wildcelticrose.net

~
After my ill fated attempt (Boris and Natasha must have snuck into my room at night and whispered the evil plan into my ear while I was asleep) to run on shoes I was not properly fitted for by a professional (who doesn’t work for the company trying to sell me their shoes) I was pretty certain that I had re-injured my IT band and would be out of the running game for a couple of weeks.

I iced the outside of the knee every hour and took ibuprofen at prescription doses. I rested for the remainder of the day.

I rested the following day, well… OK… I rode my bike 27 miles around the South Lake Washington Loop with a nice group of folks from the Cascade Bicycle Club which does count as resting when I’m in training mode.

We started in Renton and rode up the lake to Seward Park for a bathroom break. Seward Park does have very nice bathrooms.

We did a loop around the park just for fun and did get a bit wet as that’s where the large raindrops seem to have been hanging out, laying in wait (were they in cahoots with Boris and Natasha?) for unsuspecting cyclists.

After that, we made that steep little climb up and over so that we could get on the bike lanes of the I-90 Floating Bridge.

A ride across the bridge is always interesting. I have ridden my bike or ran on foot across that bridge more times that I’ve driven it in a vehicle. Interesting.

We climbed up to Mercer Island and stopped at Tully’s for coffee like a bunch of lycra clad , Blackberry texting, Orca card carrying, latte swilling yuppies.

Lynn fixed herself a lovely Mowhawk hairdo. Not THAT’s helmet hair

Soon, we were back on the bikes being driven on by the scent of food, and more important beer calling out to us; ah, the siren song of prawns & chips and a Manny’s Ale; enough to drive a rider onto the rocks.

We all (well one was questionable) made it back to “A Terrible Beauty” to have some food and well deserved beers.

There was much discussion at Tully’s on our coffee break over how in Irish Pub came to be called A Terrible Beauty. I suspected a poem or a song.

When we arrived, I wasn’t disappointed. There in the door way was an etching of a poem by Yeats

Today, I went to the Y (have I mentioned how much I love saline pools?) and swam a mile, then went home, had luch and went out to a very sunny Pt Defiance park to do some running. I decided to do an out and back up the hill towards five mile drive (which was closed due to the wind storm and flying trees-I wonder if Boris and Natasha had anything to do with that?)

After running down a slippery hill on a blind corner, there it was. A big old tree right across the road. We know B & N had to be in on that; we looked for ambush but didn’t find one. We suspect the cyclist flying down the hill in his bright yellow jacket yelling equally colorful expressions while his brakes steamed and squealed may have run them off.

My total for this weekend is 5 miles of running, 1 mile of swimming and 27 miles of biking, which puts me 33 miles closer to Frostbite Fallls.

My total mileage is 91.6. 65 of those miles were by bike, 13.6 were running, 6 were cross country skiing, 5 were snowshoeing and 2 were swimming. (Hey, one needs to be creative if they are to outsmart Moose and Squirrel)

went to South Sound Running yesterday to get fitted for some different running shoes after my Mizuno disaster leaving me icing and eating Ibuprofen like candy after a mere 2 ½ miles.
 
I want to get away from Brooks Adrenaline GTX because I’m just not getting the mileage out of them. Even at prodeal prices, I can’t afford to buy new shoes every 200 miles.
I ended up in Asics 2150s which are virtually interchangeable with my current Brooks shoe.
 
The guy at the store said that a lot of people who switch from the Asics to the Brooks go back because the Brooks break down too soon.
 
When I mentioned the “chi” or “pose” running, he asked “why?”’ I said “because I’ve been reading about it and it is supposed to be healthier.
 
He told me that it’s only really works for people who have a natural mid foot strike and that in others, it can lead to injury and Achilles problems.  I have noticed an increase in Achilles problems since I started trying this, so I’m going back to a flat footed strike.  Just because something is the current trend, does not mean that it’s going to work for everyone.
 
I went out to Pt Defiance today and did three miles.  I wanted to take it easy because these shoes are new and I don’t know how they break in.  I was also icing less than two days ago and didn’t want to aggravate it.
 
I felt a tiny bit shin splint at first (I had already been feeling that way and I’m wondering if it is in part due to trying to change my gait/foot strike?) but that went away after about a mile (of soul sucking uphill)
 
It is now well over three hours after I finished my run and I have no pain or discomfort at all.
 
The moral of this story is; don’t buy shoes online that you haven’t worn before.
 
A “fitting” by a vendor who wants to put you in their shoe is no substitute for a fitting at a real running store (foot locker, big 5, etc… are NOT real running stores)
 
Get a fitting a real running store where they will watch you run and let you try on many pairs (I was also wearing the wrong size) and where they give you 30 days to bring the shoes back if they don’t work)
 
And PLEASE, buy a pair of shoes from the people who gave you their time and attention rather than leaving them and buying them cheaper online. 
 

~L

Mood: Looking Forward

~