Sigh

I haven't run since that 7 miles I did on Saturday, because my left foot is bothering me in that inner ankle area. It's a little swollen today. I had my last Phoresor treatment today so I'm hoping it will feel better tomorrow. I'm depressed because it's not looking good for running that half marathon on Sunday. If I couldn't handle 7 miles, then 13 is out of the question.

I ordered new shoes (Saucony Omnis) that will arrive tomorrow. They have more pronation control than any of the other many pairs of running shoes that I currently own. I'm hoping that will magically make it possible to do the half on Sunday. Yeah I know, don't run a race in shoes you haven't done a long run in. It's just the dreaming side of me that thinks I'll be doing the half. The realistic side of me - the depressed side - thinks I'll be sleeping in on Sunday and feeling a little mournful.

My house is filled with stacks of running shoes. I hope I get the chance to wear them all out some day.

Success

Ran 5.2 miles this morning and managed to stay on my feet the whole time. :) I'm going to call that a successful run!

Also, not even a hint of the ol' bunion bothering me. I was so busy trying to see if my swollen foot/ankle were feeling okay that I didn't even think about the bunion. Foot and ankle are fine, by the way. I have some swelling in my left foot and ankle which I think are from my tripping incident on Sunday.

Though now that I think about it, they were a little swollen on Saturday, too. Hmmm, I wonder if it's the new shoes. I sure hope not, because I don't want to trade one problem for another. We'll see how it goes.

Whining about the heat!

My zip code says I live in Michigan, but the temperature says I live in Hell. Okay, so that's pathetically whiny. I'm pretty glad these days that I converted myself into an early morning runner, because there's not much chance that I'd be able to motivate myself to head out after work into the blazing sun in 90+ degree heat. On days like this, I do understand why my friend Wendy embraces her treadmill. I admire the runners I saw on my way home this evening. They have tremendous dedication.

Did 4 1/4 miles again this morning and the miracle shoes were back to being miraculous. Bunion felt just fine. Wish there were some rhyme or reason to this, but I'll just be grateful for every pain-free run I have!

Hot, Hot, Hot

Captain Obvious here, pointing out that it is fricking hot today in the Detroit area and therefore this makes running more difficult. When the overnight low is 72, you know it's going to be a scorcher. Alas, I waited until 10am to start my run today because I wanted to sleep in and then be lazy. Well, I paid for it in sweat. Even my favorite hat couldn't keep the salty sweat from flooding into my eyes and stinging them.

But the important thing is that I ran anyway, instead of using the heat as an excuse to skip another day. I celebrated the 4th of July by taking the day off from running and eating all sorts of delicious and unhealthful foods. Found some vegetarian marshmallows so I had my first s'mores in 18 years and THEY WERE DELICIOUS! So worth every calorie. But today we're back to eating right and exercising.

Only ran 4 1/4 miles this morning, wearing the new miracle Saucony shoes. Only they weren't quite as miraculous today, since I was more aware of my bunion today than I was during my 10-miler on Saturday. Hmmm, what is the deal, feet? Why must you torture me so? Were my feet swollen because of the heat? Did my feet spread out yesterday because I was in delightful sandals all day instead of shoes? I don't know, but I did not approve of the bunion twinges this morning! We shall see how it goes tomorrow when I have another short run planned. Grrr!

New Shoes, part 2!

This morning I met David's cousin Shaina at a park and we did a 10 mile run. It was a fabulous run and I love running with Shaina.

I wore the new Sauconys again and I am feeling very encouraged. With my previous shoes, 10 miles would mean my bunion would be in agony. Today, though, things were great. I can't say I was completely unaware of my bunion's existence, but it was approximately a million times better than with my other shoes. Very, very happy! Let's hope this continues as I get into longer distances during marathon training.

Let the shoe experiments begin!

This morning I tried out my brand new Saucony Progrid Ride 2 shoes to see how they did with the ol' bunion of doom. Only ran 5 miles, so it's probably too early to get excited, but I'm feeling cautiously optimistic. Normally after 5 miles in the Adidas shoes, my bunion would be talking to me fairly loudly. But this morning, I was barely aware of it (other than the fact that I spent the whole run thinking "hey how is the bunion doing? Is my bunion going to start hurting soon? How about that bunion?").

Tomorrow will be a better test, as I plan to run 9-10 miles in the morning which is a distance that generally leaves my bunion feeling extremely tender and painful.

If anyone has any knowledge of good shoes for people with giant, gross bunions then I would love to hear about it!

New Shoes

I'm so excited because I have two new pairs of shoes arriving tomorrow. I have a honking huge bunion on my right foot. I will not provide photos because it is gross. Anyway, ever since Adidas changed the bunion area of my beloved Supernova Sequence shoes from mesh to leather, that darn bunion just kills me on runs of any decent distance because of the added pressure.

Sooo, I have two pairs of men's shoes arriving tomorrow from Amazon. They are both Saucony, two different models that I want to try out. I have an older pair of Sauconys that are no good for running anymore, but they are men's and therefore have a wider toe box and also have a mesh "bunion window" so they don't bug my bunion as much as the Adidas. They fit me well and I am really hopeful that at least one of these new shoes will work out well.

I don't expect to run totally pain free, but it would be nice if I didn't feel like chopping my toe off at the end of a half marathon. Especially considering I would like to run two marathons this fall! Wish me luck. :)

New Shoes

I went to the awesome local running shop (Hansons) today and talked to them about how flipping sore my feet were during the 20 mile run yesterday. I am now the owner of a pair of Saucony ProGrid Guide 2 shoes. I bought men's because I have big feet and they felt good.

I'll be doing 15 miles next Saturday so we'll see how the feet feel after that. I hope to God these help with the problem because otherwise I'm not sure how I'll manage 26.2.

Nine miles!

I ran nine miles on Saturday! NINE! I'm sorry to always gush like a dork, but I'm so amazed that I'm able to run that far. My progress so far has made me really happy. I would have thought nine miles would leave me feeling dead or at least super-sore the next day, but that is not the case.

Saturday's run was, as usual, a TNT group run. I enjoy our team very much. Everyone is so nice. Because I was pressed for time, I actually showed up early and got three miles in before the rest of the group showed up. Then I just had six more miles to do with the group. For the first time, I ran the whole six miles with someone else instead of dropping back and running by myself. This wasn't due to any improvement in my own speed, but because mentors Debbie and Sue took turns staying back with me and with team member Melanie, who has a dreadful cold and was having a hard time running. It kind of cracks me up that I'm the person everyone chooses to run with when they want to take it easy. It doesn't feel easy to me! :)

Now, about the shoes. I have these sweet new Adidas running shoes, with pink accents. So girly. Heh! I wore them for the aforementioned nine mile run and I think they're working out okay so far. It's hard to tell. My foot already hurt before I ran, so it still hurt after I ran. But I don't think it was any worse after running than it was before, which seems like progress. I guess time will tell.

I have a three mile run scheduled today so as soon as I can drag myself away from watching the Top Design marathon on Bravo, I'll head out and do that. I also need to go to the drugstore to pick up a prescription so maybe I'll actually combine this run with an errand. Crazy thought - running to do an errand instead of driving. How green of me - ha!

Ouch

Turns out that after Tuesday's six mile run, my foot was killing me. Ugh! It's very frustrating. My foot felt better on Wednesday so I did three miles after work. I totally skipped the four mile run that was planned for Thursday because I couldn't muster up the energy.

Today was a scheduled rest day so I didn't run again. After work, I went to Hanson's Running and bought a new pair of shoes. The sales guy told me that my current shoes had a high arch, so he put me in something that still has good stability but a bit lower arch and more cushioning. I'm scheduled to run nine miles with the team tomorrow morning, so we'll see how it goes. My foot is still a little sore from earlier this week so I'm not expecting miracles tomorrow, but I'll settle for less than serious pain!

Took a wee little break

First, I realized I forgot to post about Saturday's eight-mile group run. It was mostly good, except I walked about 1/4 mile of it and I always hate myself when I do unplanned walking. Yes, I do realize that I'm way too hard on myself!

Second, I have been having some foot pain for over a week. I think I need different shoes. It's just my right foot, on the inside of the foot surrounding the ankle. Very annoying!

One of my wise fitness forum friends suggested that I skip a short run this week, maybe just do some cross training and give my foot a break before I really mess it up. So I took her advice. Yesterday I went to the gym and did three miles on the elliptical trainer instead of doing the three-mile run that was on the schedule. Then today was a rest day, as previously planned. I must say my foot feels MUCH better now than it has for the past week.

Tomorrow after work I'll be doing a six-mile run, so we'll see how the foot is feeling after that. But I really must get myself some new shoes pretty soon.