Monday I had a pretty terrific run. Since I was working at home, I ran on my lunch "hour" which was a great time of day. I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn and exercise before my morning coffee, and I didn't have to drive home in the dark, make dinner, and then reach for my exercise clothes instead of pajamas. I'd say lunchtime would be the ideal workout time if I could make it happen regularly. Sadly, it can't, but I'll take advantage when I can.
I ran 4 miles on Monday. I have decided to continue running 4 days a week for now, but instead of three 5K runs and one 5-6 mile run, I'm going to run 4 miles on each run. 4 miles is a great distance. It's longer than a 5K which makes me feel a little more accomplished, and it's shorter than 5-6 miles which means less time I'll have to spend on the treadmill at one time. This plan actually ups my mileage to 16 miles per week. But learning from experience, I am not making any long term plans, I'm just going to take one week at a time.
Yesterday I bought new running shoes. I know what you're thinking, I'm thinking it too. And I don't have a response except to say that today I went to the running shoe store. I talked to them at length. I let them watch me stand like a flamingo on one foot, I let them watch me run down the hall. I pretty much hated it. BUT I decided that I am not looking for purple shoes; I am not looking for Nikes; I am not even looking for cute. What I am looking for is something that will help me run without pain. And they recommended (just like the doctor) stability shoes and I ended up buying a perfectly hideous pair of Adidas Supernovas Sequence 3*. They are white, silver and blue. I showed them to my son and he said, "But you don't wear blue shoes." Right. Except I am now willing to wear any color or style of shoes if they correct the pains. The shin/knee pain I went to the doctor for is better. But the other knee pain (that was faint before) has gotten worse and worse, and as a bonus my other shin has started hurting. I tried to ignore it, but today I could barely walk normally and stairs were incredibly painful. WTF?! Sorry, I'm just frustrated.
So anyway, I bought these hideous shoes with money I don't have, all the while feeling dismayed, defeated and depressed. I tried them out on a 2 mile run/walk last night, but there was so much pain in my knee that it was hard to tell how they felt. Today I have 4 miles planned so I have iced last night, and I won't walk much on it today, and will ice again shortly. I'm working from home again so I'll be able to run at lunch. I will take it slow and easy and stop if I need to. I am crossing my fingers for improvement. It already feels better this morning than it did yesterday.
I have these shoes for up to 14 days in order to try them out. If they don't help, my next pair will be Brooks, and after that it will be Asics. I'm in for the long haul. I am not ready to try custom orthotics since the doctor said he thought I'd get the most benefit from stability shoes. At that point, I just didn't want to have to buy a new pair of shoes! Argh! I guess I'll be listing some "practically new" shoes on eBay soon so I can afford to pay for these new ones!
*Just my personal opinion, of course.
I hope that you get this figured out. How frustrating!
ReplyDeleteOK I am right there with you. I was dying for some pink shoes but they don't make cute running shoes that are actually worth a darn =(
ReplyDeleteMy sister is having shin pain from her purple shoes as we speak. "But they're so cool looking!" is the answer I get when I tell her they might not be the ones for her. (giggle)
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