The last couple of weeks have been really busy with work and other things, including 2 races. I did a half marathon 2 weeks ago and a 5k this past weekend.
The half marathon was a great race. It was chilly and windy (up to 25 mph winds!) but it warmed up while we were running. It was a beautiful course on cape cod, near the water. Very scenic and not too hilly. We started off in a clump and I paved a pathway on the left side to dodge around slower people and settled into a very comfortable pace. I often surprise myself in races as far as what feels "comfortable" and this time was no different. I hadn't done a half marathon since September, so I really wasn't sure how I would do, but I was pleasantly surprised to see my splits for the first few miles and hoped I could keep it up for the remainder of the race. Around mile 4 I caught up to my marathon buddy friend who has a tendency to run like a speed demon the first few miles and then slow down, so we chatted for a few seconds before parting ways.
At mile 8 there was a fairly big hill, and my split from that and the next mile showed that. Around mile 10, I was wondering if I was going to make it till the end. I was running with a woman who had her iphone running app telling her every half mile how far into the race she was, the total time, and her average pace. She was, like me, fairly consistent, so I was glad to be maintaining her speed and sticking with her, which definitely helped with motivation at this point in the race. We chatted for a little bit too, and she's running Boston!
Miles 11-12 became a lot easier- suddenly I felt great, like I could run forever. I kept going and gave it my best push at the very end, coming in only 1 second slower than my previous half (my PR)! I was super excited about that, especially since I had felt like this course was harder than my previous half (discussion on terrain and feel to come). Overall, it was a good race, and I had a great time. I would consider doing it again next year as long as we don't have snow!
The one downfall of the race, however, was that I think I tied my shoelaces too tightly during the race...I noticed some pressure during the race, but I figured I'd plow through and the pain would be relieved as soon as I untied them at the finish line. Turns out I was wrong- I sort of injured myself in the lamest of ways- with too tight shoes! For the next few days it hurt every time I had shoes with laces rubbing against the crick of my ankle in the front. I ran a couple of times (admittedly probably not the wisest decision) through the pain before realizing it was probably a bad idea, and taking off the next week from running. I spent a lot of time icing, used my old anti-inflammatory patches from my Achilles' tendinitis last year, and visited my chiropractor. It started to feel fine when I was running around my apartment barefoot, but as soon as I put on shoes with laces, it hurt.
I ran a 5k this past weekend (slower than I would normally have) and for the first mile, I had the shoes really loose-figuring that may work, because barefoot was fine, and there was no pain! They gradually came untied, though, and when I tightened them a bit I definitely noticed the pain. I started to think of how I could remedy this, and figured I should try out some new shoes.
I went to a different running store this time (my friend and I think the most local running store has kind of jerky salespeople) and explained my situation. The really nice sales rep tied my ravennas in a different way that didn't hurt, and also sold me a pair of asics that are supposedly really similar, and tied them loosely as well. I went out for a short run after work today (spring seems to have sprung- it was about 70 and sunny at 6 PM!) and am happy to report that I only felt a small amount of pain. I am hopefully well on my way to being fully recovered, and am looking forward to tackling my 3.5 hour run this Saturday in the new loosely tied shoes!
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