Shoes

Today was my first "long run" of my training program -- a whopping three miles!

But seriously, it's not easy for me at this point. Although I think about the running heroes I often read about in Runner's World, I know that I'm not one of those incredibly driven people fighting through some sort of devastating hardship. I'm just an average Joe with an average drive, and so three miles at this point feels like ten miles did a year and a half ago. But enough tangental commentary on how out of shape I am -- on to the run itself.

I am thankful today for the new running jacket I bought. It snowed throughout the entire run, and the water-resistant jacket was fairly wet on the outside but dry on the inside by the time I finished. The exceptional aspect of today's run was that the pavement was above freezing, so although the air was cold enough for snow, it melted as soon as it hit the ground. This created a veritable minefield of deep puddles, particularly given the state of the roads and sidewalks in my town. Needless to say, despite my best efforts, I ended up with wet feet.

This may have contributed to my main pain on today's run: numb feet. Rather, a numb foot. Rather, a lifeless foot. I made it through the first 1.6 miles with pretty good time, although I decided to begin walking at the point (my turn-around spot) so that I could finish strong. Ha. Despite finishing my first mile at 11:40 (my training at this point calls for 13:13), I ended up with a total mileage time of 13 minutes and change, finishing 3.18 miles in 41:40. The problem? My feet. My right foot began to hurt on the outside about three quarters of the way through the run, but that wasn't the serious problem. I began losing feeling in my left foot about two thirds of the way through the run. I knew immediately that my shoes were probably tied too tightly across the top of my foot, but I didn't want to stop because of the snow. Bad choice. I thought maybe walking it off would get some blood flowing in my foot. Also a bad choice. Eventually, my toes nearly dragging the ground on each step, I finally stopped and loosened my laces. I tried walking to get some blood back into my foot, but long story short, I didn't get full feeling back in my foot until I was in the shower at home. There was a lot of walking on the way back.

In the end, I know that I should start thinking about some new shoes pretty soon. I need to find the running journal I used over the summer so I can total up the mileage on my current shoes, but they're not showing the same elasticity a new pair should show. Also, it's about time to dig out some Runner's World articles on tying your shoes. Once again, I'm back to the basics.

Total mileage: 13.18