I need more ice

So, for those of you who don’t know, I am currently training for the Rothman 8K in Philadelphia on Sunday, November 22.  This will be my second year doing this race; it went so well last year that I figured, why not give it another go? Plus, it is an excellent excuse to keep up with running and stay in shape… try to at least.

I had been following my training schedule pretty diligently up until about 2 weeks ago, when all hell broke loose and I lost focus. Anyway, I had been noticing that my shoes were fitting my feet kinda funny and causing some trouble in my feet and legs. But, I just chocked that up to me not training enough and not being used to running all the time.

This past Monday I decided to go for a 4 mile run on the canal path by my house ( according to my training that was supposed to be on Sunday… whatever training). My dad kept telling me that it would be better on my legs to run there because it’s pretty flat and not as hard as the asphalt around my neighborhood. So, I took him up on that idea and tried out the canal.

He was right, I felt a lot better running there, but after awhile it actually felt like the bones in my feet would smacking against the ground… not good. I kept on going though, because I wanted to finish the workout. I even went a little faster towards the end of the run because I wanted to push myself… MISTAKE! When I was through my knee felt terrible. I guess the impact from my feet smacking against the ground traveled up to my knee. I limped back to my car and put ice on it immediately after showering.

The next morning I was still limping, so I decided it was time to buy new shoes. But this time I wanted to go to a place that specialized in running shoes, that would know what type of shoes I needed for my unique feet ( I swear my left foot is a half size smaller than my right). My boyfriend’s mom had found a place in Haddonfield, NJ called… Haddonfield Running Company.

I knew from the moment I walked into the shop that it was going to be a good shopping experience, because the clerk was listening to Ryan Adams (awesome musician/Mayor of Crazy Town). He measured both of my feet and confirmed that the left is larger than the right (not my half a shoe size claim, but still pretty significant). He also had me walk back and forth a bit to see how my feet work. Apparently my arches flatten and my toes spread? That sounds pretty normal to me… right? Anyway, he brought out three pairs of shoes that were ideal for my foot type.

I ended up going with the Nike Bowerman Series…

That’s Bowerman there on the inside of my shoe. Apparently he is the creator of Nike… I just thought he was a cute little dude in my shoe.

One of the great things about these shoes is that they have extra eye wholes on the sides, so i can tighten the middle of my right shoe where I need it the most… cool huh?

I tested the shoes out today around my neighborhood with a 1.5 mile run. The shoes felt great… tones of cushion and support. However, my knee wasn’t ready to get back into running and is still a little sore . I need more ice!

I’m gonna try and take it easy for a bit because I don’t want to do any serious damage, especially with the race coming up so soon.

Alright, that’s it for now. Check back in and see how I do with the 8k!