It was cold, but by the end of the first mile, I was warm enough to strip off my gloves and open my jacket a little. I traded my usual knit hat for a headband, and this worked better. The wind was so strong that I had to brace myself a few times.
I was also breaking in a brand new pair of sneakers.
I had been using my past pair for almost three years and people were telling me it was time to make a switch. Last week a fellow runner, a complete stranger, paused to tell me that the most important thing in training is "good footwear". Um, point taken.
I went to Road Runner Sports for a "Shoe Dog" running analysis over the weekend. It was determined that I had very high arches and that the size I was currently wearing was too small. I was told that supporting my arches with inserts would be important to preventing injury over long distance training. So I set out on tonight's run with new sneakers and new inserts made especially for runners with high arches. (Note also the funky asymmetric laces that go up the side of the shoe.)
Overall, this was a pretty uncomfortable run. I'm used to feeling my feet flex when I run and the new shoes kept my feet incredibly rigid and stiff. By mile three, I had developed blisters on each foot where the inserts rubbed against the arches. When I finished the run, my calves were unusually sore-- probably due to overcompensating for the stiffness in my feet.
I'm tempted to remove the inserts, but I'm going to try and stick it out for a few more runs. Before my next run on Wednesday, I'm going to spring for some real running socks. I'm thinking that this might fix the blister problem. And hopefully, after some more mileage, the shoes will break themselves in a little.
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