Today, I got a nice surprise. I received my medal from doing the Virtual Florida Halfathon last weekend! That was a lot faster than I was expecting! It is a pretty awesome medal, complete with a festive ribbon. It is a pretty heavy medal! I am glad that I participated in that special event.
The other cool thing that happened this week was that Disney posted their Waiver form online, along with everyone's Bib Numbers and Corral Placement! Yay! The Disney Marathon Weekend is getting REAL now! My Bib for the Goofy Challenge is #25,275 which puts me in Corral "D". And my Bib for the 5K Fun Run is #1910. My son's Bib for the 5K is #1318. All that is left now is to actually GO to Disney World! I cannot wait!!!!!
This week has been a nice reprieve from major mileage, and I think my body approves. I did not do anything on Monday or Tuesday, trying to get some additional sleep (not having to wake up at 5:00am), and allowing my legs and feet to rest. Rest is an important component in training because that is when the body recovers, heals, and rebuilds muscle fibers, which in turn makes you stronger, faster, and better able to continue your training program without injury.
Last week, I realized that both pair of my running shoes were getting up there in miles and they wouldn't take me through the next three months. The general rule of thumb is to replace shoes after 300-350 miles because they begin to break down, lose their cushioning, and are less able to properly support your feet. This then leads to foot and knee pain, and possible injury. Of course, other factors like weight, gait, running form, the environment, etc can further impact the wear and tear on your shoes. Well, being a heavy athlete, I tend to follow the 300-350 mile rule because experience has shown me that is about my 'worn out' point.
My new Brooks PureFlows! Loving the blue!
Well, my Saucony Kinvara 3s are already above 200 miles and my Brooks PureFlows are only 25 miles behind. So I ordered a new pair of PureFlows figuring that I can break them in during the remainder of 2012 and use them as my racing shoes in 2013. I will use the Kinvaras for my weekday runs and the older pair of PureFlows for my Long Runs. At some point in early 2013, those two pair will have to be retired and I will have to buy yet another pair of shoes (maybe the new PureFlow 2s). I guess when you run 100+ miles/month, shoes get worn out pretty quickly!
So on Wednesday, I wore the new PureFlows and they felt fine. I ran for 5.7 miles without any issues. Then I ran another 5.6 miles on Thursday in them with similar results. Excellent! I have decided to wear the new PureFlows during my Santa Hustle Half Marathon this coming Sunday. If all goes well, then I will feel confident in using them for my 20-miler coming up, and then as my 'racing shoes' next year.
I do not plan on running at all on Friday, and will perhaps go for a 1-2 mile walk on Saturday prior to heading down to Indianapolis for the race. I just want to focus on resting the body, to hydrate, and fuel up for the race on Sunday. Next week, I will be resuming my regular training program which will result in another 35+ mile effort (including a 20-mile Long Run on the 23rd).