As I sit here gathering my race stats information for my new Race Stats page, I noticed how significantly slower I’ve been running this season. And I think of some of the problems that I’ve had and I flashback to an appointment that I had with my podiatrist when I was having pain on the top of my foot. I remember boasting about how I went from 0 to 26.2 in a short amount of time and that I had planned on picking up speed this year. When I told him I did my first marathon in 4:56, he, who was also a runner, said to me “was it worth it?” And I looked at him. Then he proceeded to tell me that he rarely sees elite runners for pain and injuries because they were fast. He said that the runners he typically sees are slower runners because they spend more time on their feet. Fast runners spend less time on their feet and therefore have less injuries.

I wanted to punch him in the face. Continue reading →