I started off my morning with a long overdue haircut. Laura did a fantastic job as usual and I was on my way with a much tidier head of hair.
Next up was to go get the car washed. My PLAN was to go south from the haircut and grab a donut and unsweet iced tea from Dunkin Donuts on the way. Well, with an amateur bike race downtown and construction on I-65, it took me a LONG time to get to my morning break!
They were out of double chocolate and they took FOREVER to get around to waiting on me. I settled for a chocolate frosted cake donut and got my iced tea. The counter person was sorry that I had to wait so long and gave me a discount. I got a free donut!
Next up was the car wash. I made it just in time! I was only 3 or 4 cars back. By the time I got up to the front and went in to pay, the line was wrapped around the building! I go to a local place called Sparkling Image. They still wipe down your car and do the inside for the same price that the other automatics just send you on through and let you drip dry. It's $25 well spent for me. Car is now all sparkly and tidy.
I just went in for socks... I SWEAR!
Since I was close by, I know I had gotten a sale flyer from my local running store (Blue Mile) that is across the street from the car wash. So, I went on over there to see about some new running socks.
I picked out a pair and the sales lady let me know that if I got 3, I could get one free. Yeah, at $15 for 2 pair on a brand I've never used before, I'll stick with just the one right now.
She asked if I was training for anything, so I did a brief history and told her I'm repeating what I did for my first half marathon 5 years ago. I then let her know that my Adrenaline 16's were starting to cause issues with my shins. (ARRRH! No spellcheck! I'm NOT trying to spell my name!).
She then asked me when was the last time I had my gait checked. Well, that was over 5 years ago when I first started training for my first half marathon!
She told me that I should have it checked at least every two years and that it would have been a good idea to especially do it after my sprained ankle.
So, my next adventure begins...
The demon possessed Treadmill-o-death(TM)!
Okay, I THOUGH MY treadmill was bad. The treadmill they have at the running store is TOUCHY! It's a fancy "Boston Marathon" edition Nordic Track. Really beefy looking treadmill with a touch screen built in.
Well, the quick speed choice is a bit different than the Treadmill-o-doom here at home. I'm used to 1-12, meaning 1-12 MPH. Theirs, is rather upside-down. That one is set to Minutes per mile! I almost did a faceplant! It sped up FAST! Then, I tried to just use the + button to start it up to a pace I could deal with. Well, I wasn't watching the screen and apparently holding my finger on the + wound it up to light speed again!
So, the sales lady then offered to set it up for me and then we stared walking! WHEW!
They now record you on an iPAD with super slo-mo playback ability. She was able to run back and forth in the video to watch my gait.
A Problem Found!
Well, after 5 years of tooling around in shoes for over-pronation, it appears that I have been "corrected". My gait is now almost perfectly neutral!
My left foot still turns ever so slightly, but that could be from the fact that its still not back up to 100% strength from the sprain a few years back! My right foot still kicks out a bit in the stide, but as far as striking and moving through the gait, it's now perfectly neutral!
So, for those of you that are thinking your newest kix are crap because they are causing you issues, when was the last time you had your gait checked with your local running store??
What does it all mean!??!
Well, it means that I needed a new pair of shoes, stat! She set me up with a NEW pair of Brooks Ghost 9's! They just came out "officially" at the beginning of this month!
After my purchase, she then told me to throw out my Adrenaline 12's that I wore into the store. They're old and the tread is almost worn through. She said I wasn't doing myself any favors by using them as walking shoes.
She also told me to come back in October, as I'll probably have run through this pair by then. She also told me to have my gait rechecked, so they can be doubly sure that I'll have the best suited pair of shoes going into the 1/2 Marathon!
Shopping!
Once back home, I picked up Mom and took her shopping. She had some birthday money burning a hole in her pocket so we went to Khol's, Bed Bath Bodyworks, 1/2 Price Books (mainly for me, but I didn't find anything. She did though), Bed Bath & Beyond, and then finally Barns & Noble.
Once we were done with that, I took her out for a quick dinner at Five Guys.
C25K Week 5 Day 3!
I rested for about an hour after getting home before I changed into my running gear. This time, strapping on the new Ghost 9's!
So far, so good! I completed Week 5, Day 3 with very few issues. In fact, I was feeling so good that I was not judging my pace well and had to slow down a few times in the longer running segments.
The new shoes will take a little bit of getting used to, but man... were they cushy! I think I need to tighten up the left shoe a little bit, as it felt like I was sliding around a bit.
Oh, and I DID get the new socks. They come 2 pair to a pack at the same price that comparable pairs come in a single pack.
No issues with them tonight, but I'm no where near any long distance runs yet!
Hopefully they'll be alright. No issues with them and they felt fine tonight.
Counting down!
My counters over to the side tell me I have 63 days until vacation and 179 days until Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend! I have 4 weeks of Couch to 5K to get through, so I'll wrapping that up soon!
Planning stages.
I'm looking into possibly modifying the Half Marathon training program that I'm using. The longest run that it has you do is 10 miles. I remember from 5 years ago that after I past that 10 mile mark, I was just about toast. It made those last 3 point 1 miles a grueling task!
So, I'm thinking of hybridizing Hal Higdon and Jeff Galloway a bit and morphing it into a fuller routine.
Galloway's program runs for 19 weeks, with 2 weeks being a wind down AFTER the half marathon event.
If I go through C25K and B210K without repeating anything, I can start my half marathon training 4 weeks earlier. That gives me 16 weeks, versus Galloways 17 weeks to event.
So, I figure if I increase the weekday millage repeats to extend Higdon's plan out to 16 weeks and mix in Galloway's method of long miles on the weekend, I may come out ahead and possibly be able to beat my time from 5 years ago.
Galloway's plan has you go 14 miles 2 weeks BEFORE the 1/2 Marathon Event. So, in theory, having already gone a longer distance the Half Marathon should be a little bit easier than the last long run in training! Right?
We shall see!
Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp
 | 2016 - Challenge Year: Me Vs. Me!
Check the link above to see my current and past races. |
