Momma got some brand new shoes!

Drove down to Beverly to the New England Running Co. store today and had a really good experience.  Buying running shoes (any shoes!) is always dreadful for me, but I was very pleased today.  I decided it was time to retire my custom orthotics for good.  They're ridiculously old, uncomfortable, and they've been causing a major blister during runs.  I need something for my flat feet, so I got some Spenco PolySorb Total Support replacement insoles.  So far I can say that they are WAY more comfortable than my custom orthotics, but I can tell they definitely aren't perfect (not that I expected they would be).  I'm hoping that making this bold decision to replace my orthotics doesn't come back to bite me in the ass, so we'll see.

The shoes that worked out the best for me were Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12.  It's funny because I ended up with a totally different size than I usually get (I guess I should have had a proper fitting a long time ago!)  The guy fit me into a size 9 with a 2A (narrow) width and I usually get an 8 or 8 1/2 and medium width (only because medium is the easiest to come by), but then I have to tie the laces super tight.  I definitely should have done this a long time ago!

My first run today was on the treadmill and it felt fine.  The shoes and inserts felt good.  I'm happy.  I went crazy with the moleskin, so as not to aggravate my healing blister.  The run was boring as hell because I had to stare at the clock on the treadmill to make sure I got the timing of my intervals right, so I felt like I was just counting down the clock the entire time.  I somehow messed up my interval timer app on my iPhone (accidentally shut the sounds off - so it couldn't inform me when the intervals were over...kind of the whole point of using the interval timer, so it seems a little silly that you can even turn the sounds OFF, but whatever!)  Have to run again tomorrow and now that I have my snazzy new running shoes, I'm not dreading it as much as I could be.

Got a babysitter and met some friends at Little Mexico tonight.  It was really fun (we so need to do this more often!)  I had a few drinks, and I'm worried I'm going to feel it in the morning!!

First 2-in-1 Training Day

Granted, it was barely 2-in-1, but I love a catchy headline!  So I decided to offload my kids in the babysitting room for a little while before Pilates (just needed a little extra time to myself!)  They were driving my bonkers today!

Decided to super take it easy on the treadmill though and set the treadmill to 2% incline and 13:02 min mile.  Only had time to run 1 mile, but at that pace I probably could have gone longer (quit while you're ahead!)  My big toe on my right foot did start aching pretty quickly again though...really need to address that - don't want any injuries!

Went to Pilates after and was still super sore from bootcamp yesterday, so I had to do a lot of the exercises in the "modified" positions.  I don't care though, still feel like I'm getting something out of it!

Really wasn't psyched about not getting home with the boys until almost 8pm, but at least I was smart enough to put out their jammies ahead of time!

First post - Wow, I'm back into blogging!

So I signed up (officially!) to run a marathon in October and decided to keep track of my training progress in a training blog.  I guess that means I'm back into blogging again!  First step, HIDE old blog from view. (It's far too embarrassing now!) - check.  Start training so I have something to blog about - check.  So here goes!

Today:
1 hour of Pilates.  It's my stretch and strengthen day.

Yesterday (Sunday):
Did 30 mins on the treadmill including 2 mins of walking warmup/cool down (4 mins total).  Set the treadmill to 2% incline, 5.3mph or 11:32 mile pace for the running part.  Had to walk a section in the middle and end.  Set it to 5% incline, 4mph, 15:00mile pace for the walking.  (Only narrowly avoided a potential MEI -marathon ending injury- when I was being a good samaritan and assisting the woman next to me with her treadmill and drifted too far to the side of the belt and caught the edge of the treadmill.  Almost went flying tits over ass, but luckily managed to grab the handrails, sadly not before looking like a complete a-hole on a treadmill in the gym in front of everyone behind me on the elliptical machines though!  Damn ellipticizers - thinking they're all cool cause they've got poles!  Note to self: Pause exists for a reason!)  Overall felt better than Saturday, but still feel like "What the F am I doing?" about training for a freaking marathon.  After 30mins on the treadmill I felt even more wiped out than after an hour of bootcamp.  Evidently, I really need to work on my cardio!  Today I remembered my armband and used a new pair of headphones.  Still find the cord for my headphones super annoying and distracting though.  Wore my Asics and custom orthotics and the toes of my right foot rubbed against the side of my shoe - if I'd gone any longer I'm sure I would have gotten blisters.  Got a migraine in the afternoon - totally sucked!  Lost vision, nasty lingering headache (even after 4 ibuprofen) and felt very nauseas.

Saturday:
Breaking the training cherry.  Had only 15 mins to jump on the treadmill, but I really just wanted a starting point.  It totally sucked and I hated every second of it (ugh!).  Set the treadmill to 1.5% incline and 11:32 running pace, but walked the first 2 mins for a warmup and last 2 mins as a cool down.  Made it just over a mile.  Forgot my armband for my iPhone and used an old pair of headphones, which kept falling out of my ears.  Wore my (new) New Balance running shoes and non-custom orthotics and had pain in the joint of my big toe on my right foot.