A post wherein I whine a lot

So I haven't posted in over a week. Sue me. :)

Truth be told, I don't have much to say. I am at the point in training where the mileage is increasing, and combined with brutal August temperatures and humidity, I am pretty miserable. I wonder daily why I'm doing this to myself.

Also, I briefly injured myself over the weekend. I made the classic mistake of switching shoes mid-training. I bought a pair of Brooks Green Silence on a killer deal - marked down to $49 and I had like $21 reward dollars, so they were uber cheap. I was really excited about how they fit and felt, so much so that I laced them up the day after I bought them and took them out for 5 miles of speedwork. Friends, don't make the dumb mistakes that I do. These shoes are moderately minimal, with an 8mm heel to toe drop. The shoes I do most of my training in, the New Balance 890 and the Nike Pegasus, both have a 12mm drop (although I swear the New Balance shoes feel lower than that).

So cute. So dangerous.

I loved how light they were, and how the upper fit my bony, thin, narrow foot so well. I declared the run a huge success and packed them in my suitcase to head to an out-of-town wedding. Saturday morning I woke up in VA with a slight pain in my right foot, specifcially on the outside edge of my foot, almost directly below my ankle. It wasn't terrible, and anyone who runs a lot knows that little aches and pains are just part of the game. I am not a hypochondriac so I got up, laced up my shoes, and went for a quick 2 mile run before we had to hit the road again to get to the wedding site.

My foot got progressively more sore throughout the day, but I had cocktail attire to wear, and I was not going to show up to the wedding in flats. So I put on my very sensible 2.5" Easy Spirit peep toes (don't laugh, they are cute AND comfy) and partied the night away.

Who doesn't love a good wedding photobooth? Torture shoes not pictured

By the time we got back to our hotel room my foot hurt pretty bad. I got some ice and iced it for a while and went to sleep. I woke up at 5am and tried to get out of bed, forgetting about my foot, and doubled over in pain. From my awesome google skills, I determined that I angered some tendons in my foot:

The lower arrow marks the spot of OWWWWW

The peroneus brevis and/or the peroneus longus, to be exact. We spent almost all of Sunday driving (11 hours, FU thunderstorms!) back to MA. And I spent the day limping in and out of gas stations on the ball of my foot. I got cups of ice along the way and put my foot on ice for quite a lot of the ride. I got home and wrapped it up, kept it elevated, and took Aleve for the better part of 2 days. By day 4, 95% of my pain was gone. It was nothing short of miraculous.

RICE works, ya'll

So this all meant that I had to totally skip last weekend's long run - 18 miles. It also meant that I missed Tuesday's 7 miles as well. And now that I am able to play catch-up, it is hotter than an MFer outside and it's like 99% humidity. Not exactly ideal. Which makes me a super angry person. Oh, and did I mention that I'm supposed to do 20 miles this weekend? FML.

Marathon training in August sucks. Why am I doing this again?

On a not-complaining note: I have become an absolute Olympics junkie. I love all of it. Even synchronized swimming and table tennis. It also means that we've been staying up until midnight watching it, making it impossible to get up early to run. So I guess I'm to blame for most of my misery.

So the lesson here is apparently:

1) never switch shoes mid-training, and
2) stop staying up so damn late.

Learn from my mistakes!

Running Gear Thursdays

So I am kind of a running gear junkie. Some might think I have a problem. Since I spend more of my life in running gear than regular clothes, I figure it's okay to have lots of it, right?

I am currently running about 30-40 miles a week, along with about 3 session of weight training and 1 yoga class a week. I like to have multiple pairs of running shoes - which I say is for rotating through so they wear more evenly, but really, deep down, I just love running shoes.

I am sort of in a shoe flux right now. I just started keeping track of my shoe mileage, so I really don't know how many miles my current shoes have on them. I've had my current shoes for about a year or so - and I trained and ran 3 half marathons last summer, but my mileage was pretty light through the fall. I picked it up big time around Thanksgiving (shout out to the 100 mile challenge on dailymile), but since I was running in the lovely New England winter conditions, I wore gortex trainers most of December, January, and February.

I am currently running in these shoes:

Nike Pegasus 27. They still feel pretty good. I think I have about 250 miles on them, so I am unsure how much longer they will last. I used Superfeet insoles for about 2 years, but the bulk of them was causing me some pain/tenderness on the top of my foot. I recently accquired FootDisc insoles from a GearBuzz deal and I really dig them. I have super high arches, but no pronation issues. I also have become a midfoot striker over the past year or so (after the beginnings of a heel spur).

I also run in these:

Nike Pegasus 25? 26? I scored these off eBay last year for like $35. They were the previous year's version. I like the feel, but they are SO UGLY. I have a vendetta against white running shoes. I recently read about washing running shoes in the dishwasher (totally works! and doesn't damage them at all!) and I washed them, but unfortunately they are now just ugly and clean. They have about 200 miles on them.

I wore these through the winter:

Nike Pegasus 27 GTX (Gore-Tex). I cannot say enough good things about these shoes. They really are windproof and waterproof. The only downside is they have a standard sole, so running in the snow was challenging (lots of slipping and sliding).

I am now having a dilemma of what my next shoe should be. I had a brief moment where I wanted to try the barefoot thing, so I ordered these:

Saucony Hattori. They are cool, I will give them that. But I quickly realized that trying out barefoot shoes with a half marathon less than a month away is a stupid idea. Also, they tore up the back of my heels so bad that I am still having nightmares about them. See that little tab on the back? Who on earth thought that was a good idea?

So then about two weeks ago, after an 11 mile run and a bloody mary, I decided to branch out from my Nikes (which I've been wearing for 5+ years pretty much exclusively) and get a pair of these:

Adidas Oscillation. I HATE them with the fire of 1000 suns. I wanted a pair of shoes that were a little lighter for shorter races and track work. You see that odd stitching around the opening and tongue? It's super stiff. I took them out for a slow 5 miler and I ended up with bruises on my ankles! My ankles felt like I'd run 10 miles the next day. That is unacceptable. I am so mad at myself for buying them (and at my husband for throwing away the box, so I cannot return them). I will never put these torture devices on my feet again.

So as a last ditch effort, I ordered these last night:

New Balance 890. New Balance is super dominant here in their hometown area of Boston. So I figured I'd give them a try. And I ordered them from a store that will take them back (and I will lock down the box far away from the husband). And, they are YELLOW! I love vibrant, fun shoes.

Also, I've gotten hooked on compression gear. It started with a pair of CEP calf sleeves:

(mine are black)

And OMG immediately the nagging soreness in my soleus and my inner ankles was gone! But them I realized the sleeves weren't good for recovery too, so I scored some CEP socks on eBay:

(I ended up with the pink ones. I am NOT a pink person, but they were half price. I AM a cheap person)

And I totally love them too. My husband is even hooked on them (he says he's had a lot less shin pain).

So I have been reading about the wonders of these compression shorts that are made just for women, so I ordered them too because they are having a HALF OFF sale right now!

I ordered red ones because I live on the EDGE

I'm 'gearing up' (so to speak) because I'm going to start marathon training in May. I haven't run a full marathon since 2009; I sort of looked at it as 'did it, checked off life list, move on' type thing. I also injured myself somewhere in there and it took a while to get my mojo back. Since moving to Boston, running has crept into my veins again, and since I've been running so much faster and stronger I feel like this *might* be my year to BQ. (I kind of hate typing that, I feel like I'm jinxing myself). My last marathon in 2009 was the Chicago Marathon, where I ran a 3:55:56. I'm running much faster these days so I'm going to train through the summer and hope for a fast fall marathon with the intention of qualifying for Boston for 2014.

So, what's your favorite running gear? And what are your favorite shoes? And how many miles do you typically put on a pair before throwing them out? Inquiring minds want to know!

(None of these people paid me to mention their products)