The Beginning of the End?

In 2009 I ran more half marathons in one year than I ever have, that being six. One more than my previous high of five, reached in the years 2003, 2007 and 2008. Considering there aren’t any half marathons in Colorado in January or February, getting in six races, spaced out every couple of months, requires a trip to a warmer climate. I was fortunate enough to run a half in sunny southern California the last couple of years, in the early months.
This year looked just as good as any to either match my high of six 13.1 miles races or maybe even best it. Then a curve got thrown my way. The manufacturer of my favorite cushioned shoe, decided to tamper with the new model and I ended up with a shoe that could not support my arches. Even though I had my doubts about the shoe after putting a few miles on them, I tried making them work. I inserted the cushioned insert from my old shoes inside and all that seem to do was add a couple of inches to my height (which led to a couple of nose bleeds). When that didn’t help, I tried wearing two pairs of socks, one being extra cushiony. Confident that that was the solution, I wore the combination with the “defective” shoes during my first half marathon of the year, in Carlsbad, California in January. The socks didn’t help and I ended up beating the tar out of my arches.
So now I have tried another pair of cushioned shoes and they seemed better at first but still don’t provide the support my feet need. This series of unfortunate events led to me missing the registration cutoff for the second half I usually run in April. And due to the unknown state of both my feet and available shoes, it appears that not only is my attempt at running six or more half marathons this year in jeopardy, it’s possible that my running future is also in trouble. I tried to run ten miles Saturday on a soft treadmill but had to stop at four miles owing to the excruciating pain in my left arch. So is this the beginning of the end of my running career? Or is it until at least my feet truly heal and I also find a good pair of shoes?
I ran my first half-marathon in May of 2003 after getting a bit bored with 10K’s. It was just hard enough and fun enough that I have barely ran anything else in the last few years, other that the Bolder Boulder 10K, mostly out of tradition. I have absolutely no interest in running a full marathon, since I get both plenty of enjoyment and pain out of a 13.1 mile running event. The reality that I cannot race a half right now let alone train for one is discouraging to say the least. Being forced to rest probably isn’t the worst thing that could happen. Being able to prolong my running career might be. We’ll see…