Getting Off on the Wrong Foot

When the next sound you hear after the alarm clock is a "squish", your day just got off on the wrong foot!

I was dead to the world when the alarm went off at 5AM this morning. In confusion, I stumbled from bed and staggered towards the bathroom, where I set the clock so that hitting “snooze” is impossible, unless my arms grow about 15 feet long. As I stepped into the bathroom and flipped the light switch in one motion, I realized, too late, that something was not right. A split second later, I stepped – barefoot – into a little gift left by one of our cats on the floor. Yech! I was still barely conscious as I cleaned my foot and dressed as quickly as I could, and then stepped out into a very cold morning. It was time to try my new running shoes!

My last pair is nearly 14 months old, has one marathon on them and who knows how many miles. They are tolerable for 4-5 mile runs but anything longer, I feel my legs and feet are taking a pounding. So I bit the bullet Sunday and bought an identical pair of New Balance running shoes, plus orthotic inserts - $175!

I had not trained all week, other than some cross training in the pool Monday. First, it was a very hectic week, including some TNT events, such as speaking at Summer Team Kick-Off as a patient honoree. It looks like another great team! But a bigger factor than a hectic week was the pain in my quads, especially my left quad, since our hilly and long training in Charlottesville last Saturday. For several days, one area hurt enough that I thought I had an injury, but the pain has subsided and I think it is just from overuse.

The four miler at 5AM was fine. I had some soreness start to creep in, and took it easy with the running portion, only running for about 15 minutes of it. It was so cold though. My face was freezing. At one point I took my glove off and held my nose as I walked, as I felt like I was getting frostbite!

I hated to miss so much training this week – 5 miles Tuesday and 8 miles Wednesday. The male part of me wanted to do it. The sensible part of me said to take it easy. Sensible won out (this time). Now I must talk to my coaches Saturday and see how many of the 16 scheduled miles they recommend given that I missed so much training this week.

As to the shoes, they feel so much more supportive but I need to break them in. After 4 miles, I had a little sore area on the top of the second toe of each foot, so my long training Saturday will have to be in my old shoes.