Out with the old......

This morning I decided to really listen to my body as well as my friends and lay off for a day from running.  The past couple of weeks I've had some tiny little aches and pains and when I went in for a massage last week the lady asked if I have a new pair of shoes.  Any new pairs of shoes!?  Nope.  I found out that my feet had lots of stuff going on in them and honestly they have been hurting.  I thought it was just the extra miles I've been putting on my body from my training regime and didn't think much more about it. 

Mentally I was really focused Saturday morning for my first ever 20 mile LSD and really pumped to see what my body could handle.  Ten miles into my run I knew that it would be a blessing if my body held up for the second half of my run.  My glutes were talking to me, I was having a little pain on my knee the last 3.5 to 4 miles of my run then add the heat and mental to this and it became a time to push through and see this to the end. Not one single time did it ever feel like I was doing damage nor do I believe that I have done any damage.  I really believe most of it is from the increase in training to see myself come across the finish line of the Portland Marathon.  That afternoon I took a super cold bath, not ice, but very cold and began taking Arnica for the inflammation.  I also did some stretches!

Sunday morning I went to the track for a softer surface to run on as definitely my left side was cranky.  My training plan called for 4 so I knew 4 or less would be great, to simply move some of the stiffness and go nice and easy.  Pace wise it was nice and easy but that was really the only thing that seemed to show nice and easy.  ;-)  I ran three miles and then walked another 1.5 to stretch out and to keep my body moving. 

After church, I came home and began to ice the entire area as well as using my foam roller.  This morning when I awoke I just knew that it would be much smarter to either swim or do some upper body weights even though my heart really wants to be out there running and adding miles to my shoes.  Well, talking about shoes...................

When I showed up at the Wellness Center the first thing I was asked is how old are my shoes, how many miles do I have on them?  "Right around 300 but I should be able to get 500."  Whoa Nelly, not so!  For high mileage runs anything around 150 to 200 is pretty much maximum especially when aches and pains set in.  Well, the aches and pains have set in!  I was surprised that it was probably my shoes as I am very good about rotating my running shoes as well as keeping track of the miles I've put on them.  But from what I am reading on-line it is definitely time to get new shoes and secretly I've been wanting some new running shoes.  ;-) 

**Mileage on my shoes from left to right:  351, 206 (these are my least favorite pair), 253, and 231.  Any guesses as to what two pairs are my very favorite and I am so sad to retire them????  And both of these styles/brands are retired as they no longer make them!!**

Out with the old............