New Kicks

I got some new Saucony Guide 7's. Fun, but a little more muted than my neon blue Mizunos:

They jury's still out.

My knee had been killing me. I remember talking with my friend Susan on the way to Athens for AthHalf and telling her that I was terrified of starting that race and not being able to finish. I would have preferred not starting at all over starting and being unable to finish. By the beginning of December, my Mizunos were only 5 months and 272 miles old, but I was ready to call it quits on them if there was a chance that it would make my knee better.

Incredibly, despite about 4 months of this minor but persistent ache in my left knee, after a week with new shoes and no break in running, it was gone. No sooner than it left me, my right hip started to hurt. My hypothesis is that, if my new shoes completely resolved my knee pain, then my gait has undergone a subtle change, and the rest of my muscles and joints need some retraining.

I'd had some similar left hip pain this time last year that somewhat interfered with training for my first half, but I was able to resolve it with some stretches I found online. I've been doing the same stretches this time around. It's pretty much the same cycle - I get my hip better, I run, I'm in pain for about a day, I get it better, I run, I'm in pain for about a day, and so on.

I've been hesitant to commit to any other races. I'd put a reminder in my calendar to sign up for the Publix half today, as rates go up after tomorrow, but I've been wavering on whether or not to sign up. I was going to solicit some advice from my [two or three] faithful readers as to whether or not I should even bother trying, but I had a little burst of adrenaline and struck while the iron was hot. Worst case scenario, at the very least I get another t-shirt.

Whatever it is, I think it's just some kind of soft tissue inflammation. I have REALLY taken it easy since the start of the new year - I ran Saturday for the first time in a week, and (mainly because of the cold), I haven't run since. I WILL either run or hit the gym tomorrow. I guess we'll just kind of have to see how it goes.

If you want to run it also, sign up in the next 24 hours before it increases from $75 to $85, and promo code MRTTUSRS131 will get you $10 off. Misery loves company.