Back to reality

I'm back from my little mini trip to Augusta. It may very well be my last visit. We are still hopeful we can move back there, or at the very least move to San Antonio. I'm tired of my astronomically high rent for a house in a place we don't love. It was nice to be back in a town that feels like home to me, even if the reason was to sell our house. It made me a little sad but it needed to be done. Now we'll be able to save our money for wherever it is we settle in to.

So now I'm back, my stomach is feeling all the food I've eaten this week but it'll get back to normal over the next day or so. I went to the gym yesterday and I am hella sore. I think ring rows are what did it, somehow they are much more challenging than TRX rows. My last set of deadlifts was 195 and it was tough. My official goal is now to hit 225 on my 30th birthday. On my last birthday I got 205 and that still holds as my PR because the injury happened about a month later. At the rate I'm going it looks like I'm gonna smash that. And it'll be cool because it will be 2 45# plates on each side, it may seem dorky but that feels like a huge step to me.

I have my notebook so I can now track my progress in the gym. I think this is really gonna help me evaluate things especially now that I am going 4 days a week. I also experimented with waking up a little earlier and just showering at home so I can make myself a meal. I needed some post workout protein and carbs and it's coming to me in the form of an egg and cheese bagel. This will also help me feel less hungry at work. In the past few weeks I found myself stopping at Starbucks for a breakfast sandwich for my post workout/pre work shift, and while they aren't so terrible for you at 300 some calories, the money adds up and I get tempted to get lattes and stuff.

One more exciting thing! That Crossfit clinic at work yielded me these!

My very own Nano 6! I'm kind of in love with it. 

It joins my family of Nanos

My old beloved teal Nano 4 (and an insole), it was my main gym shoe for the last 1.5 years and this thing has been through hell and back. I also have a blue one with yellow laces that is newer.

Nano 5, Murica edition. I love the way they look but I don't love the Nano 5. The heel doesn't fit my foot right and the Kevlar makes it so when the shoe bends at the toe area it digs into the top of my foot. I could straight up lift in it but I can't do any running, lunging, sleds, or anything that isn't just standing around. It's still cute though and I wear it for patriotic purposes sometimes.

The 6 is awesome so far. I don't have the problem where the Kevlar digs into my toes like the 5 did, the fit is maybe slightly narrow on the 6 but I can deal with it and it will get better with wear. The heel is perfect, it even feels firmer than previous Nanos, almost sort of like a Metcon - and I like it. The upper and lining feel great. It's comfortable and functional and I think it's gonna be a great shoe for me no matter what I do in the gym.


Well, I am off to the gym shortly for some heavy legs/upper body push. Also some shopping, house work, and just a relaxing day at home with my husband

Friday Pump

It's been a really good day.

Started off with this

4 sets of 5, 175# squats

Followed by this

4 sets of 5, #90 bench

Other things not pictured - shoulder presses with #35 dumbbells, RDL's, single arm presses, medicine ball push ups, dips, Turkish get ups, farmer's carries, burpees, box jumps, jump rope. I felt great today :p

Cool moment - this heavyset middle aged guy was working with a trainer and he busted out several sets of 180#-ish power cleans followed by wall ball sit ups (PUKE CITY) I was impressed... never judge a book by it's cover!

And you may have noticed these..

Yup. I need more shoes like I need a hole in my head... but my boss got these and they look so much cooler in person than they did online! It's like a cream color and the color/pattern is reversed on each shoe. I had to get these.

After the weights were lifted I got a massage, lunch, and spent my afternoon watching American Ninja Warrior. I love it, so many strong inspirational athletes (especially the women)

Now we're gaming after I cooked some spicy chicken and beans. It's been a good day.

A family 5k!

I haven't posted in awhile... life has been coming at me full speed and this is the first true "day off" I've had in a couple weeks.

Last weekend I was down in VA with my family. The primary goal - complete the Run the DOG Street 5k with my mom and brother! My mom and I had talked about doing this for awhile, and we managed to get one of my brothers to come along too. I ran this race last year so I knew alot of what to expect. It takes place in Colonial Williamsburg and the course takes you through the shopping district, the college, and the historic area.

I got our packets the day before and I told them we needed to leave the house no later than 645. And in typical family fashion we didn't leave until after 7. We parked nearby and got to the starting line at 7:35, and at that moment the kids were just starting. Everyone else had gone. We were LITERALLY the last people to start the race. And we were walking it. There were some kids and parents around us that we kept pace with, and eventually we did overtake a few people. But overall we just walked and enjoyed ourselves, of course my mom had to point out every minute detail about things we were passing because she knows Williamsburg and it's citizens like the back of her hand. She saw at least 10 people she knew during and after this race - she seriously does know everyone in town. By the time we got about halfway through and entered the historic district, my brother really had to pee and began trying to find bathrooms. There are free standing bathrooms because it's a major tourist area, but it was a matter of trying to find one. I knew my brother wanted to run a little, so as he went into each building to see if it had a bathroom I told my mom to keep walking and that my brother and I would run to catch up to her. We did this 3 times until he finally found his bathroom.

Nearly an hour later we crossed the finish line, among the last people to finish the race. They were out of medals because over 1300 people signed up this year and they didn't expect the turnout. It was fine with me but I would have liked for my family to get their medals. After we finished we enjoyed a nice breakfast at one of our favorite local spots, and my mom and I walked around town and looked at the farmer's market too.

I continue to be very impressed by my mom. Less than a month from now she will be 73, and not only did she walk a 5k, we walked another 3 miles later that afternoon! She can get up and walk for miles just on a whim. She has a few health issues that are controlled with medication but is in overall good shape. I felt really fortunate to be able to do this with them, I had never done a race with my family before and it was great to share the experience of completing a race with them. I also have never walked a 5k race or experienced a race from the back of the pack. It was neat to do a race from a totally different perspective than I'm used to.

Oh, and I was able to get them shoes! Because I work in a running store I can get lightly used shoes cheap, the only downside is it's all a random assortment because it's whatever shoes people have returned. I managed to find a Asics Kayano 22 for my brother - when my family came to visit me I analyzed his gait so I know he needs a stability shoe just like me. He loves it, he has an old injury on his heel but it didn't bother him during the race. For my mom I did not know so I assumed neutral. She wears a size 10 dress shoe, has a bunion, and one of her ankles was previously injured and has early arthritis so it tends to swell alot. I managed to find her a 10.5 wide width Brooks Glycerin 13. At first she balked at the size as most women do, but after awhile she was amazed at how much less her feet were hurting. Normally she walks in flats (!!!!!) and I hated to see her doing that, so I used what knowledge I had about fitting shoes and it seems to have worked. By the end of the day she was raving about the shoes and her ankle was noticeably less swollen than normal. Now I just hope she can get over them not looking like a dress shoe and actually wear them when she walks around the neighborhood.

I really enjoyed walking the race and spending the weekend with the family. We really made the most of the 1.5 days that I had down there. At some point we will be moving back to GA and will be a little farther away, but I hope I can do something like this with them again in the future.

Lifting, Lifter, and Monopoly

It's been a pretty lazy weekend around here.

Well, I did go to Soldierfit yesterday as per usual. Only it wasn't the usual.

They are doing a "Monopoly" charity drive, and to kick it off the workout was Monopoly themed.

We had 5 squads, but they were divided in half. I was with 2 guys and we were given a pair of dice. We rolled the dice and whatever number came up was the station we started at. 12 stations total, each was labeled with a number and a description of the exercise in case anyone forgot. First station was alternating tire to floor planks. A group of women joined us at that station and all of us together would forever be known as a team. So the first exercise for a minute, then while doing jumping jacks we rolled again and whatever number came up was the amount of spaces we had to move. There were hurdles set up as a "Go" station. Basically we're moving around the room like a game board, and counted every time we passed Go. It was messy as everyone was scrambling around trying to roll dice and move to the next stations. Sometimes 2 groups would land on the same station and there wouldn't be enough equipment, so people used a nearby empty station and did that exercise instead. We didn't do every single thing, but I remember doing lunges with a sledgehammer overhead, sled pushes/jumping jacks, kettlebell swings, box jumps, squats/ropes, bosu ball burpees, and we did the overhead slam ball station like 5 times! It was crazy, different, and fun. We were all certain we were gonna win because we always rolled high and had alot of Go's. But evidently another team beat us by 2 and won free shirts. Nevertheless, it was pretty fun.

I also got to help move these big heavy shelving units at work. We basically deadlifted them. And I like how they asked me to help instead of the other 2 men that were working at the time :)

I also purchased a lifting shoe from work. Here it is!

I love the colors, they are much more blue than the website led me to believe. Right now I don't particularly need it unless I go in one day and want to hit a PR, but after I move I'll be doing Crossfit and will need it then.

I have a problem

It's been another good yet busy week for me. A little update too - my shin isn't hurting anymore. Seems like not using an insole is the ticket. However, my calves and feet are on fire during/after a run because they're not used to doing all the work. This is temporary and I'd much rather deal with this than shin pain.

On a sort of but not really related note, for those that don't know I work at a running store and therefore have alot of shoes. Like I mean a ridiculous amount of shoes. Especially lately I've gotten alot of freebies and my husband is just like "Really??" So last week he took it upon himself to round up every shoe I have and dump them on me and take a picture.

So here we have it.

I'll try to list them all out starting from my head. About half of these were free or incredibly cheap for me

Newton Motion (3?) - future running shoes
Newton Kismet x2  - future running shoes
Reebok Nano 4.0  - lifting shoe
Mizuno Wave Inspire  - wear to work
Newton Distance 5  - future running shoes
Saucony Kinvara 5 - used mainly for Soldierfit classes
Vibram Bikila - used mainly for lifting
Newton Kismet (purple) current running shoe
Nike Free Flyknit 4.0 - everyday/work shoe
Altra Torin 2 - potential running shoe
Mizuno Prophecy (3?) - work
Saucony Peregrine 5? - trail shoe
Adidas Pure Boost X - wear to work/around town
Saucony Triumph 2 - for work
Nike Pegasus Flash 32 (men's) - wear around, especially if it's raining
Adidas Energy Boost 3 - for work/but it hurts my toes
Nike Metcon 2 - lifting shoe
Under Armor Apollo - everyday/gym/Soldierfit
I think some random Merrell casual shoes are here too
Adidas Energy Boost 2 - retired work shoe
Brooks Launch 3 - work/everyday
Nike Free Run Distance - work/everyday
Nike Vomero 10 x2 - work/everyday
Mizuno Wave Hayate - work shoe
There's another black and white Nano 4.0 in here somewhere, men's 8.5 that was given to me

And there you have it. A stupid amount of shoes. I will give some to a co worker before I move, but may also buy more for future purposes, for example an Oly lifting shoe

I am a girl and I have a shoe problem, but not like you'd think :)

Running - problem solving

The saga continues as I try to figure out what's at the root of this pain I've been having in my right shin. And I think I'm making some progress.

I largely attribute this pain to getting back into running consistently after some time off. I have the same shoe nearly a year ago when I was running 10-15 miles a week and even ran a half marathon in it with virtually no problems.

But wait, last summer I got my insoles and started using them in my shoe...

I had used them sparingly over the last 6 months, then in Jan/Feb I started running 2-3 x a week on the treadmill, and am now running outside. At first I thought they were working well enough, I even noticed I feel less overpronation when I wear them. But now that this pain is creeping up it led me to consider.. could it be my insoles?

I think the answer is a partial yes. Today I ran 3 miles without my insoles and noticed a difference right away. No shin pain until the very end of my run, which allowed me to run faster and complete the same run in a 10:24 pace vs a 10:38 pace 2 days ago. My heart rate was in the aerobic zone instead of the "easy" zone. My efficiency improved (180 cadence, higher leg swing, lower rate of impact) and I overall felt "lighter" on my feet. Without my insoles it was like the pain shifted over to my right calf, probably because my feet had to work harder to absorb the impact and stabilize my ankles. Calf pain I can deal with, for 2 years I've had a chronic knot on that side and I know it's cause that is my weaker ankle.

So yeah, I'm pretty sure that is what's going on. I have tried for a year to use the insoles we sell at my work, my first pair was made wrong and caused achilles pain in both sides which was totally new to me, and it looks like the second pair just isn't gonna work either. I make and sell insoles every day and almost every day we get returns. I find that they work for some people but not others. Every day I have people telling me how the insoles got rid of their knee/heel/etc pain and allowed them to run again... then I get some people who say they didn't notice a difference, and then some people who actually had more pain after using them. Sadly I seem to fall into that last group. Maybe part of it is me being a mid to forefoot striker, and coming down directly on that plastic plate is stressing my shins and arches? Our insoles aren't even that hard compared to something like Superfeet or orthotics. I dunno. I'm just glad I'm getting somewhere with this. Now I figure I just keep my mileage low yet consistent, and in time it'll work itself out.

Altra Torin 2.0

A few weeks ago we had an Altra clinic at my work. The rep came in to talk about all the Altra shoes and tell us why they're different. I have wanted to try them for myself for awhile and I know several people who run in them and swear by them. 

Basically their concept is zero drop shoes (not to be confused with BAREFOOT or MINIMAL shoes) that still offer decent cushion and protection from the ground, yet allow you to run in a more natural form. Altra feels that the traditional running shoe is so built up with heel cushioning that it forces the heel to strike first, which is not a natural pattern and therefore could lead to injury. So in the quest to help people with their injuries they created shoes with an even platform from heel to toe (zero drop) and a more foot shaped toe box to help the toes spread out naturally during a run. All of this sounds right up my alley, so when I got these babies I was super excited

The Torin 2.0! 

I love the color!

... And my cat who was super curious about this shoe box. 

So the Torin - a highly cushioned shoe, which normally I shy away from but when I compared it to the Intuition I found I liked the feel of the Torin better. It seemed softer. I considered getting the Provision which is their stability model for overpronators like me, but my store doesn't sell it and the rep only had an 8.5 to try on which was way too small, so I couldn't really get an idea of the shoe. The rep said I should be fine in the Torin. Altra doesn't believe in stability in the traditional sense, as they don't do medial posting and put their stability in the forefoot because the toes should provide stability when they land. 

Anyway - this morning I tested them and here are my thoughts

This shoe felt great. It's really light. There's alot of cushion, perhaps more than I'm used to, but this is good news for distance runners/anyone who needs cushion. Yet I could feel my lower leg muscles working as is customary with a zero drop shoe. Now, I do have some problems at the moment. I took some time off from running and am now running 2-3 times a week and trying to increase mileage slowly. I'm experiencing some shin pain particularly on my right side, which is pretty new to me and I attribute it to my body getting used to running again. I had no issues for the past year in the same shoes, but then after I took a break and came back I suddenly have pain. So everything kind of hurts right now, but in this shoe I continued to have pain. I even had some pain in my arch which never bothers me during my run, although it can feel sore after a run sometimes. I also had issues with the fit of my left shoe, my heel was sliding around all over the place. Already laced it to prevent heel slippage. I could wear a thicker sock but I think it will still be an issue that would prevent me from using these shoes on longer runs, it's just way too distracting. I wanna use these shoes for shorter distances. They feel really good and the toe box isn't constricting like so many other shoes out there. One of my left toes did hit the end of the shoe but that may be a matter of my toenails being a little long at the moment. But I definitely couldn't go down in size because of this. I ended up in a 9.5, which is possibly too short but too big for my tiny ass heels. 

I wanted this shoe to be perfect for me. And it's so close... but there's just a couple issues with the fit that might not make it work for long distances. I'm going to keep testing it and try to fix the fit, and once my body adjusts to running again hopefully I can really get a better feel for these shoes. This is just the first of many runs with my Torin :)

Soldierfit Day 2

It's been a super active week for me following the visiting of my parents. I've been non stop since Tuesday and plan on running 4 miles tomorrow, then taking a rest day. This will probably be the new norm, 1 maybe 2 rest days a week.

I did my second ever Soldierfit class on Thursday. This was led by a different instructor and I found I really liked his style vs the first instructor's. My first class was "do wall balls for 2 minutes straight, do donkey kicks for 2 minutes straight," etc. which caused me to fatigue quickly.

This class was 6 people / 2 squads of 3 and the 5 stations went something like this

5 donkey kicks, run to the middle, then broad jump back (repeat)

10 wall ball squats, then get on the floor and medicine ball pass/chest throw into the wall 10 times (repeat)

Butt scoots to the middle, 20 bicycles, bear crawl back, 20 bicycles (repeat)

With 2 dumbbells get into a plank - push up, renegade row with each arm, then pop up into an overhead press (repeat)

Dead leg slide w/sliders to the middle, 15 crunches, then slide backwards, 15 crunches (repeat)

There were other things thrown into the mix too, which I've forgotten now

But it was far less monotonous... and it was enough to make me work hard, but not exhaust my muscles from repetition. I did well in this class, in the top 1-3 (What, I have to get competitive sometimes!) but everyone worked really hard and we all celebrated with high 5's at the end

I am also experimenting with shoe choices for these classes, as I have an ungodly amount of shoes. These Saucony Kinvara 5's worked very well. They are light, but cushioned just enough for the impact of all the jumping, and they are not constricting in any way.

Other shoes on my list to try are my Under Armor Apollo's and my Brooks Launch 3


Today was lifting (legs, chest/shoulders) and it was one of those days where I lifted more weight than I thought I was lifting - always a good thing. I haven't squatted heavy since my injury yet managed to do 165 for 5 reps, 2 sets. My max is 185 for 2 reps. Also benched with the 40's again, and did some sick farmers walks with 35 in each hand, among other things

And that's about all for today's update. I've been quite tired from all the exertion (but my sleep has been AMAZING!)

DC Spartan Sprint

Once again the Trifecta is mine!

I got my third and final medal to make my 2015 Trifecta complete. This year the red medal came last, I got the hard stuff out of the way first I guess. Yesterday I was in southern MD for the DC Sprint. My heat was at 9:45, so I had plenty of time to check out the course map and find my buddy Leon who was volunteering in the morning and running in the afternoon.

He needs to work on his selfie

They warned us that there were bees all over the place. I immediately had flashbacks of getting stung at the Wildwood Games. But no bees stung me this time! My heat started with the announcer taking requests for the opening speech. He rallied us with the Mighty Ducks speech and it was amazing. Ducks Fly Together! This course was 4 ish miles, 23 obstacles. Elevation wouldn't be an issue compared to the other 2 races I did this year, but it was still pretty darn hilly! I power walked the hills and jogged the flat areas. This course reminded me alot of the SC Beast, and that's a good thing! The first obstacle was some log hurdles, then the 6 and 7 foot walls. I needed a boost over the 6 because it had no foothold. The 7 had a foothold, and just like I did in PA I got up it all by myself. Within that first mile we were assaulted by obstacles. The inverted wall - this time I got up it by myself, which I have done before but the last 2-3 times I needed a boost. Then the Stairway to Sparta, a wall with a ladder on top. I got up the wall by myself, but somehow found myself wedged underneath the first rung of the ladder. I had to drop back down and I ended up getting a boost from somebody. Once I figure out a good technique for it I'll be able to climb it by myself. Water station next, also fueled up here because I did not want this race to turn out like PA where I started having blood sugar crashes. I stayed on top of my nutrition yesterday. We had an Atlas carry here, this thing is just getting too damn easy for me. I owe it all to my deadlifting. Next, the 8 foot wall. Victory of the day - I climbed it all by myself! This wall has 2 footholds. I stepped on the first, put my left hand on the outer edge of the wall, put my foot on the second hold, then reached my right hand to the top of the wall, pulled myself up and moved my left hand to the top. So now I was hanging off the top with my feet on the higher foothold. I pushed myself up from hanging position. It was hard, I was shaking and my muscles almost gave out on me. I remember the volunteer cheering me on. I hung my arms over the wall and pushed. And then I was at the top. I'm proud, not many women make it over that wall without help. Immediately after the wall were the monkey bars. Did alot of pausing and swinging here to maintain momentum because their bars are so freaking far apart, but this was easy peasy. I can see how my grip strength has imrpoved because I wasn't struggling to hang on at any point. Not too far after the monkey bars... there was the bucket carry. As much as I hate this obstacle, I was pleasantly surprised because it was really not that bad! There were some hills, but it wasn't up a damn mountain and also it was in the shade. I only stopped 3 times. Maybe I just hate carrying objects up black diamond ski hills. But next, the sadistic course designer placed the Z walls in our way. First burpees of the day for me. 

And so ended the first onslaught of obstacles! All within the first mile! More hills in the woods, then a very easy wooded sandbag carry. We exited the woods again to find a water station, an A frame cargo which was a very slow climb because of all the people, then a slippery wall. As I was climbing it the girl next to me slipped and instantly screamed for help. A guy appeared at the top of my lane to help her, which was nice of him except for the fact that I couldn't climb up because he was in my way, and I was gripping the chain at the top and it was hard to hold on to. Asking for help is fine, but this girl didn't even TRY to get herself over the wall, just instantly screamed for help. I remember fighting for dear life when I slipped on this obstacle at my first Spartan 2 years ago. Anyway. Back in the woods for more trails. The hills were pretty relentless. But we were in the shade, I was having fun laughing with some other 9:45'ers (because Ducks Fly Together) and then before you knew it we were exiting the woods for the mud hills. These things were steep (look at how small the guy on the hill is in the picture) and they had no ropes. The hills got very slippery. I picked what looked like the driest section, got about halfway up, then I just slid down really slowly and splashed back into the water. There was just nothing to grab onto. I exited the pool on the side and climbed the hill from the side. It was still within bounds :) Later in the day I saw they put ropes up so it must have been pretty bad. Next - rope climb. The mud hills actually tired me out quite a bit. My upper body strength was sapped from all the obstacles early on. I got into the pit ready to rock but I realized there was no knot at the bottom. The first knot was like face level! I pulled myself up as high as I could with my arms and scrunched my legs up, but could not get my feet on the knot. I tried 3 times and it just wasn't gonna work. Bummer. I'll get it one of these days.

Back into the woods for a long stretch of running. The trails were flatter so I ran here, but eventually we encountered several pits of crazy thick mud. This was like Neverending Story level mud. Many shoes lost, people slipping all over the place. I slipped and fell on my ass, totally played it off and everyone around me just laughed. My left butt cheek hurt after that and I know the bruise will be colossal. After an eternity of trudging through the peanut butter mud, we found a cargo climb in the woods. One of the ones that's between 2 trees so it moves around on you. There was bottlenecking because the net was extremely slippery from the mud we had all just been through. Right as I was about to go, a girl fell off the top and landed on her head/neck!!! She lay there silent for a bit, eventually said she was ok but the medics were called and she was most likely pulled off the course. The girl in front of me screamed as she almost slipped off the top. I said nope, screw this and walked on past. I'm sorry, but my health isn't worth a silly obstacle. If that thick mud wasn't all over it I'd have no problem, I have done obstacles like that many times. That just seemed borderline unsafe to me so I made a judgement call. I did see alot of people sidelined, one ankle injury at the inverted wall, tons of people with cramps, and a guy throwing up on the side of a hill. My take on it is, yes you do sign a waiver but you should also use your judgement and walk away from anything that looks unsafe beyond reason. But back to the race - many more hills were climbed, then we faced an easy plate drag, the final water station which was much appreciated, and the multi bars - rings, then a softball??? then a pipe. More burpees for me, yay! Followed by a very slippery Herc Hoist, but still conquered with amazing swiftness by yours truly. I guided a fellow chick through it, ready to help out if needed because she was struggling pretty badly. It took her awhile but she did it. Spear throw next, barely missed it! At least I'm getting better at it though. 

Then at long last we entered the barb wire crawl. This was a good old muddy, watery, fun crawl. I felt like I was back home in GA again with that orange clay like mud. I took a few breaks but got through it in 8-10 minutes, even faster than some of the boys. Caked in glorious mud, I emerged from the crawl, jumped the fire, and crossed the finish. I received my red medal, and therefore my 2015 Trifecta. 

I went and found Leon who wanted to get a picture of me all muddy. I wished him well and then he headed off to go run his race. 

I had a freaking blast. I forgot how much fun the Sprints were, having not done one in over a year. I need to move back south, because I'm learning that I love Spartans just like this one, and the Carolina Super/Beast. They are challenging, muddy, and fun. The mountain races were just too difficult to the point where it wasn't fun anymore. I have no problem climbing hills, they're a good challenge and serve their purpose in creating a good race, but climbing mountains just for the sake of climbing isn't really what I want to do. If I wanna do nothing but hike then I'll go hiking. The mud is also considerably absent in the mountain races, and that's a huge part of what makes it fun for me. So with any luck we'll be back down south for the 2016 season and I'll be happy running the GA/SC races. 

I also said farewell to my Inov8's. They got me through a year of trail running, a half marathon, and like 8 OCR's. 

And my results - I did pretty damn good considering the fact I didn't even try to go fast whatsoever! I didn't run much at all and spent a lot of time bottlenecked at obstacles and helping other people out. It'll be interesting when I get really really good and actually try to go fast.

• Overall
  2,374th
  of 7,472
• Female
  510th
  of 2,630
• F25-29
  121st
  of 642

Worst girl ever

Uh, so I have a problem. A shoe problem. My job has just fueled the habit.

I have -
Newton Kismet (road running)
Merrell Bare Access Arc (road running)
Inov8 Trailroc (trail running)  (About to buy a Saucony Peregrine to start rotating the Inov8's out cause they are near dead)
Reebok Nano (gym)
Vibram Bikila (??? Got it for $27 at work)
Saucony Kinvara (Mainly wearing to work, got for $27)
Nike Vomero (Got for free from work)
Adidas Energy Boost (For work)
Oofos flip flops

Then some random things like hiking shoes, more flip flops and slip ons. I have a billion shoes but no dress shoes or "cute" shoes. That's just how I roll - not good at being girly, never was and never will be.

I'm the worst girl ever :)

So I found some shoes for $60 on Amazon (my work is out of the color/size I want). I don't need them. Not exactly sure what I'll use them for yet. But I couldn't resist...

They. Are. So. CUTE!

It's the Mizuno Hayate. A trail stability shoe - hey, I can actually make use of that! I think I will take this out on the trails for light use (no mud or anything crazy) and then wear them to work for "Mizuno Monday". This is a size 10, maybe a tad big on me but I prefer my shoes big and especially for Mizuno which can run short and narrow. 

Ahhhh they're just so cute. 

Yes, I have a shoe problem. But not in the way you'd think. As I said, I'm not good at being girly.

The Great Shoe Debate

So - Half Marathon #3 is approaching. Yeah, first mention of it here on my blog. Had it on my radar for awhile but actually signed up for real this week.

I thought I was sure about what shoes I would wear. Turns out I'm not ...

These are my Merrell Bare Access Arc's. I got them in January and proceeded to rack up training miles on them, the longest being 11 miles. They got me through the Hot Chocolate 15k. And they've been pretty good shoes.

Bare Access Arc's (plus my cat's toy duckie on a stick, she drags it around everywhere)

However...

In February I started my job at a running store and learned all kinds of new things about gait and shoes. My gait analysis revealed I *should* be in a stability shoe. I overpronate a little bit, mainly on the right side. Fairly flexible ankles and medium arches. Heh, I've been running in neutral shoes this whole time. 2.5 years ago I started running, and my first pair of shoes were some New Balance Minimus from the outlet. I learned how to run in minimally cushioned shoes, with a low heel to toe drop, and I do not heel strike. So I'm trying to do the right thing and use stability shoes. Problem is, most of them tend to be more traditional - higher heel to toe drop, lots of heel cushioning, the medial post which is a piece of plastic in the shoe to help control over pronation. Well shit. I don't like traditional running shoes. So I tried on a few of my store's "performance" stability shoes, and some of them are contenders, but I felt like I was still missing the roomier fit and wide toe box that I love. 

Behold, my Newton Kismets.

Kismet! They're dirty

These shoes have more cushion yet with a low drop (4mm) and have "lugs" on the bottom to promote a mid/forefoot strike and help get your feet off the ground faster.I love these shoes so far. Haven't taken them on any long runs yet but they do feel very comfortable and natural. The only thing is, the lugs seem to make running up and down hills a bit tricky. But they have definitely warmed me up to the idea of wearing stability shoes.

So this morning I went out for 5 miles - I've been super lazy and sleepy in the mornings and haven't gotten my ass out of bed to run as much as I should. Today I took my Merrell's - noticed a huge difference, and not in a good way! Everything kind of hurt. My feet felt really wobbly too. I dunno, it wasn't good. Maybe after the past month of running in something with a little more cushion and stability I'm just feeling all the impact and overpronation much more? My mind wandered to the Kismets - maybe I should just wear those for the half! But I've never run more than 4 miles in them! They do feel so much better though. 

Hmmm.... I am thinking the Kismet will be the one for the half. I guess the only thing I'm worried about is the fact that I haven't put in any long runs in them, and what if something changes halfway through and the lugs start hurting my feet or something? But the Merrell's are hurting me now that I am used to the Newtons...

Ahhh what the hell. I am the one who signed up for a Spartan Beast at a ski resort, 2 weeks ahead of time with no formal training. 

Screw it! :)

Newton Kismet

Last week I was trying on shoes in an effort to find a stability shoe that still lets me mid/forefoot strike. Recently I learned I should be in a stability shoe, my right ankle overpronates a bit too much and it's probably the cause of some ankle and foot pain I've been feeling. I heard about the Newtons and how they are supposed to promote foot striking. So I tried them on.

Newton shoes have "lugs" on the bottom.    ...................

My first thoughts from just standing in the shoes were that the lugs made the shoe feel really weird. Standing around and walking in them felt very strange. But as soon as I started my little trial run around the room I instantly loved them. It feels like the lugs help "spring" my foot forward. Pushing off feels easier. The shoe itself is also really comfy. The upper is a soft, breathable mesh like material. No uncomfortable hard plastics or stitching. I got a half size up, so 9.5 regular width. I am inbetween a regular and a wide so I often have trouble with shoes feeling too narrow, but not these. They feel perfect. That said, I would ONLY use these for running. I don't think they are meant to be walked in because of the lugs. It's certainly not a comfortable shoe for walking.

Also I love the way these shoes look - always a plus!

Run #1

Starting off I noticed some looseness in the heels, but this is a very common problem for me. I have wide feet yet narrow heels at the same time... heel slippage and blistering has always been an issue. No worries, if it continues I can most likely solve it with a lace lock as I have done before. In the first mile my feet felt a bit tingly where the lugs are, I think this is just a matter of adjusting to them because I have not worn any shoe like this before. Running in them felt great. The lugs really seem to aid in the push off. I feel "faster" in them. Unfortunately this was not a good test run because we still have patches of ice on the trails and I had to stop several times. This run was only 3 miles and I planned on it being 4. 

Run #2
Did the lace lock before even heading out the door to see if it felt better around my heels - and it did. No worries though as I have to do this with about 50% of my shoes. This run felt really good, except once again about 1.5 miles in my feet started to go numb where the lugs are. But then the numbness went away after 5 minutes or so. At this point I'm still hesitant to take these out on a run longer than 3-4 miles.

Run #3
This was a 5k tempo run. My feet felt fine, I feel like I'm getting more and more used to these shoes each time I use them. Noticed the numbness again but it was for like 1 minute tops and then it went away.

I think these shoes will be a keeper. At this point I'm gonna use them for my 3-4 mile runs. This is more of a performance shoe, but if I end up with good results I may start using them for longer distances.

He runs too!

Today has been awesome!

Last night my husband and I were watching a movie and got onto a discussion about all things fitness related. At some point he mentioned he wanted to try and start running again. It's been 2 years and 3 foot surgeries since he last ran. I asked if he would run with me in the morning. My plan was 7 miles so I figured I'd just run with him and then head back out to make it 7. The idea of running with him had me so excited!

Shoes - out of all the shoes out there, hes in Vibram Five Fingers. He had a pair waaay back in the day (back before it was cool!) and has always favored minimalism like me. He needs to mid strike, can't heel strike and needs to try and avoid toe striking. This shoe would promote mid or toe striking. But what it really came down to was all the other shoes he tried on had bulky stitching or straps that ran across the side of his feet and would cut into where his surgery scar is. He liked these because they are comfortable for him and not restrictive.

Honestly I had low expectations for him. Because he can hardly walk or stand for long periods of time without his feet, knees, or back hurting, I figured maybe he'd be able to go half a mile. Whatever he was capable of doing, I supported it. So we took everything at his pace. I checked in with him often to see how everything was feeling, make sure he wasn't in pain and such. After awhile I could see it was becoming challenging for him on a cardiovascular level. This is all too common with people who haven't run in a long time. But he kept going. At the one mile mark he stopped for a moment and then we turned around. Towards the end of the run he was complaining about his hip and knee. I kept asking if we needed to walk. Nope, kept pushing until the very end. He ran 2 miles! Then he promptly collapsed on the side of the trail to catch his breath and rest for a few minutes. I remember that feeling all too well. Not having that high level of cardiovascular fitness makes it really tough.

I'm so proud of him for running 2 miles! It wasn't fast and it wasn't easy, but he never quit. He surpassed all my expectations. Later I found out he chose 2 miles for a reason, it's the distance the Army runs for their PT tests. It means alot to him because running kind of haunted him during most of his time in the military.

I snapped this picture of him. He hates having his picture taken and never smiles, but he's been in a great mood ever since the run. I'm so happy he did this and we hope to make this a Saturday thing. Recovery might be tough with all his various injuries, but I hope he gets stronger so he can keep doing it. It makes me feel awesome inside to be part of it.

Also - OREOS.

These are amazing. You know they're really bad for you when they come in a smaller package. But seriously. Get them.

9 is Fine

I'm sitting here enjoying a nice rainy Saturday. This summer has been ridiculously dry so a rainy day is much appreciated!

I got out of the house early to try and beat the rain. Saddled up for my 9 mile run at FATS. To make it 9 miles I opted to run Great Wall and get the rest of the distance done on Skinny. Great Wall was a new trail to me - it's 7.5 miles, much shadier than Skinny, and also felt less hilly than Skinny. It does have ALOT of dips for the mountain bikers, they are kind of annoying to run up and down but it's ok. The last mile was basically one long hill and wore me down pretty good but I recovered from it. Great Wall is a beautiful, woodsy trail. Because this run was 9 miles I didn't want to kill myself out there so my pace was pretty easy. The temps were in the 70's and it was cloudy but not pouring yet. I fueled and hydrated very well this time - a pack of Honey Stingers and half a Nuun tablet in my water. Worked very well for me. This run was pretty great. I've been stressed out about alot of things lately, so it was really nice to just run it out for awhile. I didn't stress. I just kind of savored the run, enjoyed being outdoors, and took it all in. Wish I had taken a couple pictures but it wasn't really on my mind at the time.

However I did snap a picture of my delicious food from Genghis Grill. Freaking love this place.

So. The Inov8 Trailroc 226's. These were the evil bastard shoes that gave me blisters the size of Texas during my last obstacle race. I liked the shoes... but obviously there was a problem here. My guess was sizing - they were a 9.5 which is a half size up from my regular street shoes. I always go a half size up at least. Guess this calls for a size 10. To give this shoe another try I sent the 9.5's back and ordered 10's. They fit much better, but there's still the issue of heel slipping. I laced them accordingly but while walking my heels were still slipping. I feel like I am prone to heel issues and always have been. After a long walk I almost always end up with heel blisters. And I walked for MOST of the 9 hilly miles at Battlefrog. As far as actual RUNNING goes, I didn't have any issues at all in the new size 10's. Because I'm a mid/forefoot striker there's really no friction happening between the shoe and my heel.

Lacing Techniques

These shoes were pretty great today. They are zero drop but beefier than your typical floppy minimalist shoes. Protected my feet from hard rocks but still gave me plenty of foot control. The tread on these shoes is awesome, and that's a huge reason why I am trying to make this shoe work for me. They also did not tear up my feet as badly as my old New Balance Minimus (Minimuses? Minimii? What is the plural of this word!) and I wasn't dying to get out of my shoes and into my flip flops the instant my run was over. I actually wore them for like 2 hours afterwards as I milled around town doing errands and such. My heels weren't bothering me... but further testing is definitely needed with these shoes. I think tomorrow I will take them out on a recovery walk around my neighborhood and see how they feel. You might think this is not important, but I know that I will be walking alot at the Spartan Beast, and the Super on the very next day. I can't afford to get blisters with 2 very difficult races back to back. So if these shoes fail the walk test I'll have to send them back and maybe try the 150's or maybe the Reebok Spartan shoes.

Time to chill and do who knows what. Maybe find some food.....

Battle wounds

So it's been a few days since my epic weekend at Battlefrog, and I'm finally feeling less sore! Still enjoying the post race sense of accomplishment and reliving the day with my teammates on Facebook. However, I have a slight problem.

Remember the new trail shoes I got recently? The Inov8 Trailroc 226?

I love the shoes. They are comfy and work well on the trails. When I first got them I had the sneaking suspicion they were slightly too small. But I did a few runs in them and they seemed ok.


At about mile 3 of Battlefrog we had just finished a very long trek through a stream. I noticed my shoes were full of some very sandy/gritty dirt and it was creating mounds in my shoes. I've dealt with this type of dirt before and it's never caused me problems. I really should have stopped to empty them out. I guess at the time I didn't think it was a big deal. But as the race went on every step was becoming agonizing. All the hill climbing in the last half of the race made it hurt even more.


Warning - nasty pic ahead!!!

Yeah. This is freaking painful. Worst blisters I've ever had by far.

I am returning the shoes. Luckily the place I bought them from accepts used returns, so I cleaned them up real good and will ship them back asap. I want to get the same shoe in a larger size. I really do like the shoes, they performed excellently and were comfy aside from the blister thing. I am just convinced it's a sizing issue. I also think that hiking the race made it worse. I never blister while running, but in the past I have wound up with some pretty nasty blisters after long walks and hikes. My toenails also took a beating - another sign of a sizing issue

Nasty post-mud run feet

I was pretty sure I was gonna lose this toenail. I lost one a few years back and it turned this ugly reddish purple color, so I was pretty sure this one was a goner. But it's looking much better now and it no longer hurts.

Wish I could say the same for the blisters. They're still incredibly painful and itchy. I don't think I'll be able to run for at least a week. It sucks, but what can you do. I'm actually kind of glad for this experience, because I have learned never to settle for a shoe you think might be too small, and I also learned that sometimes it's best just to stop and get the crud out of your shoes to save yourself alot of pain. 

Guess I'll see how things feel in a few days, then hit it hard as soon as I can!

Changing some things around

I need another weekend day. I'm getting Sunday-itis. Not because there's anything I need to do or recover from, just feeling like I want an extra day off :)

Stuff was accomplished this weekend. No hill running because my quad is still kind of angry. I got alot of errands done yesterday, including cleaning out our closet and taking a bunch of stuff to Uptown Cheapskate to try and make some cash. It wasn't much, but it was something, and I got rid of all the crap we no longer wear. I'm very much an anti-hoarder. Picked up a new pair of army green khaki shorts, and scored a UA heatgear top from their very limited workout clothes section - only 10 bucks!

Yesterday it hit me that fitness gear is slowly taking over my closet. So I have officially consumed *2* of the 5 sections with workout tops.

The entire bottom shelf is lined with more stuff. 

Pants and Capris!

A pile for shorty shorts and a pile for running shorts. And sports bras!

Between this stuff and all my race tshirts, I'd say fitness has consumed about 50% of my closet. I'm not a fashionable chick by any means. Never have been. These days I feel more comfortable in my workout clothes than anything else. Partly because I'm a "comfort first" kinda gal, and partly because I feel proud and awesome when I'm in my running shorts and finisher tshirts. It's what I wear because it's who I am!

Yesterday also included an awesome lunch at Laziza (a Mediterranean grill) - spicy shawarma with rice, jalapeno hummus and pita bread, and this amazing fluffy white sauce to dip the chicken in. Soooo good. Ended the day with a trip to my neighborhood pool, and went to my husband's restaurant of choice which was Outback. Got some kind of Teriyaki steak - wasn't impressed. Way too salty!

This morning I planned ahead. 

See, I knew I would be up late tonight watching Game of Thrones, and my desire to get up at 5am and workout would be pretty low. So I made today my triceps/chest/shoulders day! 

I'm going to try something a little different for my strength training warm ups. In addition to my regular warm up I'm also going to start going outside and running a mile. This is gonna be a good way to get my entire body warmed up, and a chance to get in some extra mileage on my non run days. I think it's a pretty smashing idea. I've also realized I should probably start wearing shoes for my strength workouts. Even though I'm working out at home, I still feel like it would be better to have some more support and foot stability while doing my moves. So, for the dual purpose of a running warm up and a home gym shoe, I give you..

My old Mix Masters! I got these last year and they don't really work for running long distances because I get "hot spots" in certain places on my feet. But they make great walking shoes and could serve well as a gym shoe/short distance running shoe. Perfect!

Now time for housework *grumble* and to make the best of my precious little weekend time!

New kicks!

Finally broke down and bought my new trail shoes today!

Inov8 Trailroc 226

I have heard great things about Inov8 shoes. Specifically from the world of OCR. Not only are they supposed to be great trail shoes, they say the tread on these shoes is excellent for obstacles - climbing walls, ropes, getting through mud, etc. I am a minimal shoe girl, but my last pair of trail shoes was way too barefoot for me. What I mean by that is I felt EVERY single rock I stepped on. My old shoes were also very "floppy" and not great for gripping on obstacles. So for my next shoe I wanted something minimal, yet less BAREfoot than my old shoes. This shoe is minimal yet it should offer me more protection from rocks. It's still zero drop but it has a bit more cushion to it. Should be right up my alley. Plus I'm very excited to see how the tread will perform in obstacle races.

I got them from Running Warehouse for 85 bucks! Not bad for the pricier than most Inov8 brand - they retail around $130. The colors are not my thing, but it's the only color they offer in the Trailroc 226. Oh well, I have seen worse colors for running shoes!

Sadly I don't think they will get here before my next trail run... but I only have to get through 1 more run in my old shoes - which literally have holes in the sides. Can't wait to see this box on my doorstep!