16 miles and 2 more blisters.

Thankfully the weather is starting to cool off. I ran 16 miles this weekend just to see if I could do it. I did it. It went well and my legs don't feel tired but my body does.

I also realized that higher mileage is much easier when you stretch ;) who would have thought....if you just take that extra 5 minutes to stretch before and after you feel so much less stiff.
I've been a runner for years; it's not like I haven't heard "stretch, you need to stretch", it's just that I'm impatient and stretching takes extra time.
So here I am lunch time on Sunday after my 16 mile weekend and I feel really good because I came home and stretched for 15 minutes.

Hopefully I will feel okay tomorrow morning too. I could probably stand to eat a little more that might help with my body feeling so tired.

Shoes Post!

I have several different pairs of shoes. The two pairs on the right are actually older and I keep for "back up". Meaning days where it's really rainy or the trails are muddy. I don't want to ruin my newest running shoes. And since I have started this marathon training I have already gone through two sets of shoes. Well technically I am on my second pair. I started with the purple saucony (which I really loved) but they already had a lot of miles on them and then I began training, adding many more miles and my shins/knees could really feel it....so I bought some new sneaks. I decided to branch out. I don't typically buy the same name brand or shoe over and over again. I like variety in my running shoes. So this go round I bought the adidas ones (second pair from the left). I haven't worn adidas for running since high school. I am really enjoying them! They are very roomy in the toe box and they are great for pronation and support. However, I kept getting blisters when running gravel trail and many trails in Umstead State Park. After an 8 mile run and 6 blisters on one foot I decided something had to change. So I bought a pair of trail running shoes (on the far left) and actually that seems to really help. I LOVE running Umstead and gravel/rocky paths in trail shoes! Apparently the denser shoe and the grip on the shoes gives me more of a grasp so I'm not sliding my foot all around which was causing all the blisters in my regular running shoe. And my ankles don't roll anywhere on uneven trail and i trust the footing much more in a trail runner on a rainy day. Definitely a good investment.

Running carries me through some of the most beautiful scenery. I have discovered the coolest placest in Raleigh to run. Trails that seem to last forever. And nobody is ever on them. In the middle of the city, it's like my own personal secret refuge. I didn't used to run quite as much as I do now. I have taken to running because I am training for a race but possibly because it's a way to escape my life for just a while.