Saturday, April 2, 2011

Week in Review: Training Week 10

When I typed the title of this post, I had to double-check my schedule to be certain that Week 10 was correct. How in the heck did it get to be week 10 already?? Keerazy!

This week was difficult, I'll be honest. My blasted ankle hurt most of the beginning of the week and then I had a minor cold/allergies/sinus B.S. towards the end of the week. I salvaged the week as best I could, but it wasn't pretty.
  • Sunday: I did absolutely nothing. My foot/ankle hurt so badly, I spent as much time of my feet as I could and kept it iced. Oh, and stupid KU lost to VCU. That was a bad day all around.
  • Monday: Supposed to have been a 5-mile run, but thanks to my ANKLE I skipped it. Plus, the Hubsters schedule that day and Tuesday was pretty tight, making any evening run near impossible.
  • Tuesday: A little stretching and leg/glute workout. Trying to build strength and flexibility and responsiveness to help my ankle as much as possible.
  • Wednesday: 5 mile run, 56ish minutes, 11:11 pace--The time is a total guess, as I forgot to set my watch and the time-keeper finished before I did. So, I met the girls for a 5:30 am run, and it was great. A bigger group than last time, which is fine because it allowed me to go at my own pace and not have to have a conversation with anyone. Oh, and this was the first day my foot didn't hurt AND I wore different shoes, my old, first-pair-ever Sauconys. Since my feet felt fine throughout the run and after, it pretty much solidified the suspicion that my Brooks were doing me in. More on that later...
  • Thursday: I started feeling stuffy/sick in the morning, but I decided to run by the shoe store after work to see about a new pair of kicks. By the time I got home, I was feeling like death warmed over. I had enough energy to ingest some tomato soup, rye toast and Theraflu, and I hit the hay about 8:30. Needless to say, there was no exercising that day, unless you count the .5 mile I did on the 'mill to test the new shoes.
  • Friday: 9 miles, 1:41:25, 11:16 pace--I went into Friday knowing I needed to do my long run that day if I hoped to do it at all. I'd been talked into running a leg of a local relay on Sunday, and I knew I couldn't (shouldn't) run 9 miles one day and 5 the next. So, I knew Friday's weather was going to be nice, I had my new shoes, my foot was feeling good, I wasn't feeling as sick as I'd felt Thursday night, so I brought my running gear with me to work in anticipation of an evening run. Thankfully the stars aligned and it all fell into place. Managed to get out of work a little early, the weather was PERFECT, I had my water bottle, sports beans, mapped route and new shoes. It was truly a LONG RUN. I was feeling it at the end, for sure. But damn, it felt good to run 9 miles in one stretch! What an accomplishment for me! And honestly, I'm pleased with my time. I did walk a couple of times to get out my sports beans and chomp those--I can't seem to run and fiddle with my fanny pack (hee) at the same time--and I didn't stop my watch at every short break for traffic. So, I'm not complaining. Well, I am a little. The ball of my right foot was cramping by the end, but maybe that's normal? Maybe it's my new shoes? Goodness, I'm so tired of shoe issues. Anyway, all in all a good run. And as an aside, is Nestle Quik and milk the best recovery drink or what? Man. That stuff HITS. THE. SPOT.
About the shoes: So, on Sunday, the family all trekked out to Famous Footwear to see if I could snag a decent pair of shoes at a reasonable price since I had a few coupons. I knew the odds were low--even though my first pair of Sauconys were from there, I'd never been able to find another pair of good shoes there, and especially so now that I had an injury. But sometimes budgets trump common sense. You know? Anyway, I found a pair of Sauconys that I thought would work. They didn't feel as sturdy as I'd hoped but the price was right and they were comfy enough.

As soon as I get home, buyer's remorse has set in. I KNEW buying desperation shoes was a bad idea, so I never really took them out of the box. I looked at them a few times. Tried them on once more and pretty much decided they needed to go back. So, back to square one. Meantime, my friend M has generously offered to mail me a pair of her old stability shoes in the chance they'd work. Bless her heart, she even sent them priority so they'd arrive on Wednesday. Unfortunately, they were too small and I couldn't have made them work for any long distances.

By now it's Thursday, and the Hubster has told me to stop worrying about the money aspect of the shoes and to get what I needed to keep my feet healthy and so that I could continue to enjoy running. Have I ever mentioned how awesome he is? If I haven't, then I should. Because he is. So, I head downtown to my LRS (local running store). They've seen me before, as I bought my last pair there and have been in numerous times for supplies and advice. I was happy to see my favorite clerk working, so I immediately knew I'd be taken care of.

I explained my situation and told her that I needed to keep costs low as I was under a tight budget. She analyzed my gait, said that I did have some slight pronation on that bad ankle and assured me she'd figure something out for me. She comes back with three pair: Asics, Nike and Saucony. Immediately I know I want the Sauconys to work. Not only are they my preferred brand, but they were ON SALE. If that isn't a sign, I don't know what is. Luckily for me, they fit the best of the three, were just the amount of stability I needed AND I got 10% off additionally for being part of the women's running group. Huzzah! I walked out spending only about $25 more than I had spent on the returned Famous Footwear shoes. And they were soooo much more comfortable.

I broke them in with a 9-mile run on Friday. My ankle felt awesome. The ball of my right foot did start cramping up around mile 8, but maybe I was landing funny? Or maybe my sock was weird? Ugh. I don't know. I hope it's just one of those random things, because freals--I'm tired of shoe issues. And maybe my feet are just getting used to knew shoes with more support and stability? That could part of the issue. Who knows. Let's just cross our fingers that all the wrinkles fall out eventually. I think they will. Things are only getting better from here!

(Golly, this post got ridiculously long. If you are still reading, gold star for you!)

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