Time and time again I am being bombarded with this issue....
I love my Brooks Trance 11 & 12 so when I went back for shoes for this marathon I thought it would be easy...just pick up the newest Trance in stock or if there wasn't a new model get the 12s again. That plan was fine-until I did that! My favorite shoe store told me it had changed slightly, but I thought it would be okay and they didn't have any 12s in my size. I started to train with them and found myself complaining week after week to my chiropractor about shin and ankle pain. I started to look online for my old shoe without any results. Apparently I wasn't the only one affected my this shoe change. By this point EVERYONE was sold out of them and fear set in. I didn't want to go to a new brand of shoe and risk anything. I wanted my tried and true running shoe. Finally, I called Brooks and complained about the new model AND I asked them to, "call me if they happen to find a pair laying around the office" (<---no lie, I really did this ha ha) I started to call random running stores with the hope someone, anyone, had a pair in my size. I was in luck, I found a store that had a pair!!! As I sat on the phone in shock I thanked her profusely...she interrupted my thanking to share that she also located another 2 pair at their other store and she told me she'd get those for me also.....Needless to say I bought her a best friends necklace to share with me ha ha! Had I known a new model was coming out and would be changing my perfectly good shoe I would have stocked up. It felt a little like the Seinfeld "Sponge" episode trying to get my hands on any and hoarding them ha ha Seinfeld Spongeworthy Clip
Today I will be taking my new running shoes out for a training run with a girls running group from the town I teach in (they are training for a 5K in town the day before my marathon so I, sadly am not able to do the race, but I will train with them and go cheer them on on race day). I'm super excited to run with this students are share my love of running with them...although after my run yesterday it could be ugly.....Perfect segue into my next hindsight is 20/20 story....
As I have made it VERY clear, I have not enjoyed a lot of my training for this marathon. Between my attitude, the cold/snow, injuries, the time of year etc. it has not been a pleasant experience. I've been following my training program pretty closely, but nothing like my 1st training. (That DNF post I made during my Chicago training is laughable now since I find just getting out for the run a success...finishing the exact mileage isn't killing me.) So perhaps yesterday's run didn't go well because leading up was kind of a mess. It was my birthday on the 14th so I gave myself a week in which I could eat as I pleased and worked out as I saw fit. (I did do all my runs, but I skipped yoga, skipped my ab challenge I've been doing, and I didn't lift that week) add to it I was fighting off some illness. The 15th was supposed to be a long run of 12 miles....being the day after my birthday party I only did 7. My other runs for that week were pretty spot on because I knew I needed the miles for a big 18 mile run on the 22nd. Yesterday's long run was the 18-a fairly big one in the training program I follow. A few things happened on my "18" mile run to which hindsight would have been helpful....
1) runners should NOT drink venti vanilla lattes prior to an 18 mile run...ya just shouldn't ha ha. At mile 4 I was beyond hating myself and just wishing I'd puke so I had an excuse to stop running.
2) While it is not NEARLY as hot as the summer training where I stashed water and Gatorade SEVERAL places along my route an 18 mile run is an 18 mile run and you need to stay hydrated regardless of the temperatures.
3) In the 2nd grade I played "The March Wind" in "Eating Chicken Soup With Rice" and I remember running around the stage with blue fabric representing the craziness of the weather in March.....(Please see photo below ha ha) I experienced said craziness yesterday. Sure, it looked beautiful out, but the wind was AWFUL. It was in my face the entire run. Anyone who had the "pleasure" of seeing me last night enjoyed my lovely wind/sun burned face. (in hindsight I'd also wear sunblock) Doing the 18 miles was scaring me so adding in the wind made this run so much harder-I was exhausted. (PS please don't forget that it is hill central where I live....great for training, but so tough) Some people say, "Wind is great resistance training!" Sure, but this was no ordinary wind...again please see the "Eating Chicken Soup With Rice" photo below ha ha (I don't know how hindsight could have changed the wind, but it was pertinent to add to the story to better understand the disaster that was my run)
4) My watch....my awesome sister in law is an athlete (and by athlete I mean she's run the Boston Marathon-among other marathons, and did the Lake Placid Ironman weeks before her wedding and did an AMAZING job) to thank me for watching me niece and nephew a few times she got me a sweet Garmin running watch. I love and hate this thing equally. This watch is exactly what I needed. It tells me just what I want without overwhelming me and making me over think running. At the same time I perseverate on this watch though I really try not to. I have preset my pace so it alerts me if I'm going too fast, too slow, or if I'm on pace. I'm trying to get a feel for my pace, but I am a very inconsistent runner. (my inconsistency in running is part of the reason I'll be running with a pace group for the marathon....I'll get into that later) Due to some hearing surgery I had a few years ago I have sonic hearing so even with my ipod on I hear this watch go off to alert me if I'm on pace, ahead of pace, or behind pace....I can't not look when I hear it beep at me. I have to say I've been ahead of my pace (8:20) a lot recently....well that is on my shorter runs. Yesterday, I was doing great...then the winds really started to take a toll on me. I swear, in the beginning, my miles were sub 7:50 with a constant "ahead of pace" alerting me on my wrist, but as the miles and wind pressed on I think I saw my watch flash, "girl, I don't even know if you are picking up your feet" at the end. ha ha The watch REALLY started to make me feel badly about my pace so I stopped looking at it. In hindsight, I should have just run without caring about my speed. Long runs aren't meant to be run at race day pace. I have to admit, this run REALLY made me start worrying about my ability to qualify for Boston. (Tho last night, while whining about my run, my friend Amy told me I will qualify if I just change my attitude...she might be right) If hindsight wasn't 20/20 and I knew now if I'll be able to maintain an 8:23 min mile and stay with my pacing group and qualify for Boston this whole training thing would be easier and I'd be a lot more pleasant since worrying all the time would end! Damn you hindsight!
“To paraphrase Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear, and all those guys, "I wish I had known this some time ago.” -Roger Zelazny
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