Hey everyone! Week 5 is complete…well, sort of. Here’s what I was told to do:
I want to note that there are 5 run days on that schedule. My body absolutely can not handle 5 running days a week, and after talking to a few other runners we all agreed that the very easy run can be dropped for cross training if that makes me feel comfortable. I thought that would help me deal with all the pain I’ve been having in my legs recently too. Here’s what actually happened:
Monday: Yoga With Adrienne’s Bedtime Yoga. Best yoga routine EVER.
Tuesday: 30 minutes easy at PF. Had really bad leg pain afterwards. Sooooo much foam rolling.
Wednesday: My legs hurt a lot and I felt really tired, so I took my rest day early.
Thursday: Despite an impending 10 inch snowstorm AKA the biggest storm Anchorage has seen all winter, I made it to the gym (side note: we only got 2 inches). My stomach was killing me and my legs and feet hurt, but I was able to push through it for a full workout. 10 minutes easy, 25 minutes steady, 10 minutes easy.
Friday: My feet were KILLING ME. I tried to put on my running shoes but just walking around my apartment in them hurt so bad. So I did some yoga instead.
Saturday: I was feeling so motivated and decided to do my 70 minute easy pace long run. Except that 10 minutes into it I really thought my feet were going to shatter. The bottoms of my feet have been hurting lately but this time my ankles and the tops of my feet hurt too. So I stepped down to the shorter workout – 10 minute easy, 15 minutes steady, 10 minutes easy. I could not wait to take off my shoes! I went home and immediately burst into tears because there is something wrong with my shoes and I can’t do another run in them. I can walk all day long in every other shoe I wear but my stupid Adidas Boost Supernova 6s immediately create so much pain for me as soon as I put them on, so I know it’s not an overuse injury and is all shoe related. It would explain all of the random leg pain I’ve been getting since I started treadmill running. I wear my studded Mizuno Wave Inspire 9s when I run outside and I guess they’re just better for my feet because I don’t get that pain at all. I limped around all night because it hurt too much to put any pressure on my right foot.
Sunday: In a panic I went out shoe shopping because clearly a run was not going to happen. Our biggest shoe store Skinny Raven was closed today, but their smaller location was open so I drove right over there. My awesome shoe fitter lady told me that the shoes I’m currently wearing are all wrong for my feet! They are NOT stability shoes which is what I need – if the shoe salesman can spot my overpronation from across the room as I walk around, then I should not be in neutral shoes! I wanted to fly back to Philadelphia and throw them in the face of my stupid salesman at Philadelphia Runner for potentially destroying my feet with a comfortable shoe that was secretly messing me up! I wore them all summer while training for 2 half marathons, but I wasn’t doing the consistent running I am now so I guess it never got bad enough for me to notice. But I definitely feel it now!
I hate you.
Anyways, I then began the long and exhausting process of trying on every single stability shoe in the store. Which sadly was not that many. I narrowed it down to ASICS GT 2000 and Brooks Adrenalines, but they didn’t carry my size in either. So in a last ditch effort to save my feet, we headed over to Sports Authority to see what they had. And that’s when I found the only shoes that didn’t hurt my feet at all: the ASICS Kayanos! I tried on the 20s (apparently there’s a newer version and apparently they don’t exist in Alaska?) and ran up and down the shoe aisles like an idiot trying them out. And they felt like pain-free clouds! My biggest pain from my Adidas shoes comes from the fact that there are so many bumps and weird stabilizing points in the shoe, and I didn’t feel anything like that in the ASICS except overpronation support. Which apparently my Adidas shoes don’t have and is why my ankles hurt. So I went home and ordered these bad boys in the most obnoxiously bright color combo I could find with 2 day shipping:
If bright colors make me faster then I should be good to go in these!
So there are two upsetting things going on right now: I ran significantly less miles last week because I skipped what would have been a 6 mile run, and I now have to wait for my new shoes to arrive and make sure they’re going to work out for me before doing a long run in them. Oh and my feet still hurt, although it’s getting better. I’m a mess right now. I’ve never been injured for longer than a day or two, and I’m hoping that I didn’t do something to my feet that is going to mess me up for a while. And I feel so much pressure to keep on training so that I can be fully prepared for Zion, especially after they posted this on Friday:
So my thoughts are that I’ll try to run outside on Monday in my studded stability shoes despite the single digit temps, or possibly use the bike/elliptical at the gym in different shoes just to keep up my activity level. My new shoes will be here on Tuesday and I can try them out to make sure things are okay, and then I’ll follow the training plan from there. But if I have any more foot or ankle pain I’ll have to stop what I’m doing right away. I’m hoping things go okay this week and that I can finish better than I started!
Have you ever been fitted incorrectly for shoes? Do you hate running shoe shopping as much as I do? Do you run in Kayanos or other ridiculously colorful shoes?
Mom in the Mtns 
What a great week of training!! You’re working SO hard!! Job well done! XOXO
Haha thanks, I just want to stick to a training plan for once in my life and things keep happening!
How frustrating that you were in the wrong shoe- glad you solved the problem though!!! You’ll be sure to fly fast in those new beauties you bought 😉
I hope so! I am pretty excited that they’re a crazy color – the boring grey ones matched a lot but weren’t as ridiculous looking as I like running shoes to be 🙂
Shoes are so tricky. I hope the Asics work for you!
They really are! I tried on the next 2 versions of the Mizuno Wave Inspires (my studded shoes that I love) and they both felt awful! There are just too many shoes out there and I’m now nervous I’m picking out the wrong ones. I’ve never worn Asics so I’ll give them a try!
Oh no! That is super frustrating but hopefully you’ll get that squared away early this week. I’m a neutral runner through and through, and the ASICS Gel-Cumulus was a great shoe for me. (I’m now running in Brooks Glycerin, which is a neutral-ish version of the Adrenaline I think!) I’m dealing with some weird lower calf pain that has me frustrated and bummed out, but I’m hoping it’s just a minor setback like your foot pain. Rest and ice should help a lot.
Good luck! 50 days away is exciting 🙂 My race is 62 days away (I think, according to RunKeeper) and I’m getting pumped. You’ve got this!
Oh no! Pain is so scary because you have no idea why it’s happening or if it will go away soon. Training is such an intimidating process but hopefully we’ll both feel better soon and will be able to crush our races!
Woohoo for ASICS!
And omg…I don’t know how people run more than once or twice a week! I’m so “done” after my own run on Sunday! I couldn’t handle more than maybe 2, haha!
Haha well it took me months to build up to 7 miles as my long run so maybe you’re just using up all your energy in one run? I bet if you did two 3.5 mile runs you wouldn’t feel too bad. If I’m not training for anything I just run 3 times a week because 4 is definitely a lot for me!
kristen i swear, the similarities in our running is crazy! first half being run disney, both pushing for sub 2:30 on our next half, and now? i JUST posted today about how i had to get correctly fit for shoes after my neutral shoes was causing ankle pain. and i ended up with asics, too! i’ve been running in them for about a week now, and there is no pain when i run. i so so so hope these new shoes work for you and your pain goes away so you can resume training!
Haha I love it! This makes me feel so much better about my new shoes now that I know someone else just did the same thing. I’m really hoping they fix everything! I’ll be checking out your post later!
Eeesh! That’s awful. Hopefully your new shoes are THE shoes!
Haha me too!
I would try not to stress too much! You can always do some biking at the gym to keep up your cardio while you wait for your new sneakers to arrive. I strained a tendon in my toe from wearing a pair of sneakers that were too rigid, I switched to Brooks pure flows and have been fine since!! 🙂 I’m sure you’ll do GREAT in your half once you get your new sneakers!
Oh good! I’m hoping my feet feel better in new shoes too. At least I’ve still got 6 weeks of training to go and I hopefully won’t have to miss too much!
Shoes that are crazy bright and fun colors definitely help 🙂 I struggle with running shoe shopping too (actually, just shoe shopping in general) because my feet are weird and I overpronate like crazy. Glad you hear you found ones that feel like pain-free clouds! Fingers crossed they’re The One!
Haha I know right? And yes, the shoe shopping is awful. The shoes will feel great but the bottoms will be all wrong, or the bottoms feel grew and then something is poking me! So annoying.
Yes, I was put in the wrong shoe and developed horrible issues with my Achilles. This took years to get completely over. So, I’m very paranoid about changing shoes or when the shoe maker changes the ones I do wear! Don’t do that!
Ahhh that is my fear! Well I tried on the newest 2 versions of the Mizuno Wave Inspires that I got studded, and they both hurt in totally different ways! So I definitely know what you mean about not just buying the latest version. I’m definitely going to stick with this next shoe if it works but if it doesn’t I’ll need to go check out the bigger store because I definitely want this injury to go away!
What a frustrating week! It sucks that you had to miss your long run- but better that this shoe problem happened now than a few weeks from now. I hope your pretty new shoes work out for you 🙂
I’m in shock over how little snow you guys have gotten in AK! It feels like the east coast is getting beaten by storms weekly!
That is so true about it happening now – I keep telling myself that it’s going to be okay and I have half a training plan to go! And yeah, we’re all super bummed about the lack of snow up here.
I LOVE colorful shoes! My go to shoes are orange Newtons. They don’t match anything I own, sadly, but people recognize me by my shoes! Luckily I have never been fitted incorrectly for a pair of shoes.
Zion looks so awesome.
Yay for bright shoes! And I totally felt the same way about my shoes…until this week. Now I’m going to make sure I get second opinions AND google to make sure they’re stability shoes!
Sheesh, it’s hard finding the right shoes…I’m a Brooks Adrenaline fan, but they aren’t right for everyone. Must be fate that I found your blog today (that and #snowmageddon), I booked my hotel for my trip to Zion in September. Can’t wait to see it in real life! Happy training!
Yay that’s so exciting! I will take TONS of pictures and do as many trails as possible so make sure to check back from March 12-20 when I’m blogging about it! It looks gorgeous!
I can’t run five days a week either — I need rest/XT days or my body starts falling apart! I love yoga for cross training, I’m going to have to check out the Yoga for Bedtime one, that sounds amazing!
I run in Asics Gel-Kayano’s too! I’ve tried several different shoes (there $$) but I keep going back to them. I described them the same way — like running on a cloud!
This makes me feel better! I felt like such a wimp throwing out a run day when it’s on my plan but I know I can’t handle it. Plus one day of yoga doesn’t sound like enough!