It's in the Shoe

"First and foremost, you have to love training and even learn to enjoy hard workouts. It takes ears to reach your full potential, so if you don't enjoy the journey you simply won't get there."

There's no doubt that I love the training, I feel pride upon the completion of a tough workout, and I love the journey! The process is that much more rewarding with new shoes! Yes that's right. I have made the switch. Since I started running long distance in 2006 (it really hasn't been that long), I have been an Asics girl. Not because I thought they were superior, but simply because I got fitted in a pair at a running store, the worked well, and I never strayed. Since my sponsorship with Fitsok, I now get 40% Brooks shoes, so I figured I might as well give them a try. In the past, as I've browsed the Brooks section at Run n Fun, I've always been disappointed with the color schemes. I know running shoes are not about the colors, but about how they fit. Even still, I struggled to get passed purple and lime green on the same shoe-really?! However, I few months ago, I went to the corporate office for Fitsok, and got to see the new shoes coming out for summer, I saw the new Glycerin 9, and knew that was the shoe that was comparable to the Asics Nimbus I have been running it. The Brooks Glycerin 9 is the most beautiful running shoe I've ever owned! I'm not ready to break them in yet, as I still have some miles to put in on my Asics, but the Brooks are ready and waiting.

This weekend is a big decision weekend for me. Marathon training started for TCM (which I am signed up for) this week. I have kept my mileage low, to truly ease into the program. My first "long" run is 10 miles, which I will be running on Saturday morning. I am going to make a decision this weekend. I've still been having a great deal of pain in my leg. I am going to run the 10 miles on Saturday. If I am in a great deal of pain during the run, or immediately following the run, I am going to bow out of TCM early. I just can't go through the heartbreak of training and working hard, to have the race pulled out from me two weeks beforehand, as it was with the Boston Marathon. I don't want to go through the yo-yo feelings of "I feel fine", "oh that hurt", "but this felt good". I want to make that decision ahead of time. To be able to make a decision like this so early in the season is a big deal for me! Of course, if the 10 miler feels okay, and then it hurts down the road, I have no problem bowing out at a later date, if necessary. However, if I do feel pain this weekend, I am not going to ignore it.

This first week of training has probably been the easiest mileage week I've had in a long time:
Monday: 3 mile run
Tuesday: 5 mile run
Wednesday: 3 mile run
Thursday: 1 mile warm up, 3 miles of hills, 1 mile cool down

Tomorrow will be a 5 miler at marathon pace, Saturday will be the 10 miler, and Sunday will be a rest day as I cheer on Drea Gutierrez at the Minneapolis Marathon, and Meghan Smith and Ginger Montezon at the Minneapolis Half Marathon. Since this will be the first year in the existence of the Minneapolis Half Marathon, in which I am not running, I am going to be their biggest fan, cheering them on by bike. I can't wait!