July and August

Well, the good news is that I have been running consistently for all of July and August! After my last flare-up, I went back to the doctor and he gave me a list of shoes that I should be wearing with my orthotics. I noticed that under the running section, all of the shoes listed were stability shoes....which got me thinking.

Last fall, I went to a different running store to get some new running shoes (because my favorite running store closed). I wanted to start from scratch, since I had been wearing a version of the same shoe for the past 7 years and started wearing stability shoes when I was about 70 lb heavier. So the salesperson watched and recorded me running on the treadmill, then told me that I really didn't pronate much so I probably didn't need to be in stability shoes anymore.

Now, I am no doctor but this is the first time in my running life that I have ever had foot problems, and I hadn't drastically changed any of my habits. I was still running every other day, using Hal Higdon's training method for half marathon #5, same plan I used for the other four, and pretty much doing things the same way I always had. So I started to wonder if it was maybe because the stability shoes I had been wearing this whole time had been keeping my feet more stabilized.

So I went back to that running store and got similar shoes, but the stability version (Mizuno Wave Rider 10) and lo and behold, my problems are solved! (knock on wood) I have been sticking to treadmill runs, partly because it's unbearably hot outside and partly because I want to be able to stop if I have any pain. Thankfully I haven't, so I have been slowly increasing my mileage and getting back to running every other day. HOORAY!

The rest of the days are spent with my two cats, who are best friends and should have been together all along, and with my family, some of whom came to visit in July, and at camp, where it rained for most of the days and was quite chilly. It's been a busy summer!