5 Mile Done... A Lot More To Do

My long run this week was only 5 miles but it felt really good!  I'm really happy with how the run went.  I felt strong, there weren't a lot of pains during the run, and the weather was great.  Now I'm going to say it was cold, but pretty much everyone is going to say I'm nuts since it was about 50 degrees today when I ran.  However, I love running in colder weather (as long as there's no snow... I don't do snow...)

I set out to run the full first mile, walk .1, run till 2, walk another .1, run to mile 3.1, walk .2, ran to mile 4, walked another .2, ran until mile 4.5, and then finished strong!  Then had a nice .2 cool down.  All my walking was under 16 minute mile pace and that has been getting easier and easier to do without focusing on it.  My running pace was anywhere between 9:15 and 9:45, which I'm also super pleased with!

Probably the thing I'm happiest about is that my knee did really really well.  When I ran 4 miles for the first time a few weeks ago, my knee was throbbing at the end, even forcing me to walk eventually.  Then yesterday at the gym my knee hurt in the middle of my workout, but I pushed through it and it felt fine eventually.  So today I was expecting for my knee to kill my run at some point and it never did!  So excited about that because that just means the strength training, run training, and stretching is all working!

All my new gear is doing awesome!  I'm loving the pants and different shirts and I'm obsessed with my new Nike jacket (one of the thin, long sleeve ones).  I wear it whenever I can and I ran in it this morning and it was great.  I think I might have to suck it up and go get another one... My shoes have also broken in really well.  The combo with the new compression socks can get a little hot at times, but eventually I forget about it and I'm feeling great.

So other than being really tired last week, I've been feeling great!  I made sure to stretch and roll out today after my run and I'm still feeling great.  We'll see how tomorrow goes, but I feel right on track for 6 miles next week and then a rest week after that.

New Shoes!

I think the best part of getting back into training is getting new gear.  I've had most of my current gear for years, and I'm talking 3 or 4 years.  It's still good and I don't plan on getting rid of any of my stuff, but sometimes you just need an update...

The biggest issue for me was my shoes.  I love my Asics shoes.  I've been running in them for years and while New Balance and Nike both have some awesome designs, I can't give up my Asics.  I've had my current shoes for a few years now and they still have quite a bit of life left in them.  However, my heel has been slipping and I could tell that I needed some smaller shoes.

So I went to my local Fit2Run store and got resized... my feet have shrunk by almost a full shoe size! This seriously explains a lot... Asics apparently run a little small so I only needed to go down a half size, but the change was instant.  My heels weren't slipping, my feet were snug yet had some space... it was just great.  And even though I don't usually like pink, I do like the coloring on the shoes!

Of course, since I was there I also had to look for some other running gear.  Socks, shirts,  a pair of new capris and a really nice running jacket that I'm really tempted to wear just in general.  I also picked up one of the blinking lights I can clip onto my gear for when I run at night to stay visible to drivers.  The end receipt hurt a bit, but through joining the store's VIP club (I have a feeling I'll be back) and other discounts, I actually saved quite a bit- totally worth it!

Training gets so much more exciting when you get new gear!  Can't wait to get back out there and start breaking in my new shoes!