Believe to Achieve

Okay I'll comment on myself. I ran over 20 miles in 16 hours in my new shoes. Probably not a good idea.

Hi Julie. Just want to let you know that I think you are a darn awesome fast runner!!!

BTW, all those birthday treats earlier this week probably contribute to how you're feeling right now. Hope you you get some much deserved rest and feel much better next week!

Boo on the new shoes! I'm so sad that you had a bad run. :( Lack of sleep and this dreary weather can really get you down. Hope you get some umph back. I'm sure you will be a new woman with a rest day tomorrow and some sleep. {{{hugs}}}

60 miles is HUGE!

sorry i missed this, but what are the new shoes are you running in?

the 'bad run' days are never fun in the moment, but the good thing is you can mentally tuck this away and use it to your advantage in a race. you can think back on the times when you felt MUCH WORSE while running and remember that you survived and conquered it, and it will give you the mental strength and the will to keep moving. sounds dumb, i know, but there are always good things that can come out of bad runs. you still had a solid week of mileage, which is money in the bank. enjoy your rest day and happy valentine's day!

I zeroed a pair of Saucony ProGrids. I am not sure I should have now. Plus he didn't do a very good job. They are uneven. So I am irritated. I paid 85 for the shoes and 20 for the zeroeing. I bought them at Runner's Corner. But then I am uneven so maybe that's okay. I don't have the same center of gravity with them going from Ascic cumulus with a wide heel base and forefoot. I felt very unstable on the icy parts. They are also so much lighter. I think I will save them for short races and for SW. They definitely let me turn over quickly. I feel light as a feather in them. My ascics were awful to start with as well. Bought those over the internet, big mistake unless I tried them somewhere else and I didn't. They never improved but my body compensated. I did get blisters in places I hadn't in a while so that was no fun. I did manage to "punish" them by high mileage. This way they conformed to my feet. The saucony's fit well in the store and I felt better in the zeroed ones they had there to try except I had to go zero my new ones and run the risk of an uneven job which I didn't expect. What to do? I may ask Hawk at Runner's Corner. Maybe it's not an issue. I just didn't want another pair of shoes to potentially cause harm to my body again. My body doesn't take change very well. How's that for the lengthy explanation. How do you go about buying a pair of shoes? I think they play a major role in mechanics of running, as well as body weight and shape. Any advice would be great.

PS after running in them that many miles in a day I am sore like I had run a fast half marathon. I was no way near that.

proper footwear is definitely important, but for me it tends to be neglected because i try to squeeze every mile (and then some) out of all my shoes since they are so darn expensive.

i have issues with the 'heavy foot' feeling; i cannot even do slow easy runs in anything but racers. all the shoes i own are lightweight racers---nothing over 8 oz. or else i feel 'clunky' (it's the mind games!)

i have settled into a 4 shoe rotation---brooks launch, saucony fastwitch, nike free, newton distance racer (retired). this is after trying basically every brand of racer out there at one point or another. the ones that work the best stay in the rotation. i got injured twice last year training in asics gel speedstars, so those are out. i also got injured running in some new balance racers, so those are out as well. i think finding the right shoe is just a wonderful game of trial and error. certainly the running store people are going to tell you what will work best for you. sometimes they are right and sometimes they aren't. really you never know until you put a good amount of miles on them.

i would say the uneven feeling is definitely an issue. i was running last year with an uneven left heel insert and i am quite sure it contributed to my lovely race experience at ogden.

Oh Julie!!! I am so so so sorry.

How do you feel today?

How was the chocolate fountain???

Teena--Feeling better now that I am eliminating sugar/chocolate again. The fountain was OUT OF CONTROL.

Allie-- Thanks. I wonder how many miles is the true test of a shoe? My legs are slowly recovering from the run. Each hour passing the muscles are rejenerating. No exact sore spots except tight upper hamstrings pulling on my lower back. I think if I got down to your weight I could use lighter shoes and forego the pounding I am putting myself in being "heavier" now. I think mine are 9.4 ounces after zeroing. I should look them up. They sure feel funny on the down hills so that's why I am worried. My joints couldn't handle the pressure and I started to unhinge. So I stopped and every muscle tightened. I will try a little SW tomorrow. And a cycle class to give my legs a change. Have a great long run tomorrow!! Monday is long run day for you right?

So sorry Julie about your run! - - - I agree with Allie, this will make the good runs feel even better in comparison. Opposition in all things right? But don't get down, you are still a RUNNER! :) I always wonder if I can still run after a taper for a marathon, , , it's such a mental game! You are a serious runner, and after a work-week like you put in, - going on no sleep, pounding out 60 miles in uneven shoes, SHEESH, I would hope that you felt a little sluggish!

Your chocolate fountain sounds more than heavenly! I LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate fountains! Wow! For dunking I prefer cinnamon bears and bananas! Yum, , , I better stop talking about that, we have 2 more solid weeks of this no sugar!!!!!!! Hope this next week is lighter and happier for you!

What a tough week Julie! I hope you and your shoes get things worked out. How are you today? Um, I will go back and look but am confused. What is this "zeroing" a shoe?

Only some running shoes can be "zeroed". You take your shoe to a Peddler, qualified, and he cut the heel out and replaces the tread. Basically no heel to your heel. So that you aren't forced to land on them or propel so far forward to get to your ball of your foot. Most shoes have a heel higher than the toes. There is a book written about them. He is a big barefoot runner and since that will never fly and the five fingers are down right gorilla-like this is the option to be more natural. I am currently not sure, time will tell. I am definitely feeling that my body is going "what the heck?" I am supposedly training my body to adapt to a barefoot style and my mechanics need some major tweaking. Feeling better today.