Weekly Rundown and Shoe Talk!
Well, it was quite a week! I had another long run that was barely snatched from the jaws of disaster, there were trips to the gym and I’m having a serious shoe dilemma. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown! Let’s just see what happened… Monday 4 mile run in my new Hokas! The Clifton 8s are on sale right now, and that’s the shoe I wear so I snatched up a new pair. Tuesday Upper body day at the gym. Bench press, lat pulldowns, seated rows, plus some core… the usual. Wednesday Ah. Long run day! ONCE AGAIN, my daughter’s jazz band rehearsal was canceled- her band director is obviously trying to ruin my life- so that meant dropping her off at school an hour later. I decided to suck it up and drive to my favorite trail for the entire run, which meant I would be starting at 9:45, on an 85 degree day. Well, I figured my race will be hot, so I might as well deal with it! Plus I had my new ice hat- what could possibly go wrong? Well. When I first put ice in the pockets of the hat, it was a problem because the hat didn’t sit well on my head. But after about half a mile the ice melted just enough so that I could pull the hat down firmly, and it was AMAZING! I had ICE ON MY HEAD! I ran the first five miles, filled with optimism. After five miles I stopped at my aid station (car) for more ice and switched out my now-warm water for a cold bottle. The next five miles were a little more difficult, because I picked a very sandy portion of the trail. But again, there will be sand in my race so I want to be used to it. When I stopped at my car again after 10 miles, I refilled my hat with ice, but realized…. I was running out. Somehow, I underestimated the amount of ice I would need. I was stuffing about six cubes into the hat (four on top and two on each side) plus several cubes into my sports bra- and I only had two cubes left. Nooooooooo! I tried to put it out of my mind for the next five miles, but I was worried. It was hot! After mile 15 I stoped at my car again to figure out what to do. Then, disaster struck- I DROPPED my last two precious ice cubes!!! One was right near my feet so I snatched it up and stuffed it into my bra. But I couldn’t see the other one. I literally got down on my hands and knees in desperation, but that ice cube was gone… sob. I think it’s safe to say that I was at a low point. I was hot, tired, out of ice, AND, I had barely enough water. The thought of finishing five more miles while conserving my water was demoralizing. I let myself walk for a couple minutes to regroup, and then… I was running again! Somehow I had a (very slight) burst of energy. It just goes to show, it never always gets worse. Eventually something gets better. Those last five miles were not fun, but I got it done. Oh, and I met my running “spirit animal” on the trail: 20 miles for this run, and obviously there’s some sort of malfunction in my brain because even as I was finishing those last, awful five miles, I was thinking about the next one. I want to get in two more runs over 20 miles, and I have a plan! Nothing will go wrong next time. Okay, let’s talk about shoes. I’ve been wearing the Hoka Cliftons for a while now. They’re supposed to be great shoes for plantar fasciitis, and they’ve worked well… until now. See how I have the left one laced! I’m trying to relieve pressure on the top of my left foot. I have a very high arch (which is part of what makes it a “difficult foot”) and lately on my long runs, the top of my foot has been getting very irritated. Even with the alternative lacing, my foot looked like this after the run. I’m starting to think the Cliftons aren’t my shoe after all. I’m going to the running store this week and I’m going to try as many shoes as I can. Basically what I’ll be telling them is, “I need a shoe with a VERY wide toe box. But it can’t be a minimalist shoe, because I need support for my plantar fasciitis. But it also can’t be a stability shoe, because I over supinate and stability shoes don’t work for me. I need a neutral shoe that can accommodate my very high arch and orthotics, which, once again, I need for my plantar fasciitis. But the most important thing is a very wide toe box.” I’m sure they’ll be thinking “How is this person even running???” Thursday I started the morning with a brisk walk which felt AMAZING, then did a Caroline Girvan Advent Series workout. Birchwood Pie has been doing these workouts, and they’re a little shorter than the workouts in her other series- the one I did was biceps, triceps and shoulders, and it was 24 minutes including the cooldown. Even though it was shorter, I was still basically praying for it to be over and wanted to cry during the finisher (three minutes of tricep pushup variations, ack!) Friday 4 mile run. This run felt good, other than having to stuff my difficult foot back into that shoe. Saturday Leg day at the gym! Once again, I went after work which was not ideal, but I got it done. Squats, hex bar deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats… my legs were toast. Sunday Not happy! We turn the clocks ahead (boooooo!) and my son leaves. It’s always hard to say goodbye… but he’ll be back. Day