May: Feet

   Make amends to your feet. They have been neglected, downright ignored. You entomb them in expensive, highly cushioned running shoes as if to shut them up. And yet injuries related to your knees, hips, and lower back can often be traced to your feet. With each step they catch several times your weight on landing and then fluidly and gracefully launch you into the next step.

   This movement - innate, complex - puts stress on many parts of your trotters. After all, one-fourth of your body's bones are in your feet. The hoists and ligaments that convey a runner down the uncertain path are subject to overuse injuries, especially the dreaded duo of itises: plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis. The former afflicts the thick band of tissue that stretches from toes to heel and is prone to tearing with overuse, resulting in inflammation (and fiery pain) at the heel. The Achilles tendon is the largest, thickest tendon in your body, running from your heel to your calf. When the sheath surrounding it becomes inflamed from overuse, it results in sharp pain in the narrow band of tissue at the back of your ankle. Quite often, it appears early in a workout, disappears, and then returns.

   A high weekly mileage is less likely to provoke overuse injuries than the accumulated demands within a workout: hill charges, interval training, or dramatic changes in terrain. lf the pain is sporadic and acute, the remedy is to dramatically scale back your workouts. Lie low for several weeks before you gradually begin pushing again. lf the pain is chronic, the remedy is to stop running. This is a shocker, of course, and the news gets worse: chronic overuse injuries take months, not weeks, to heal. A single workout can provoke the old demon in all its fury. During recovery, you'll want to switch to elliptical trainers, swimming, bicycling - anything except running.

   Aside from overuse injuries, your feet can aggravate myriad other types of pains throughout your body. When isolating the source, begin with your shoes. Perhaps it's time to try not only a new pair, but a new shoe store as well. Shop in the afternoon when your feet are fully engorged. Solicit the help of a salesperson who runs (a quick glance at his or her physique will tip you off). And mark down the date you buy your new pair in this log. Running shoes are only good for about 2OO miles. Calculate accordingly,

   Foot strength and balance exercises can eliminate all manner of pain in your workouts as well. There are dozens of them: pick up marbles or pencils with your toes, do multiple sets of walking down a staircase backward, run barefoot along a sand dune or a beach (trail running is good, too, but use shoes), put light weights on the tops of your feet and lift them, balance on one foot while standing on a mini-trampoline or a wobble board, and so forth. Almost any exertion that works the supporting muscles in your feet can ease pain. Remember that the stronger the foot, the stronger the runner.