Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Shoes, Shoes, and More Shoes

Well, there went another exciting week on the running front.  I'm gradually building my endurance again, and running is becoming more and more enjoyable, even if I do need to run through clouds of burning trash smoke and be hyper-vigilant in avoiding cars, tuk-tuk's, goats, dogs, and motorcycles.  I think that I'm adjusting to the heat well, and I'll be back to logging some nice long runs very soon.  I've still yet to surpass 10 km since I've been in India, but I'll knock out a 12 km or 14 km run this weekend before beginning the long, slow, steady climb of building my mileage volume for my first 50 km in November.  I'm much leaner now, and I actually feel like a runner even though my endurance has suffered a bit as of late.  In reviewing my training log from my work-up to the last marathon I ran, I'm way ahead of where I started, both in terms of speed and volume.  Like I said in a previous blog post, I want to get to a point where my only goal isn't to just survive a race and simply make it to the finish line; I want to run hard the whole race, and feel good about my race-day effort and also about all of the work I put into training.

I finally retired the pair of Mizuno's I've been running in since before MCM 2012.  I ordered a pair of Montrail Bajada trail-running shoes that arrived last night from my favorite running site in the world, www.runningwarehouse.com.  I took them out for their first run today, and they felt great.  There's nothing like getting a new pair of running shoes, and feeling them on your feet for the first time.  It's probably 90% mental, but something about the relationship between a runner and their shoes is special.  Looking through my training log, I ran around 800 miles in my old Mizuno Wave Precision 12 Shoes.  We've spent a lot of time together, seen a lot of sunrises, seen a lot of sunsets, explored new trails, and I even set a marathon PR in those shoes.  It's sad to see them move to the running shoe graveyard in the back of the closet.

The sadness was quickly forgotten when I slipped on the new Montrail's.  They fit like a glove, or a perfect running shoe.  I instantly felt light and nimble, and couldn't wait to go to sleep just so I could wake up in the morning to go run.  I was darting around the house full of excitement, jumping here and there like I was Peter Pan or crazy kangaroo.  It sounds downright goofy reading what I just wrote, but running has become a passion of mine.  I love running, and thinking about it gets me excited.

I've bounced around from running barefoot, or in minimalist shoes (Vibram FiveFingers), to running in 'transition' shoes (Saucony Kinvara 3), to running in good ol' neutral runners (Mizuno Wave Precision 12).  I'm tired of reading the debates about how we're supposed to run, or not supposed to run.  The fact of the matter is, I like running, and I seem to do that best in a traditional style, neutral running shoe.  I don't particularly care if I run that way because I've been conditioned to by a life of running in 'normal' shoes, or if my bio-mechanics are just plain different than someone that can run barefoot all the time.  I'm going to stick with what works for me, and try to enjoy the sport I love.

Training Summary for Last Week:

Monday:       Off
Tuesday:       6.31 km; 35:25; avg. pace 5:37/km
Wednesday:  6.31 km; 36:44; avg. pace 5:49/km
Thursday:      Rowing 5.0 km; 25:19; avg. pace 5:04/km
Friday:          Off
Saturday:      10.01 km; 55:28; avg. pace 5:32/km
Sunday:        8.42 km; 49:37; avg. pace 5:53/km

Total Kilometers:  31.05 km
Total Time:           2:57:14
Average Pace:      5:42/km

Happy Running!

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