New Shoes!

Every runner knows the importance of shoes, and when you're logging so many miles from training and races, it's inevitable that you will go through many, many pairs. After the Disneyland Half I knew it was time to trade in my sneaks for some fresh ones with a little more cushion and support. I went through two pairs while training for the Seattle Marathon, the second being worn for my 20 mile training run and the race, so they were definitely past their prime. Running the half in them was pushing it. I tend to start having knee issues when my shoes get worn down, and after Disneyland I had some inflammation and pain below my kneecaps. No worries though, this happened to me before and with some consistent icing, doses of ibuprofen, new shoes, and going easy on the training for a bit they were good as new. I did an easy 5k Thursday in the old shoes, my first run after the half, and decided no more running til I got a new pair! So after work Friday I headed to Santa Barbara Running to be fitted. I ended up going with a different brand and style than in the past, choosing the new Asics Gel Kayano 15 in white, navy, and ice blue. As far as looks go, they're definitely pretty snazzy!

Tonight I officially started training for my next big race (more on this exciting news in my next post!) with a 9 miler to Goleta Beach and along the Obern Trail. I felt pretty good and was able to keep up an 11 min/mi pace, finishing in 1:39. And wow, what a difference the new shoes make! They are sooo much more cushioned. Despite the fact that races are almost always super early in the morning, I prefer to do most of my training runs in the evening. I'm really not a morning person and there's just something about running at the end of the day when I have a sudden surge of energy and can leave my daily stress and worries behind. Now that summer is officially over and we have less and less daylight, I'm forced to start my runs increasingly early to beat the sunset. No biggie, it'll just take some getting used to and I'll have to adjust my schedule to make it work. Sorority recruitment is the next two weeks so I'm gonna have to get pretty creative to fit in some runs during all that drama and chaos!