Musical shoes.

Like musical chairs, but not.

Early into my training, I decided that I needed a lighter shoe. I had been running in the Saucony Ride 4 for years. It was the perfect shoe for me, but I just wanted something lighter. I started looking into the minimalist approach. Hear me out: I was not looking for the Vibram Five Fingers or anything of the like. Don't get me started on those, but just...no. Anyways, I visited the local running store to buy a new pair of shoes. I probably tried on every minimalist shoe they had and ended up falling deeply in love with the Brooks Pure Cadence (see photo below). They were so light, yet so comfortable. I felt like I was walking on clouds and was convinced they could make me fly. The hot pink color made them that much better!

The minimalist approach is becoming quite popular, but I'm not into jumping onto bandwagons. When it comes to athletic gear, I do my research (well, most of the time)! This time, I did not. While I have always run on the balls of my feet, I knew that I didn't need to change my form when I switched to these shoes. I just switched. One day I was running in the Sauconys, and the next day I was running in these bad boys (photo above). They were soooo comfortable! I loved them. I really had no problems....until my really long runs. When I ran my 18-miler, my left knee swelled up to the size of a volleyball. Ok, maybe not that big, but it was substantially larger than my right knee. I took the rest of the week off until my next long run (13 miles). During that run, I felt like my feet were burning. That didn't make sense because I had run much longer distances before, so I just kind of ignored it. I also think I was in denial about the shoes being the culprit because I did not want to blame them! My next long run was 19 miles. O.M.G. That was so painful. Although I felt as if all of the bones from my waist down were going to shatter, I finished the run; however, I knew that there was no way in HELL that I could have run 7 more miles (marathon distance). I finally decided it was time to listen to my body. I switched back to my old shoes, and the Brooks went into the closet never to be worn again! I wish I had done that sooner!

About a week later, I noticed the tread starting to wear off of my current shoes (the Sauconys). Because I still had a couple of weeks before the marathon, I decided to get another pair so they would be broken in well enough before race day (seriously no big deal). I went to the local running store to find out that Saucony no longer made the Ride 4. WHAAAAAT?!  I thought I was going to have a panic attack right in the middle of the store. This was terrible news! I mean, I can't change to a completely different shoe 2 weeks before the marathon! After the salesman calmed me down, he assured me that the Ride 5 was very similar to the 4, and if I didn't like them after a few runs, I could bring them back. Well, I really had no choice but to buy them, because it probably would have also been harmful to wear the worn down shoes for much longer. I just hated the idea of a new shoe this late in the game. I literally wanted to vom. 

After a few runs, I decided that I love the Ride 5. They were great throughout my training. Since the marathon, I have run a half-marathon, and the knee felt great! Oh, and I also set a PR!!!

In summary, I'm blaming my poor marathon performance on the shoes. It's the only thing that I changed from last year's training. While I mentioned in a previous post that my knee was likely an exacerbation from a basketball injury, I took good care of myself then and let it heal. That's why I didn't have any problems last year.

WHAT I LEARNED

1. If you decide to switch to minimalist shoes, do it slowly. Start off with wearing the minimalists for the short runs, and continue to wear your older, more supportive shoes for the long runs. 
2. Listen to your body and recognize pain early. DO NOT ignore it.
3. Minimalist shoes should probably only be worn for short runs (just my opinion). If half-marathons are the furthest you run, you might be ok. There are runners who wear minimalists, even five-fingers, for marathons; those runners might be ok now, but I am still not convinced that they will remain injury-free. 

*disclaimer: I am NO expert. This is all based on my personal experience. And common sense. 

Marathon numero dos.

I just ran my second marathon, and I've been meaning to tell you about it. Not that it was very exciting, but I learned a lot this time around.

Let's start with my training. While my training last year went very well, this year's was 10 times better. I missed less than 5 runs (and those were only short runs) this time around and rocked my long runs. I did have the occasional "bad day," but for the most part, I felt that my training had me prepared to finish in a good time (for me). I also incorporated yoga into my cross-training (I did zero cross-training last year), which worked wonders. I think that all training programs should involve yoga. As for the physical part, I was very well-prepared, and that allowed me to be confident, as well as mentally prepared.

Let's move forward to race day. It was perfect. I could not have asked for better weather, and I felt great! Everything was going smoothly until mile 8. My left knee started to KILL ME. Literally kill me. I recognized this pain as an exacerbation of a previous basketball injury, and I prayed so hard for the pain to go away (I still had 18 miles to go!). I made it to mile 20 (limping at that point), and I just had to walk. I wanted so badly to quit, but that's not in my blood. The tears started flowing immediately, not because I was in pain, but because I felt so defeated. I literally felt like I had just lost the National Championship. Ok, that may be a little dramatic, but it's true. I am very competitive, mostly with myself, and I HATE to lose. What bothers me the most is that I felt great, except for my knee. I never felt thirsty, nor did I ever hit a wall. It was so frustrating!!!

I guess I'll just have to chalk this one up as a loss and get ready for the next race, while also taking care of my knee. I do feel like I know why it acted up, but I'll explain that in another post.