its the shoes

so lately i've been having some interesting pains and then last week these pains turned into full blown cramping and shooting pain in both of my calves.  i've been having problems running well and comfortably the past few months and it turns out IT WAS THE SHOES!

yesterday, i went back to my new balance 1500s to run my 18mi long run.  my calves freaked out the first 3 miles like they had been doing and i thought it was going to be another crappy and painful run.  by mile 4 they felt fine.  no pain, no cramping, no fatigue... so... i just kept on keeping on.

i have been running in new balance 1400s since i began running and i graduated last year to the 1500s because they provide more stabilization.  turns out... my feet (and subsequently legs) need this stabilization.

today i ran 10mi in steady rain.  no issues whatsoever with my calves.  no pain in any of my body.  it was wonderful!

for the past month, i've been running extremely consistently and hitting all my miles (albeit slow as molasses) on the dot.  i'm really happy with the progress i'm seeing.  my runs are still challenging but maybe with the shoe switch back that will fade too.  the lesson here is don't mess with a good thing.

how's your spring training coming along?  what race are you training for?  what motivates you to keep going when you just don't want to run?

MARCH FO(u)RTH

one of my very best friends has celebrated the 4th day of march for years.  i never understood the significance of the day... i thought it was just a clever play on words (as he is prone to such things) and that it must have some life significance to him but i never really asked until a few days ago.

as we were chatting via text i asked if he was doing anything special on march 4th.  i knew that the answer would be yes and that i'd learn about some awesome plans that he had to be out in nature.

i was right...   he is headed to the desert with one of his good friends for hiking over the weekend.

he also encouraged me to find my own limits edge and do something. so that got me thinking... and i wanted to know if this was an actual thing... an actual holiday, or if it was just his thing.  google is incredibly effective when learning new things.  i found this, this, and this.

so dear friends and readers... let's jump on the bandwagon!  what do YOU plan to do to honor your body, honor your mind, and push your limits on this unofficial holiday?  what does this look like for you?  what could this mean for you?

for me... i'm going to run at one of my most favorite places and do 12miles (already on my training schedule).  i am going to run 2 loops of the black loop at lapham.  each loop is 6.4 -6.6 (depending on your garmin) although this map marks it at 7... it is not 7 miles.  i intend to power through it to the best of my abilities under whatever the given conditions of the trail are.  when i was at the park earlier this week it was snow covered but i'm hoping that will be somewhat gone by tomorrow.

get out there and be limitless!  enjoy your day and then tell me all about it!

starting 2017 off with not so much BANG!

for 2017 i decided that my mileage goal would be 1,350 miles.  it's an arbitrary number in that it doesn't mean anything specific... i just looked at previous years and the mileage i was able to complete and then decided to up it from there.

so far things have NOT been going as planned.

i am notoriously a winter complainer.  i am not a fan of the cold which makes running in shitty weather, or weather that is so cold i can't feel my muscles less than optimal.  i tend to skip those runs, attempt to run on the treadmill, or just die a little inside as i brave freezing my (literal) ass off.

the goal mileage for january and february was 110 each.  in january i missed that goal by 21 miles finishing out the month with 89 miles.  in february i missed that goal by 30 miles.  in my defense i was out with a migraine for about 5 days in january, and sick in the beginning of february for 10 days so there's that...   incidentally, that february plague caused me to miss my crossfit goal for the month!

i'm certainly not batting 100 with the 2017 goals.

so i guess what this means is that i either have to tack those 50 miles onto the rest of the months, a very lofty goal, or just let the goal go and see what i can do for the rest of the year.  i'm not sure what to do... i don't think that tacking that 50 on can work because i'm not sure i will be able to run enough miles to complete it.

goals are funny huh?