propel you. One tip that has helped me changed this is to focus on lifting your feet backward, as opposed to pushing them forward. I strongly think this is one of the key aspects for reducing injuries, if you are able to effectively reduce tension in your lower legs you will reduce impact on your feet and knees.

4. Run with short and fast strides. This is a key principle of ChiRunning and key for long distance running. Shorter strides reduce the risk of injuries. Think about going downhill on a trail, are you more likely to run if running with long strides compared to running with short strides? By running with short and quick strides you are shifting effort from your lower legs to your core.

5. Run with a midfoot strike. There is a never ending debate about what is better for running: heel, midfoot or forefoot strike? There is an overall consensus that forefoot and midfoot is better than heel strike. ChiRunning advocates for midfoot strike. I mentioned earlier that prior to Chi Running I had shifted from heel strike to forefoot strike. I have gradually shifted to a midfoot strike. One of the risks of landing on your toes (forefoot) is that you could over time, injure your calves. There are several runners that claim to run injury free as heel strikers. From my own experience the key thing to watch for is where your feet lands. If your feet are landing ahead of you, you are effectively landing against your center of gravity and thus creating a force against you that will be absorbed by your feet, knees, hip or even your back. The goal is for your feet to land directly below or slightly behind you. It feels more natural to land with your midfoot or forefoot below you than to land with your heel.

6. Maintain a cadence. This is one of the key pillars from ChiRunning. I ignored this for too long, mainly because I did not want to run with a metronome. Since I already run with my phone, I discovered that there are good cadence applications out there. You can also download MP3 files with the beats recorded for different intervals. I set my metronome at 90 bpm (beats per minute). As the book says most people run at 80 bpm or lower. I thought I was already running at a higher cadence but running with the metronome made me realize I was running at 80bpm and that it is not trivial to get from 80 to 90. It took me a while to get there and I still use the metronome from time to time. Something I noticed on long distance runs after becoming tired I would often lose my cadence. The book goes into great detail about to why cadence is important, but it boils down to energy optimization. Even at difference speed you want to maintain your cadence, the only thing that changes is your stride length. If you’re going up a hill you still maintain your cadence but your stride length is much shorter. This principle is also practiced in cycling.

7. Listen to your body. This is another important technique from ChiRunning. One of the best ways to prevent injuries is to pay more attention to your body. Unfortunately this isn’t something that you can be coached on. You are your best coach on this. Someone can tell you things to avoid but at the end of the day it is you feeling the impact of your steps as well as any potential repetitive injuries developing. Running injuries are usually not felt immediately. They ‘suddenly’ appear the day after running. It turns out, that is not entirely true, injuries are usually felt as they are developing we just need to pay more attention to our bodies. To begin with, avoid running with a “no pain, no gain” mindset. Pain while running means you are doing something wrong. Next time you are feeling the slightest bit of pain while running pay attention to what you are doing wrong. Are your lower legs relaxed? Are you bending at the hip? Are you stomping with your feet? Is your stride too long? Something that helped me improve my body awareness was to drop the headphones. It made a huge difference for me. Music can certainly motivate you, but I encourage you to try running without headphones. You will not only become more aware of your body, but of your surroundings as well.

8. Breathe more and deeply. This is very important and I don’t mean to diminish its importance here. There are several techniques described in the book. One that comes to mind is belly breathing. It is extremely important to empty your lungs. But the most important aspect is to remember to do it. Yes, we often forget to breathe at the right rhythm, so definitely pay attention to doing more of this.

9. Try barefoot running. ChiRunning is a barefoot-like running technique, but the best part of it is that you can do ChiRunning with or without shoes. Running barefoot is hard and it takes time to get used to. I definitely encourage you to try it once on a very short distance (100 yards). You should immediately feel what a difference in posture. That posture is your natural posture to run. Your ChiRunning posture should feel very similar to that. I have tried running with barefoot running shoes (Vibram FiveFingers Bikila). I still sometimes alternate between normal shoes and the VFF, but to date I still can’t comfortably run over 6 miles with the VFF and it took me several weeks to run comfortably under 6 miles. For longer distances I prefer the NikeFree 3.0. These are flexible shoes with some cushioning but relatively small heel (close to zero drop).

10. Practice your focuses. I learned that ChiRunning is like having a Swiss Army knife. I now see it as a tool set at my disposal to try when I feel I can’t go on longer on my runs. When you feel like that, go over your list of focuses, which one are you not doing? The great thing about ChiRunning is that you can still benefit even if you are still only doing 2-3 of the focuses, but the more you can do at the same time the greater benefit you will see.

I can now proudly say that I am a ChiRunner and I have run injury free for over 16 months.

Finding your inner power song

For many years I've run listening to music. I had running playlists that I used over and over again. I even had certain 'power songs' timed so that they would play halfway and towards the end of my 5K runs. I felt I had to run with my headphones on to get that extra burst of motivation when running out of fuel.
I had noticed in the information booklets for some races that they 'discouraged' the use of headphones and thought that was pointless to ask since so many runners run listening to music.

Then one day something incredible happened that made me stop running with headphones on. It happened while running the 2011 Pittsburgh Half Marathon. At the beginning of the race it was mildly raining, more like a breeze that actually made it very refreshing to run. The combination of sweat and breeze made my headphones malfunction, which were obviously not sweat proof. I was tracking my run with the Nike+ application and this malfunction was causing my phone to constantly pause. After several restarts I got so annoyed that I just took my headphones off and continued running. I am really glad this happened, especially since this was my first time running a half marathon.

Up until that day, I had participated in may local 5Ks and 10Ks: the Race for the Cure, the Great Race, the Father's Day race and the Race for Virginia. Every time I had run in these events I was amazed as to how many runners and people in the sidelines would cheer for you and I felt very motivated when local bands played live music in some of these races, but I had never experienced anything like a Marathon crowd. Even though I was running only half marathon, in the Pittsburgh Marathon like in many others, the half marathon runners start with the full marathon runners, so for the first half you're the same pack and the finish line it's the same for all, so nobody cares if you're running half or full, everyone cheers equally for you. It was truly one of the best experiences in my life. Danny Dreyer could not have described it better on his Chi Marathon book: "Like an art museum or a symphony, a marathon is a great place to go when you want to feel good about the potential of the human race. Whether you cheer a friend on from the sidelines, volunteer at an aid station, or run the event yourself, you get to witness and experience a side of humankind that is both elemental and exalted".

This malfunction could have not happened at a better time. After I took my headphones off, I realized I was missing out on half the fun and the experience. Ever since then, I have run without music and I've enjoyed running much more, especially when running outdoors. It has also allowed me to improved my body awareness which is extremely important to avoid injuries. I'm not opposed to running with music on, for a long time I felt they were complementary and if it helps make your run more enjoyable, by all means continue to do it. But I also urge you to give it a try just once, run without headphones, especially when running a race, you will not regret it and it may help you find your 'inner power song'.

My training schedule for the Pittsburgh Marathon 2012

There are 16 weeks remaining for the Pittsburgh Marathon. If you haven't started training, now it's a good time to start. I am using a program from 'The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer', even though I run regularly, this is my first marathon and this training program is very conservative. The program trains you to finish the marathon with no specific pace goal. My goal is exactly that, to finish the marathon without a target time. My only pace goal is to adhere to the mile markers for this marathon which I believe require you finishing the marathon within 6 hours. This training program has you running 4 days per week, with one long run per week.

Since I have already started training at 40 km/week since January, my plan is to exceed the weekly goals for the first 7 weeks and start adhering to the program on week 6.The biggest challenge for me will be the long runs since the farthest I've ever ran is 21.5km. This is my first marathon attempt so it is the first time I'm using this program, I can't vouch for it yet. What do you think of it? Any suggestions?

Warning: if you read this book, you will not be able to stop running

For the past few years, I've been a regular '3 mile' runner. Since 2003 I have regularly participated in 2 to 4 local 5k races throughout the year and train in between races by running 3 miles about 3 times a week on average. I'm not a fast runner by any means, my average pace is around 6 min per km (10 mins per mile) and I was not a long distance runner. I ran my first 10k race time in 2004. I tried again in 2005 and even though I was able to finish, I had a pulled muscle injury that took me several weeks to recover. I attributed my injury to being overweight. At 200lb I am more than 30% above my ideal weight. After that injury, I decided to stick to 5k runs until I could lose some weight. In 2010 I had only managed to lose a few pounds, but I decided to try running 10k again and I was able to finish without any injuries again.

Then in 2011 I had a major breakthrough. Early in January I read Born to run by Chris McDougall. Even before midway through the book my running improved significantly. I discovered that even though my weight was a limiting factor, my running form had an even bigger limiting impact.

Before reading this book, I had never paid attention to my running form. I did not even know I was a heel striker. When I was in high school I was on the track and field team and I was taught techniques to run fast, essentially how to do 'power running', but I was never taught techniques to run long distances. After reading 'Born to run', I tried changing my stride to a forefoot strike and slightly bending my knees while running. I was surprised at the results. I was not only able to run longer distances, but also able to run frequently without feeling injured.

I also learned that the high heel on typical running shoes was encouraging me to land more on my heel which was likely the source of most of my injuries. I found a pair of Nike Free 3.0 on sale and gave them a try and absolutely loved them.

Unfortunately Nike hasn't learned their lesson and the latest Nike Free Run+ 2 shoes have a really thick heel. I also tried the Vibram FiveFingers Bikila. Those require more time getting used to. At first, I did not think I would be able to run over 5k, now I can comfortably run distances under 10k and I loved them. I feel it strengthen my foot muscles, but I still prefer the Nike Free for longer distances so I keep alternating between them.

Within 4 months after starting reading the book my improvement was remarkable, I had ran a cumulative of over 500km and my longest distance went from 10km to close to 20km. I was ready to run my first half marathon which I did on May 15, 2011 in Pittsburgh.

I didn't expect to be able to maintain my average pace throughout the run, but I did and I probably pushed myself a bit hard since I did have a injury on my right foot which took a couple weeks to recover from. But despite this I really enjoyed the experience and by the end of 2011 I had ran 1,670km which is twice as much what I ran on 2010. I am currently registered and training to run my first marathon in 2012. Happy running everyone!