Dr Marybeth Crane talks about chronic heel pain and the difference between plantar fasciitis (acute) and plantar fasciosis (chronic). Have a listen.....

Love the Shout out in the Dallas Morning News!

Thanks to the shout out from my friend and running peep Spareribs LaMothe in the Dallas Morning News Running Blog this morning. He made a few great points about injury management in his blog. The two best were to seek professional help early in the injury course. The faster you obtain a correct diagnosis, the sooner you will get better! The second point was to find a doctor who runs! As a sports medicine podiatrist who endulges in border-line crazy endurance sports, I speak your language and have a network of other doctors and therapists that are all on the same page!

If your doctor thinks that "LSD" is still a drug and not an acronym for "Long Slow Distance", maybe you need another doctor for your running injury!

Thanks again Spareribs! See you around Lake Grapevine!

Have a Plan. It’s not like you just wake up one morning and decide you want to do a triathlon. Or maybe you did and then realized you have no idea how to get ready for one! There are lots of on-line plans and relatively inexpensive coaching available. Having a plan is like having a recipe for success. Make a plan and stick to it!

Be Consistent. If you have ever jumped into a race very undertrained, the experience is not pleasant. You want your first triathlon to be an uplifting experience, not a painful blur. Stick to your training plan and be consistent with your workouts. After the first three weeks it gets a lot easier!

Review the Course. Knowing the course is very helpful in getting through rough spots in the race. You can anticipate the harder spots and know that the finish in near. Also, occasionally the course is not well marked and you can go awry. Knowing the course ahead of time is always a bonus if the going gets rough.

Watch Your Nutrition. Training for your first race is not the time to try a new diet or new foods. Consistent and normal good eating habits will ensure a stable stomach during the race. You don’t want to spend half the day in the porta-potty!

Sleep is Important. Training is taxing on the body and the mind. Getting plenty of rest will help your body recharge and be ready for the race. The sleep you get two nights before is more important than the night before, so if you have pre-race jitters and don’t sleep well….no fear if you have adequate rest in the weeks before.

Pack the Night Before. And use a List! I always set out my transition and all my gear the night before. The morning of the race is always full of chaos and usually starts a 5am, so packing your bag the night before using a checklist will ensure you have necessary tools like goggles and sunglasses!

Visualize Success. Get a mental image of yourself not only crossing the finish line, but being happy with your finish. Your body tends to follow your mind.

Pace Yourself. Many newbies go out way too fast on the swim or start to hammer the bike, only to find themselves walking the run. Pace yourself. The first one is about finishing standing up!

Don’t Freak Out! Janet can tell stories about panicking on the swim. I can tell stories about crashing on the bike. Neither one of us has ever had a flat tire in a race, but we’ve seen enough of them! Relax. Things happen. Your goggles can fall off, you can crash your bike, and you can forget to put sock on with your running shoes.

Relax and Execute Your Race. We have all had stuff happen that didn’t fall into our “perfect race” plan. Go to plan “B”!

Have Fun. Don’t be so serious about the challenge that you don’t enjoy the day. I remember finishing my first sprint triathlon after years of marathon running and feeling. “Wow! That was fun!” Let’s face it, most of us won’t win our first time out, so our reward is the sense of accomplishment (and the beer at the finish!)

Hopefully these tips will help any newbies and all the staff in my office who are training for their first tri! You will get addicted! Triathlon gets in your blood and you will be hooked!

DRC Half Marathon Results

Congrats to all the runners...over 5000! Wow! What a huge race for Dallas and a beautiful morning. It was 55 or so at the start and warmed up to 76 at the finish. HOT!!! and Hilly!!  Lots of great times were run (I unfortunately was not one of them) and the post-race parties in the tents were fun! Nice showing from the Lake Grapevine Runners and Walkers as well as the Dallas Athletes (most of which did a tri last weekend).

My peeps all ran well with Tim Jacobs leading the way with a 1:35, Heather Wallace blasted by me at 8 miles and finished in 1:45, I personally bonked at 8 miles, but held on to a 1:48 (but at least it was a minute faster than last year and 19th out of 329 in my age group...not a terrible showing) and Steve Buksh rounded out the crew with a 1:50. Special guest appearance by an old friend, Dan Banse at 1:51. Dan and I suffered from the same disease....going out too fast and having unrealistic expectations!

This was a good building block for the marathon next month...watch out White Rock here we all come! And hopefully will be smarter from our bonk today!