february

it's been a pretty tough month.  i'm going to round it out at about 1/2 (or maybe just under) my goal miles for the month.  it's pretty disappointing actually.

i've had a few set backs and the weather has been shitty.  couple that with a new job that by the time i get home from work it's dark out... well, i've sort of been stuck on the treadmill this month and i hate it so much it brings me to tears.

i finally hit the trails last saturday, and for whatever reason tweeked both of my knees.  i didn't run the sunday after (missing 6mi) because my knees still hurt.  i ran my tuesday run on the treadmill (4mi) and my left knee hurt the whole time... it hurt most when i began running but subsided as i ran.

it scared me because i don't want another injury so early in my training.  i've also been fighting migraines all week beginning with sunday night.  i've had them sunday, monday, wednesday, and this morning.  that's most days this week.  makes for a challenging running week indeed.

since cutting my migraine meds i've been getting headaches more frequently and absolutely for the week of my periods these last couple of months.  i see my doc on monday and plan to discuss this with him.  i'm hoping that he has some other suggestions for mitigating my headaches/migraines so that this doesn't keep being so debilitating.

on the flip side of all that hum drum stuff... i have several friends who run in altras and they simply rave about them.  i have been having a lot of issues with my feet/ankles since i began running and i've had a couple different physical therapists as well as my chiropractor tell me that i need to run in different shoes.  i've been very reluctant to do that because i love my shoes.  after the last couple of pairs of new balance i've been running in i've consistently gotten blisters and now calluses on my third toe.  my nails have finally grown back and well... i am not interested in losing them again.

long story long i decided to try out the altras myself.  i received them in the mail when i got home from work today.  it was still light out when i got home and i was so excited about the new shoes that i decided to take them for a quick spin before the sun went down.  i'm so glad i did!  it was a really fast couple of miles.  i surprised myself.  the shoes feel great and my toes are so happy!  i noticed right away that i wasn't kicking myself with them... i tend to kick myself at the inside of my leg near my calf when i run.  i didn't do that even once in these shoes.  i'm not sure if they changed my stride that much but they must have changed it somewhat.  the shoes are zero drop so i'm interested to see if and where i will feel that change tomorrow.

i'm pretty happy with my pace.  it didn't feel laborious or too challenging.  i felt at ease in my stride.  i guess those interval sprints on the treadmill are helping my speed.  we'll see how it goes in my next race i guess.

now i just have to make it through the next week or so until march 8th which is daylight savings... sunset will then be at 6:50pm which means i will be able to run OUTSIDE every day of the week that i run except tuesdays when i work until 6pm.  i'll just make that my dreadmill speed workout day.

i hope you all have an excellent weekend and get some time on your feet this weekend!