Would you rather I start smoking?

I had a slight unhealthy love for the blue and grey look of the Montrails, but they didn't work with the new orthotics.

I ended up with the Brooks Cascadia 4's (which I already had) because they were on sale! They said that the shoes I had were not the problem, that possibly I needed a more supportive orthotic. It was time for a new pair of shoes though.

So I also got a new orthotic made with major arch support. I wore it all night at work, but unfortunately by the end of work, my right shin hurt so badly that I was limping. (Unreal.) I'm upset. : (  I work again tonight, I am going to wear my old orthotics and see if that helps.

I really thought this would be the answer, but now my shin hurts so badly I think I have done more damage. I feel like something is against my running. I don't know what it could be except karma or something. (Too much My Name is Earl.) A lot of people are able to easily keep up their unhealthy habits. Why is it such an ordeal for me to keep up my healthy one? Blugh.

Shoooooooeeeeessssss!

I have made up my mind. Tomorrow, I am buying new shoes. (If Foot Rx has a shoe that they recommend in stock for me. Pleeeeeease please do!) It's 6 weeks to the race, and if I don't get moving it will be quite the embarassment. Plus, the nightshift schedule is making me eat constantly... Check back later for the posted picture of my beautiful new shoes!!!

Travelling through time

I got to go on a run! I was going to go to Bent Creek with Yonton, let him mountain bike, while I ran/walked for an hour or so, just to be on my feet. I met him at his house and shared my brilliant idea. (He's shared before that he likes to mountain bike alone sometimes - I think it's relaxing for him.) The hesitation caught me by surprise. Yonton is not a runner. He kayaks, mountain bikes and climbs. Occasionally the treadmill calls him for 10 minutes - as it had the previous day of our excursion.

So the hesitation led to him offering to run with me - if I didn't go far. Well hell, I shouldn't really be running anyways, so it sounded good with me. We had a late start - maybe 7pm. (I thought I'd give him the Garmin so he'd have something fun to watch to entertain himself during the run. But, my Garmin has broken itself - yet again.) We started out at a relaxed pace - and as always - in it for the experience.

We ended up going (by my guess) about 4 miles. We both ran the whole time. My shins periodically flared up during the run. Currently they feel fine, but could probably use some ice. The run was great - by the end of it, it was really dark outside and I couldn't see where I was stepping. Thank goodness we had just come out of a trail when some headlamped-mountain-bikers came tearing down after us.

Needless to say, the run was fabulous. I think Yonton actually enjoyed himself, the berms calling him to play late in the run. We got to discuss his dream of time travel he had had the previous night and how the logistics may work out, if it really ever happened to either of us.

I appreciate the company and experience, fully and completely. Thanks for the support, as always. You rock.

What I deserve, as a wonderful person.

So I had to skip LeHigh Valley altogether. Being raised Catholic, this caused immense guilt for not supporting my family in an endeavor I started with them months ago. Good thing they were also raised Catholic and know forgiveness well. Ha! I was planning on going and supporting, without any running due to the shins, then a case of strep throat exacerbated by three nights of work in a row and a fever of 101.4 kept me home.

Anyways, this shin issue is ongoing. I gave myself the gift of a mile-long run on Monday the 6th. It hurt. I actually ended up walking part of it. Once I got back to the car, my left (?!?!) hip was really hurting and I was actually limping, along with the right shin being sore. Luckily the hip seemed to be acute and went away in a few hours.

But, about that run. It was the kind of day for me, where I left crying (the really good kind of crying) because I loved the experience so much. The air was cool and crisp. It was about 4pm. The woods were beautiful and inviting, the ground was packed and not muddy at all, perfect conditions. I got reminded of last fall.

Last fall, I was training for Shut-In, and got up to about 35 mpw. I remember thinking there was no point in going out if you're not doing at least 8 miles. I remember one day when I had done over 30 miles in the last 4 days so I left myself have pizza at a work party. I was trying to do everything perfectly, eat right, rest right, etc. It was the highlight of my running career to date. I could go run 5 days a week - sometimes 6. I was going 7+ miles every time. I felt so good, so confident and so strong. I felt invincible. My body was starting to change. Instead of just being skinny, I was actually getting muscular. A dream in the making.

Everything was going really well until my grandmother died. I went up to Michigan for the funeral. The family was a mess. The Catholic Michiganers are a breed of their own... and yes, technically I am one too, but I run to let out stress. We even ended-up having an intervention at a Coney Island. The stress of the trip, added to the stress my body was under caused it to crash. At the hotel, I remember telling mom that for some reason, my shins were really hurting, and I hadn't even run in two days. Stress goes and sits in the weakest muscles for me. My stress was going to sit in my shins, and not leave. That was the beginning of the end.

I got back home and returned to running 35 mpw. That next weekend, was a 16-miler up Shut-In. I could tell I was hurting, but was sure I could push through it. A few days after that was hill-training day. This gave me an opportunity to run fast. I LOVE to run fast. I let loose, and did around 20 short and long hill combos, with an additional couple miles of warm-up. By the last one, I could barely walk, and found myself sent home with two ice packs on my hips... crying. Cool-down was aborted. I knew the future, and was heart-broken.

The story has the ending.

So, my run on Monday... Ahhh. Just thinking about it now is making me want to go out right now. It's cool and rainy - perfect fall conditions for a run. I could wear one of my jackets! It's been so long since I've gotten to wear a jacket to run! I wish one could force healing. I wish that if you wanted it bad enough, it would happen for you. Why can't life be like that? Patience. My friend Brian told me that he had shin pain in the past, and tried new shoes over and over until his finally went away with a certain pair. I'm thinking I should go buy some new running shoes. Right now. Immediately.

Fall is the perfect time to run, and I am selfish and believe I deserve to get to run. I deserve to get to train for Shut-In and not just have to hike it in two months. I deserve to get to go out this beautiful time of year and pound away at the trails. I deserve to let my stress out the way I love to do it. I deserve the heavy breathing and that feeling my lungs get when they've been worked hard. I deserve the sweat. I deserve the toned muscles. I deserve the looks of others who see me as strong. I deserve thinking of myself as strong, confident, healthy and beautiful. Now, off to the shoe store...

Thank you Universe.