New Sneakers and more miles

This week was as close to normal as I've been for months.  I went to spring track with my GTD friends Tuesday night, got up at 4:10 am to meet Hank for our 4:30 am jaunt on Thursday am,  long run with Hank, Annie and Dave bright and early Saturday am for 10 miles and today, for the first time, I race two days in a row.  I enjoyed a nice 5 miler with some speed tucked in at the end on a really beautiful Sunday morning - my favorite.

This week was a turning point in the sneaker department.  I've been wearing the Asics 21XX series for years.  They are what I started in and although I tested other brands/models in the past, I always came back to these - they just felt right.  I also have some Lycos inserts I use with them.  When I landed myself in PT back at the end of February, one of the first things my PT girl said was - you might want to think about a different type of sneakers.  This made me cringe.

I HAD tried other sneakers and I was afraid going into something new would just result in some other new injury but it started to make me think.  She felt I had two much support with both the stability and the inserts but that's all I ever knew.  It is also the opposite of what my chiropractor was telling me.  Question is - who do you listen to?

Well I decided I don't just listen to one person but take all of the data/feedback I get from everyone and make my own decisions based on how I feel.  The plan was to reevaluate the sneakers after NYC Half and Doyle's 5 miler.

So come this week, my last PT visit arrived (YAY!) and we analyzed how I run.  Well I kind of felt like a disaster as she critiqued my form and showed me that although I classic overpronater, the 2160s were just pushing me over the edge and also, my body may just be too used to them resulting in other problems.

I took myself to Runner's Alley in Nashua (http://www.runnersalley.com/) and called ahead to make sure someone would be there to assist me and really analyze what's happening when I'm running.  I spoke to and met with BJ and Renee who were both awesome.  Surprisingly the first pair of sneakers they brought out to me were Asics Nimbus model.  I just figured I'd jump to a completely different brand but in the end after trying out some Asics, Brooks and New Balance - I felt best in the Asics and that's what I brought.  After 5 miles in them today, I think I made the right choice so the goal will be to transition - maybe completely to the Nimbus and keep the 2160s for the long runs for additional stability for those longer days.  All feels good now though and that couldn't make me happier.

Weekly Mileage: 28 miles (hoping to go up from here!)
Speed: 3 out of 4 days with speed worked in

Doyle's 5 miler

Today was a great day at Doyle's 5 miler.  I hadn't done this race since 2005 and only once before that in 2004.  Jay and I always talk about our early running/racing days when, well, we had no racing friends.  We'd finish a race, grab a beer - ask each other how how the race went - finish the beer and then go home - not all that exciting.

Today as a big change from that.   We met up with our good friends, their family and some other runners from RI that we don't get to see very often.  Although the weather wasn't the best, it turned into a day long affair and it was a really good time.

Today was an important day in my road back as well.  A lot of the latter weeks of my physical therapy were built around this race and running it.  After getting through this, I'm pretty much free to register for more races and move on with my running life.  The goal was to run a 7:05 pace for the 5 miles.  True to Gina form, I did not run a 7:05 pace but a 6:45 pace.  I felt great.  I finished with an overall time of 33:47 which is far better than I thought I could do.  Things are looking up!  I'm even running enough to start tracking my miles now.  I am still only allowed to run every other day of the week but I'll take it with a few good races in between.

Total miles run this week: 4 days of running = 26.5 miles of running
Speed: 3 out of the 4 days had some speedy speed!