Spirit of the Marathon and New Shoes

It's not often I have too much to talk about, but lots at the moment LOL

Firstly - the movie Spirit of the Marathon Deirdre and I were talking about this last Sunday and both saying we must watch it, well what do you know, I went to my sister's for a baby shower that afternoon and she had it there, she'd got it for Christmas - and so loaned it to me. I squirraled it away for a quiet time which turned out to be Thursday night when DH and Josh were away in Auckland (seeing Paramore, well Josh and his friend saw Paramore, DH did the supervising, dropping off and picking up - they had a great time ... and I'm relieved, especially after Josh tells me they made it right to the front of the stage and he had to hold one woman who fainted, that they both came out safely!) ... anyway I ended up with a bonus evening at home, so after the girls were in bed and quiet Cam and I watched it. Gosh it was good ... the build up etc was very interesting and worth watching, but OMG watching the start with about the same number of people who will be starting in London, well that definitely brought a tear to the eye and shivers down the spine, have I mentioned in the last five minutes how close it is getting??? Part of me is excited about being part of such a huge event, the other part still scared stupid. Something good about watching the start though, was how relatively quickly those tight crowds did spread out, by the time they got to the start they were moving pretty freely - that was a relief, I pictured being jammed in for the first couple of k, but maybe not. Also interesting to see were the drink stops, I've been pretty certain that I wouldn't take my hydropack, that I'd rely on the every 1 mile drink stops, but I'm second thinking that now - they looked so crowded and scary, that maybe I'm better taking my pack and stopping out of the way, away from the huge crowds at each drink stop. Something to think about. Anyway, if you haven't seen the movie - definitely worth watching (of course, its a few years old now - but I'm never first up to watch/see anything! LOL).

Something else I've done the last couple of weeks is read Dean Kanaze's 50 marathons in 50 days and his first book Ultramarathoner ... he is my new hero :) ... I like that he is "just an ordinary guy" with amazing "something extra" that sees him through such amazing events. Cam, my sporty, non-reader has even started reading it ... so it must be good!

So right now, I'm full of inspiration ... lets hope that equates to good running!

New Shoes ... yesterday I went to Athletes Foot and got my feet properly fitted for shoes. Very interesting! I have suspected for a couple of weeks that maybe my shoes are too big, I've bought the same size for the last year, and over the last year have lost a lot of weight ... so it doesn't take rocket science to work out that maybe my continuous sore toe (I lost the nail after my first half marathon and it has never been the same, after every long or hard run it blisters or gets slightly infected again) was due to my shoes maybe being slightly too big.

Turns out I was right. My left foot is just over half a size bigger than my right foot AND I was wearing shoes that were about half a size to big for my left foot which equates to being a size too big on my right foot, which is the foot that my toe has been giving me grief.

When I stood on the magic machine, it showed all my pressure on my heels - I questioned that and said there is no way I'm running with my body being held too far backwards, I'm struggling to make myself run upright rather than stooped at the moment, the complete opposite to what he was saying. So then I walked across it - and whoooaaaaaa ALL the pressure on the front of my feet, the guy doing it was quite surprised, I wasn't ... that is what I'd expect to see going by photos of me running. So - smaller and more flexible shoes are apparently what I need.

We tried a few different brands and ended up with Mizunos - they feel great, very light and very like they're just part of my feet. I don't know a lot about running (well, actually I know way more than I thought I'd ever know!), but I do know from shooting that if my rifle felt like it was just a part of me, I performed at my best ... I figure it is the same with shoes on the feet :)

So, Mr Expert said to run them in slowly, just a couple of ks at first ... so this morning being the bullheaded person I am, I ran my easy 13km in them, and um, there is a reason he is an expert - I've ended up with a blister on my right heel (yep, where my smaller foot is moving up and down the heel) and my left side of my foot is really sore, it felt like it was cramping or something for a lot of the run - not towards the end though. I think the soreness is just getting used to I suspect running slightly different, and the slightly different probably actually running better.

Now my biggest decision is whether to use old shoes or new shoes tomorrow for my big run. At the moment I'm thinking probably the old ones, I don't want to end up really hurted that left foot, I can handle a blister (I just about always get them with any new shoes I buy - although surprisingly not when I bought the Asics?), but I don't want to end up with a stress fracture or something scary.

So a big "running" week for me :)

Today I ran my 13km "marathon pace" run ... my Nike attachment wasn't recording right (new shoes - placed differently?) but I think I managed it at pretty much exactly 6:10 pace, I haven't put it in Map my Run yet which gives me a nice accurate time. Felt good though, I was singing along with my ipod so definitely in the low heart rate range :)