Stability, you idiot...

That's what my feet have been saying to me the last few weeks. After I cut back my mileage to ease up on my calf, I got a new pair of shoes. I thought I may have needed a change and so rather than getting the same shoe, of which I had worn through three pairs, I decided to go to the running shoe store and have them match me up. Long story short, it didn't work for me this time. Finding a good running shoe consultant is a bit like finding a good mechanic or dentist. Once you find them, you want to keep using their service. Unfortunately, I didn't get into the right pair at this store.

They said that I didn't need all the stability I was getting from my Mizuno Nirvanas, so I tried a neutral shoe, the Brooks Glycerin. It felt okay at the store and I even ran around on the pavement outside for a minute, but it's not quite the same as going several miles. Since then, my feet have been pretty achy. So I went to a different store to get a pair of insoles that I had used previously when I had a similar problem a couple years ago. As I was checking out, I was chatting with one of the workers there. With just barely looking at me he could see I was an over-pronater and with a quick check of my shoe he said that I really needed to stay with the stability grouping of shoes. So, next time I buy a new shoe, I'll go back to that store and run on the treadmill there so they can give me even more sound advice.

I ran with my insoles today (Super Feet, green) and my feet have been thanking me all day. Ahh... it makes such a big difference running when you're fee feel good. I can't wait to get out again.

Close but not quite.

It's Flag day today and we had a nice little race at McAllister today. I had marked this as the race for me to attempt to beat my personal best for 10k a couple months ago. After a injury last month, I was pretty sure it wasn't going to happen, so I set a different goal, under 1 hour. My previous best was 55:18 or something like that. It wasn't too bad of a day, a bit humid, but good cloud cover. The race was not very well organized and got off to a late start. The lack of a large crowd probably was a good thing, the trail weren't crowded at all. I started off faster than I anticipated with the first two miles in 18 min. flat. I crossed the halfway point at 28 even. I slowed just a little and completed the next mile in 9:23, then 9:06., then 1.1 mi. in 9:48. So, I pretty much kept up the same pace over the course of the race.

The day I set my personal best, happened to be my first ever 10k. It was a bit cooler that day and the biggest difference was I had much more left at the end that day. I did the last mile in about 8 min. with my brother-in-law pushing me along.

So, a mixed bag today, I was close enough to my pb to be disappointed that I didn't get it, but I also finished in 56:19, which was about 4 min. faster than I thought I would, so I'm happy.

It's been difficult the last couple week getting motivated to train. These close to 100 degree temps are not good for running. I guess I don't have much to complain about, I could be in Iowa where I wouldn't find many dry roads to run on.

So, Happy Flag Day!