Running

10 Things I Learned About Half Marathons

February 6, 2014 by Amy 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve gone for a run. In fact, confession time. I haven’t gone for a legitimate run since the half marathon. I had a bout of sickness that took me over a week to get over, and then I jumped into strength training. However, it feels like that race was yesterday. I don’t remember much of the pain…I just remember the finish line. I guess that’s why people say you’ll get bitten by the running bug. You just remember those high moments. 🙂

However, I did learn quite a few things while training and during the race that I thought I’d share with y’all.

I have to insert this in this post, because half marathons (heck, running at all) is a huge deal.

DISCLAIMER: Now, of course before you start any type of workout program, it’s best to check with your doctor. I’m not a doctor…just some random blogger. Seriously, check with your doctor before taking on a workout program, especially if you have had injuries or you’re overweight. Running can be hard on your body, so you want to make sure you don’t make anything worse or hurt yourself…period! Also, these are tips from what I personally encountered. Everyone is different…you might not go through any of this (lucky). 🙂

1. It’s going to be SUPER mental.

So many people told me this, and they were all right. Running long distances becomes a mental game. After mile 1, I surely didn’t think I had 12.1 more in me on race day. However, I took it one mile at a time. It was especially rough once I passed the 10 mile marker, since that was my longest distance in training. I kept saying to myself, but you did a personal best! You don’t have to hobble 3 more miles..but I somehow shut my brain up and finished it! 🙂

2. You might get sick after. Like seriously…

I came down with bronchitis TWO DAYS after the half marathon. I was 100% on top of the world on Sunday, and then I slowly declined by Tuesday. I thought something was wrong with me, but apparently this can happen. When you’re exercising for such a long period of time, your immune system takes a bit of a dip, so I apparently was supposed to take vitamins, avoid exposure to a bunch of people and just become a hermit. Um…nope…that didn’t happen at all (Oops!). I seriously had NO idea about this…lesson learned.

3. Body Glide is my BFF (sorry real life BFF, I still love you).

It’s no secret that I’m a large gal. With that, things rub/chafe. In fact, it wasn’t until the 10 mile run that I learned about sports bra chafing. Yeah, that’s a thing and it’s PAINFUL. Worse than thunder thigh chafing. My good running friend recommended that I purchase Body Glide and put it everywhere. That stuff is wonderful.

4. Cotton is the enemy.

This goes with chafing. Cotton stinks…cotton clothes, cotton socks, cotton anything. Whenever I wore cotton anything during training runs, there was blisters/chafing. I love cotton for everyday clothing, but never again for workouts.

5. There’s this thing called a wall.

Yeah, that infamous wall happened for me at the bridge (around mile 11). I was thinking there’s NO WAY there’s 2 miles left in me. You just have to keep on, keeping on (unless you injured yourself, of course). Blast music. Count trees. Check out cool gear on marathoners who are running past you (some running shirts had hilarious phrases on them).

6. Always bring fuel.

Don’t depend on the race course to have what you need. Bring the fuel that you know and are used to. The last thing you want are stomach issues on the course. I had a pocket full of Gu Chomps (which I used for quite a few long runs previously) for the race. 🙂 I did pick up a free Gu at mile 8, just in case I needed a boost in the end, but I never used it.

7. Hydrate!

There’s a bit of a balance here. I wanted to stay hydrated, but I didn’t want to over-hydrate (it’s really dangerous to do that from articles I read). For me, I took a small swig of Powerade and a small swig of water every 2 miles. It worked for me, and I never needed the port-o-potties.

8. Full night of sleep before the race? I wish!

For me, I am a worry worm. I kept having nightmares before the race, and the night before was no exception! I think I got 4 hours of sleep the night before, but thankfully the afternoon before, I took an epic nap. 🙂 Carb loading = running fuel + a need to nap!

9. Don’t compare yourself to others. Just finishing is awesome.

I did this the whole race. I’d look across the lake and saw the first place runners passing mile 10 while I was pushing through mile 3/4. I felt sort of defeated when I saw that, but my friend reminded me that we were still doing this and finishing the race, no matter the time, is still doing the same distance everyone else did. We all finished the same race. 🙂

10. Runners are friendly.

This blew my mind. I don’t know…maybe it stems from old school P.E. days of being called Shamu by kids, and constantly being last picked on teams ::cue tiny violins::. Whatever. 😛 I just always felt like I was in the way when it comes to working out. I’d rather be invisible (I battle this at the gym all the time), because I don’t like knowing that people are watching me struggle. However, at the race, marathoners….FAST marathoners at that, took a second to pat me on the back and tell me “Good Job!” when I hit the wall. I needed that so badly. Also, throughout the race, we sort of kept up with the same people and we’d have conversations while having walk breaks (yes, I took walk breaks…many of them…I’m not ashamed).

Now, I’m sure there’s more….but those are the top 10 that stuck out to me. 🙂 If you’ve done a race before, what’s something that you learned?

The Louisiana Marathon (The Half) Recap

January 21, 2014 by Amy 6 Comments

Um. Y’all? As of late Sunday morning, I became a half marathoner, thanks to The Louisiana Marathon (The Half)!

I’m sure many of you knew just how nervous I was about this race. My last run was terrible…..9.4 miles and my pace was embarrassing. I thought for sure I’d get swept. For sure.

I had various dreams the week of the race, proving how random and crazy my subconscious is. Here’s two that I can still remember:

One was about how they closed the course for 2 hours to allow Mike the Tiger (LSU’s mascot) to go for his morning walk on the campus streets. I remember being at mile 9 and feeling great…then we got a text 2 hours later that we had 30 minutes left to finish the race or you’d get no medal.
Another was about how I ended up waking up on time, but I just couldn’t get moving (hate those dreams). By the time I started to leave the house, it was 6:50 and the race was going to start at 7!

Crazy, stupid dreams. None of them ended with me in a medal. :-\ It was really messing with me, mentally.

Also, at the expo on Friday, I wore BOOTS. Stupid stupid stupid. I ended up with some blisters on my feet, and I texted my friend hoping that it wasn’t a bad sign. Don’t wear boots (no matter how comfy you think they are) to an expo. ::sigh::

Saturday night, I laid out everything that I would need on race day, so I could just wake up, eat my banana with PB, get dressed and be done. It’s a tip that I’ve read on blogs, and I’m so glad I did. One less thing to worry about!

On Sunday, my husband and I went downtown, found a great parking spot, and I slowly worked my way to the starting line with him. My husband was SO awesome for going with me at 5:30am. I saw a few friends who were also doing the half, and before we all knew it, it was time to line up for the start. My old college roommate, Sarah, generously offered to run the whole race with me. She wasn’t looking to PR (thank goodness), and since this was her 10th half marathon, I was relieved to have someone with me who has done this rodeo before. 🙂

The half marathon basically went from downtown Baton Rouge, to LSU campus and back. At least that’s what I told myself to make 13.1 miles seem less daunting. 🙂

Photo credit: Bing Maps (through Garmin Connect)

I’m going to admit right now that mile 1 was terrible. TERRIBLE. I think that mile 1 for me is one of the hardest miles to run in any training run/race. Everything is screaming at me to stop now, and my pace was looking terrible. I seriously thought…well, that’s it. I’m gonna end up swept after mile 1. That smile below is relief…SWEET relief. I hate mile 1 forever and ever. (Trust me, I’m not alone…google it. Mile 1 stinks.)

Photo Credit: My friend, Sarah

Mile 2 wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for the darn overpass that we had to run on. That bridge killed me for the 5K last year, so I was ready for it. My strategy was to walk the up and run the down. 🙂 It worked out OK for me, since I didn’t feel too too bad afterwards. Just in case, though, I ended up eating a couple of Gu Chomps, and downing some Powerade at the water station (I did this every 2 miles).

Once mile 3 hit, I was sort of in the zone. I was making great time (for me, that is), and my muscles were no longer in pain. Look at that cheesy ol’ grin! 5k down, 10 to go! I also saw a good friend in college who made a sign for me! Definitely a pepper upper!

I felt like this until about mile 7.

Photo Credit: My friend, Sarah

At mile 7, my left ankle was super sore. I have ankle issues from an old injury in high school, so I have to wear shoes with more support. They usually do the trick, but I think running the roads with those potholes in the Garden District finally caught up to me. Thankfully, my best friend came to see me at this point, and we talked a good bit, while walking of course.

At mile 8, my feet started to rub. Even though I used Body Glide, and tied my shoes on tightly, I felt the pain in my heels. I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty when those shoes came off.

As you can see here, I’m running in place for the mile 9 marker. I reached a point where if I stopped, I had a feeling things were going to cramp. So, no stopping!

Photo Credit: My friend, Sarah

Mile 9 & 10 were pretty rough, but what kept me going is that after mile 10, we were going to meet up with the marathoners, which was SO inspiring. Also, after mile 10, like my friend Sarah said, would be the longest distance I’ve ever done! Just after mile 10, I saw my college friend again who made another sign for me! I mean c’mon…the support was AWESOME.

At mile 11, I saw my best friend one last time for a quick high five and hug (sorry it was probably so sweaty!). Right after, I used the last burst of energy I had before facing the same overpass. Once the bridge came, I was really dragging. It burnt out my muscles, and I didn’t think I had anything left in me.

Thankfully, at that point, the marathon and half marathon course merged until the finish, so I ended up running near some of the faster marathoners. I thought they would give me funny looks since I was really hobbling the next couple of miles, but quite a few of them slowed down to pat me on the back, told me I was doing a great job and encouraged me to keep going. (I definitely told them great job as well….because 26.2 miles…holy moly!)

At mile 12, I was still a tired, limpy mess. Right after the bridge, there were some ladies with coke & king cake for the runners. I didn’t think much of it, but my friend Sarah insisted that a tiny bit of coke would give me a quick jolt to finish.

Oh man, my left ankle was sore again, and my feet were on fire. At one point, my foot started feeling like pins and needles (which I kind of appreciated). It was the LONGEST MILE EVER. I guess this was my wall. Sarah kept encouraging me (thank goodness) and we joked with a few cops to just drop us off at the finish festival haha! There were also a ton of race finishers walking to their cars who were so encouraging! I also saw another friend and her husband who had finished the half earlier but stuck around to cheer on friends who were still doing the half/full, and they gave me a quick high five before I turned that last corner to the finish. 🙂

We turned the last corner to where I could see the finish line before mile 13, and my friend Sarah said I HAD to run in for the finish. So, I sprinted (at least in my head I sprinted haha). NO IDEA where that came from….maybe the coke did the trick? LOL! Seriously….but I ran as hard and as fast as I could for the finish line!

I just teared up and smiled. (hopefully there’s no picture of that ugly mess haha) I was in disbelief. I took a water, banana and chocolate milk and thanked Sarah for being there for me that day. I really didn’t think I had 13 in me after mile 1. She reminded me that I needed to go get my medal (oops!), so we picked up our medals and took our pictures.

Photo Credit: My friend, Sarah

Here’s the Garmin break-down of things. You can definitely see that mile 12-13 was the worst. :-\ Also, for 13 til the finish, I forgot to turn off my Garmin at first, so the time isn’t super accurate. My official chip time was 3:39.

Here’s my new medal next to the 5K medal that I earned last year in the same race series. It’s a reminder that the human body is an amazing thing. Truly amazing. Back when I weighed 298 lbs., I had no idea my body was capable of a half marathon. No idea.

Now, the big question. Will I do it again? I think I want to, but it would definitely have to be at a lighter weight. I really loved how the half marathon varied from a 5K. At random points, we’d all talk to one another about our running journeys, and there was a small group of us who sort of stuck together. It felt like a small community that morning. 🙂 I really liked it!

I will also admit that this race was perfectly organized. I loved how gorgeous the race course is, and everything in my experience went off without a hitch. Thanks to the organizers and the multiple volunteers who made The Louisiana Marathon possible!

Also, a huge thanks to:

my husband Joey, who sent me encouraging texts every mile and dealt with my complaints during training
my family for their supportive calls/texts
my friend Sarah, for running the entire half with me and dealing with my weak points…there were a lot of them
my friend Jenna for being there during those tough mile points and just being the most amazing best friend a gal could ever ask for!
my friend Melanie, who constantly dealt with my half marathon questions and doubts haha!
other friends who made signs or gave me a high five during the race
my food blogger friends, especially Kristen, Katrina & Sarah for their guidance, texts, FB messages, etc.
you guys!! Oh man….your comments/tweets/emails have been amazing! Y’all are just so kind!
and…..last but not least, those random strangers who had no idea who I was, but knew I needed a pat on the back or a “You Can Do It!” after mile 11.

(I hope I didn’t forget anyone…)

I will never forget this race. Ever.

Training Tuesdays: Week 3

November 19, 2013 by Amy Leave a Comment

Well, I’m 1/4 of the way done with training. Completely nuts. During my runs, I’m always thinking about race day. Will the adrenaline kick in and help me run a bit faster? Will I be able to actually do 13.1 miles? I keep questioning myself on my decision to train for this, when I’m not even close to being done with my weight loss journey. If I were 60 lbs. lighter, I imagine this would be a whole lot easier.

I’m also facing this killer plateau. I’ll admit, I’m not 100% on calorie counting, but seriously…I’m running 12 miles/week. Shouldn’t I be losing SOMETHING? I’ve read a few things about muscles building the first few weeks of training, so I’m hoping that’s it. I also hope the terrible urge to eat everything goes away soon. I’m ALWAYS hungry! My usual meals aren’t filling me up, and I’m craving chocolate….all.the.time!

This week was hard. 3.5 miles as my short run? That’s more than any race I’ve ever done! And don’t even get me started on 5 miles. Goodness. I ran 5 miles on Sunday. I also noticed that my pace was pretty terrible this week, which is so discouraging. I’m trying to not let it get me down, because I know I’m challenging my body in crazy ways right now with this training. I’m also 240 lbs. I know it’s not supposed to be easy to carry that for 5 miles.

I was actually pretty proud of this run. I stayed under 16 min/mile pace, and there was a cold front going through that evening. Talk about windy!

This was the hardest run for me to face, to date. My legs were heavy, and I just couldn’t get my mind off of the running. Usually, I can start letting my mind wander and think about other things in life, but oh man…every stride was just annoying. Thanks so much for your encouraging comments on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook. It made me realize that a run is a run. 🙂 Doesn’t matter the pace (except for race day lol).

5….flipping….miles. I was so shocked by this one! I think I could have gone faster, but can I tell you…Louisiana sucks right now. Tuesday’s run was in the 50s (and dropping towards the 30s)…Sunday’s run was 75 and so humid. I had to peel clothes off of me…so.dang.sweaty. Sorry if that’s TMI…just keeping it real.

All in all…I survived. I did the miles, and I’m so glad that I didn’t quit (even on that Thursday run). 🙂 I’m going to TRY not to beat myself up anymore when a run gets bad….as long as I finish, I should be proud of myself. Heck….three years ago, I couldn’t even run for a minute straight!

Training Tuesdays: Week 2

November 12, 2013 by Amy 1 Comment

I can’t believe that week 3 of training starts today. This race is going to be here before I know it, eh?

I’m so happy to say that I’m staying at a pace where I won’t end up swept on the bus. I have to admit, while I’d love to be fast, all I want to do is finish the race. Finishing the race means keeping a pace faster than 16:00 minutes/mile, so I can’t crawl there. Currently, I’m teetering between 15:30 and 15:45 minutes/mile. While I’m slow, I have to admit that I’m proud of myself. I’ve run a total of 20 miles in the past two weeks. That’s crazy…

Also, I purchased a Garmin Forerunner 10 this past week! I used it for Sunday’s run, and I love that it alerts me when to run/walk. I hate looking down at my phone to see pace/time, because the less I have to think about those things, the better off I am. I was afraid the watch would aggravate me during my run, but it really wasn’t bad at all. I think this is a keeper.

As for run/walks, I’m consistently running 10 minutes and walking one minute the whole time. This timing is working perfectly for me, and really helps me to break up the run mentally (since I know my pace).

Tuesday, I had a pace of 15:37 minutes/mile. To me, that’s a successful run. 🙂

Thursday, I was a tad slower with a pace of 15:39 min/mile.

Sunday was a tough run. My legs were heavy the whole time, and while the temps weren’t so bad, the sun was beating down on me. 15:44 min/mile (still won’t get swept, so boo yah!).

In speaking with a good blogger friend who has been down this road before, I was reminded that I need to start thinking about hydrating myself and fueling myself during long runs. Am I at that point already? Wow..this Sunday will be 5 miles, which is nuts. What’s your favorite way to fuel during your runs? I think I’m going to just have to buy a variety of things at the running store near me, but I’d love suggestions.

Training Tuesdays: Week 1

November 5, 2013 by Amy Leave a Comment

I’m starting a new weekly post on my blog, called Training Tuesdays. For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently training for my first half marathon! This blog series is just to share how I’m feeling from week to week. I’m using Hal Higdon’s program, but with walking breaks added (so far).

My experiences as a runner are fairly new. A year and a half ago, I strapped on some cheap tennis shoes and did the Couch to 5K program. 🙂 I had my doubts…I didn’t even consider myself a runner for a long time. After a few 5Ks, the only logical/crazy thing (mostly crazy, at this point) was to sign up for a half marathon. 13.1 miles. 10 more miles than my normal races.

Sure, it’s a bit crazy, but I figured (at the time of registration) that I’d probably be at goal weight by then, and what a great ending a half would have been to the weight loss journey! However, of course you all probably know that after hitting 70 lbs. lost, I gained some weight. As of yesterday, I was 58 lbs. down. I’m hoping I can get down to 223 by the time this race comes, which would be 75 lbs. It’s not 120, but it’s still 75 lbs. 🙂

Last week was week 1 of training. Tuesday and Friday (darn Thursday rain) were 3 miles and Sunday was 4 miles.

I will fully admit that there were walking breaks in there.

Tuesday, I had 1 walking break, and my pace was a slow 16:14 minutes/mile.

Friday, I had 2 walking breaks, and my pace was 16:03 minutes/mile.

Sunday, I had 5 walking breaks, and my pace was 15:53 minutes/mile (and I had to do an extra mile)!

So, it seems like I’m going to definitely embrace the walking breaks. Every walking break has been a minute, and after that minute, my body feels so much more refreshed! It’s amazing what those walk breaks can do. 🙂

Also, a question for you runners out there. I have been experiencing a some muscle soreness in my hips and lower back that starts a few hours after every run. What can I do to prevent/treat the pain? I don’t feel anything while I’m running…this all happens after. Yoga and foam rolling have been recommended so far…I’m completely clueless, so I’d love some tips!

Couch to 5K Graduate!

September 24, 2012 by Amy 9 Comments

It was a hot, humid day in the middle of Louisiana’s summer where this crazy gal thought, “Hey, maybe I should try to run.” My husband probably thought I was nuts, and I’m sure my neighbors had 911 on speed dial, but I did it. I thought that those one minute jogs were the hardest jogs of my life, and I had no idea how in the heck I was going to be able to run for 30 minutes in less than 3 months.

I told myself to take it a day at a time. There were MANY days where the heat index was well over 100 degrees, and it took everything in me to just get out there. I’m not exaggerating, y’all. Couch to 5K was probably one of the hardest things I’ve put my body through. I’m still very overweight, but I was so glad to see that my body was able to adapt to running.

Now, I’m sure there are a few of y’all reading this, thinking that you could never do this. I was sitting on the couch right there with you. If you think you’re too heavy to run, I started Couch to 5K in the 270s. If you think your body isn’t capable, you will be so shocked at how quickly your body adapts. One week you’re running in one minute increments, and the next? You’re running 20 minutes straight. 25 minutes straight. 30 MINUTES STRAIGHT.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way….running. It’s not easy. While it can take a toll on your body, I want to let you know that your mind is your biggest enemy. Your mind will start telling you some crazy things… It will tell you to stop; it will tell you you’ve done enough; it will tell you that your house with an A/C is AMAZING.

But, keep it up. Unless of course, you get injured…stop running if you get injured. If you aren’t injured though, turn up your favorite Pandora station and tell your mind to shut up. I really felt like during most of my runs, the minute I ignored what I was doing (as in, get your mind off the running and think about something else), the time during my run would fly by.

I’m sure if you follow me on Instagram (username is niftyfoodie), you probably recognize these pictures. I really wanted to remember my C25K journey, and it’s really cool to look back on these.

Sometimes, I can’t believe that I’m able to run 30 minutes non-stop. It completely blows my mind. I keep thinking I’m going to try to run, and my body is going to act like my Week 1 body. But it doesn’t….in a couple of short months, I became a runner. There…I said it.

I’M A RUNNER.

Take that, PE teacher.

If you’re wondering what’s next for me, I have another 5K next month, as well as another in January. I’m hoping that for this coming 5K, I will be able to run the whole 3.1, and reach my goal of a 45:00 finish time. 🙂

Running Shoes

September 12, 2012 by Amy 17 Comments

For the past few months of my running journey, I’ve been running on these shoes. I purchased them on Rue La La last year, because a few of the running blogs I read mentioned that they loved their Saucony shoes. If you remember, I tried C25K earlier this year, and I just flat out quit. In the meantime, I wore these shoes as my casual tennis shoes, and then when I got back into C25K this past summer, I ran on them again. I know if runners are reading this, they are shaking their heads at me. I still have a lot to learn.

A few weeks ago, I got my shoes fairly muddy and realized that part of the sole was completely worn down on my running shoes. Crud. 🙁 Those shoes didn’t even last a year, so I assumed that Saucony shoes were just crappy. The more forums and articles I read, the more that I realized 1. As an obese gal, shoes won’t last as long & 2. I shouldn’t have worn my running shoes for casual every day wear. So, I went back to Rue La La for a flash sale and bought these, because they looked similar and were pretty.

I broke them in a couple of times before I ran my 5K. They were OK, however, I started to notice this terrible pain in my ankles after every run. Just random pain from walking in them, so I got a bit concerned and realized I probably shouldn’t purchase shoes based on how pretty they are anymore. I needed to get properly fitted.

The big push to go to a running store was when my local Fleet Feet posted on Facebook that they were having a one day sale on all sale shoes. $25 for any pair of sale shoes (for the hour that I could go after work). I even told H about it since we’re both looking for better work-out shoes. I mean, seriously…$25 for shoes? What. a. steal!

However, I was SO nervous to go to a running store. Why? Well, at first sight I don’t look like I belong there. I hate being judged and stared at in public, because of my size, and I knew that going to a running store, I would be a misfit.

When I got to the store, I was hoping I’d be invisible. No one would notice me, right? WRONG. Weekdays at a running store, even for a massive shoe sale = dead. Two ladies greeted me when I walked in, and I just wanted to say “I know I’m fat, I know I’m slow, but I’m on my way…please don’t judge me.” But, the cheap person in me was like “sale shoes?”

They pointed me out to one pair that was left in my size. They were crazy bright and awesome. I tried them on, and I was sold. $25 for Adidas? Heck yes!

Then I thought about it, and asked if these were OK for me. Since the store was otherwise dead, two girls were helping me and they asked if I’ve ever been fitted for shoes before? Are you new to running? How many miles/week do you run? ~~What’s your favorite color?~~ Ok, maybe not favorite color, but they genuinely seemed to want to hear my “running story”. So, I explained to them that I’m on my last week of Couch to 5k, and because of mainly running and diet, I’ve lost about 40 lbs. I run 3x/week, approximately 30 minutes each time, but I’m aiming to run longer with time.

I don’t know why, but I still felt nervous about what they were going to say. Were they going to laugh at me? Were they going to tell me I have super messed up feet? They asked me to walk barefoot around the store to observe my stride. Luckily, the only issue they noticed was that my right foot needed extra stability, and one of them asked if I had an injury in my right leg.

They were spot on with that.

You see in high school, I broke my right ankle and ever since, my ankle has a tendency to roll. Luckily, I never rolled my ankle running, but it happens fairly often when I’m just walking around. And also, remember when I mentioned my ankle pain? Well, yeah…those new Saucony shoes didn’t offer the additional stability I needed.

So, I asked if I could try on some shoes, and she said the best shoes for me would be for mild pronation. She brought out three pairs of shoes: New Balance, Brooks and Asics. I was easily able to narrow out one of them, which were the Asics. They were SO comfy, but I didn’t feel the same support like the New Balance and Brooks shoes had. Then I had a dilemma…I had a New Balance on one foot and a Brooks on the other. They pretty much felt the same to me, but in the end after a little bit of walking/jogging in the store, I went with the Brooks. They are the Brooks Ravenna 3 shoes, if you were wondering the exact shoe. 🙂

I tried to keep my cheapness to myself, because I knew I was doing the right thing. I did look over the counter to see the price of these, though. $100. That’s the most I’ve EVER spent on a pair of shoes, y’all. ::gulp:: I also ended up getting the $25 Adidas, because she said they would work fine for regular workouts and plus, they’re such a fun, bright color. 🙂

When I got home, I couldn’t wait to try these babies out. I ran last night in my new shoes, and I have to say, it was pretty awesome. It could have been in my head, but I felt like I could put more effort into my run (maybe the good weather helped with that too), and I also didn’t have the ankle soreness OR the terrible tight feeling in my legs afterwards.

In case you were curious about my current Saucony shoes, I did a little research and apparently they are a generic shoe that isn’t even offered in running stores. 🙁 I guess they’ll end up as a good casual shoe then, since I don’t want them to go to waste. 😛 Lesson learned: No more running shoes from a flash sale site.

When did you get your first fitting for running shoes? Did you find it to be worth it too?

Running

Footer

Archives