Hill Work on the Treadmill

Today's run/walk assignment on the treadmill was since incline work, including 1 mile at 1%, another at 2%, and the last running mile at 2.5%, with some warm-up, walk breaks, and cool-down factored in. All told, I was supposed to "travel" 4.25 miles on the treadmill. The incline, I think, really did a number on my achy right toe bridge, and I ended up calling it a workout at 3.75 miles in 60:35 minutes. I felt a little bit wimpy for stopping, but I decided to do it anyway. I took some aspirin when I got home, and my toes felt better. :)

I'm still saving for custom orthotics, but that's been a little more challenging than I expected. At worst, come January, I'll have a fresh pot of pre-tax money on my HSA card through work, and can get the custom orthotics then. Of course, that will be after my half marathon. Then there's the concern, that even with the high cost, that they won't alleviate the toe bridge pain.

Another option I'm considering is that perhaps I should stick to shorter distances, and just work on getting faster on the 5K and neighboring distances, after I've completed the half marathon I've signed up for. I definitely don't want to throw in the towel on running, but I'm definitely frustrated by the physical pain it's causing.





Clipart from http://www.cksinfo.com/people/bodyparts/legs/index.html