Outside Looking In: 5ks and Half-Marathons

A few months ago, my oldest son ran his first-ever 5k with his dad and Spinster Beth; my 10 year old ran a mile; and the two younger kids each ran as well. It was an early morning trek to get to Gettysburg for the 5k, and (from a non-runner perspective) a Whole Lotta' Crazy.

After their first-5k at Gettysburg. All still look pretty fresh

It was a beautiful day. The weather was fairly mild; excitement and energy were high. Spinster walked the 12-year-old through some stretches and gave him a Gatorade super-sugar thing (no idea what those are really called, but they come in a fairly small packet that you drink to boost your sugar to superhuman levels for sustained endurance

New Shoes!

By Slick

A couple of weeks ago I realized that it’s only 5 weeks until my half marathon.  For those of you just joining us…my husband and I are running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in March. This will be my first half marathon and I have been training hard.  Anyway…all my research says that I should buy shoes at least one month before the big run. 

Remembering Tillie's post about shoes, my husband and I decided to go to a store that specializes in running as opposed to a big box store, we went to Feet First in Columbia. 

After years of (probably) buying the wrong tennis shoe, I explained to the gentleman (I have a bad memory for names) who helped me all of my medical conditions.  I started with my history of planters’ fasciitis, my pigeon toed-ness, that my feet bear a striking resemblance to Fred Flintstone’s, etc…  He brought out three shoes for me to test.  None of which were pink ;-(.  The nice thing about this store is that it has a treadmill inside.  I tried on the first pair of shoes and ran for a bit on the treadmill.  They felt pretty good.  The next pair was a bit tight and the third pair fit pretty well but the heel was a bit loose.  The helpful salesman said that my heels are narrow and my instep is high which makes my foot a difficult fit.  

Finally after all these years I had an explanation for why I hate shoe shopping.  My feet are just not made for those cute Manolo Blahnicks and Jimmy Choos.  I think I am destined to wear Dansko’s for the rest of my life.  At least I know and can now save myself the misery of trying on shoes that will never work…but I digress from my new shoes. 

Because the heel was loose the kindly gentleman showed me a way to tie the shoes to tighten the heel area.  Since I don’t have a video camera, I will try to explain using words and pics. 

First, before looping the lace across to the final hole, lace it through the final hole on the same side.  Do the same thing on the other side. 

Second, pull the shoe string through the loop you created when you completed the first step.  Pull the other shoe string through the other side.  

Finally put the shoe on and work the strings back and forth until you get it to the desired tightness.  Yes, this works!

This was two weeks ago and even after today’s 10 miles (yes I ran 10 miles today!) no pain! 

Here are my pretty new shoes.