Today's training got all screwed up to say the least. First, the weather. Holy cow people, it is HOT and HUMID!!!!!!!!!!! "C" asked if we could run in the morning rather than the evening for reasons other than the weather, but boy was that a great move on our part (except that we weren't able to include "L" as she was working this morning). When we started it was 78 degrees and 98% humidity. When we were done an hour later it was 83 degrees and slightly less humid (91% I think).
"L" created a very specific training schedule for the remainder of our time before the PCT & F4F - - - today it called for 8.3 (or so) miles (a half mile further than "L" & "C" went last Thursday). For the record, that is 1.3 miles further than I have gone with the exception of the training disaster called "The flood". I was scared of the distance and the heat, but feeling confident my blister was healed. WRONG!!!
"C" and I decided that the country route was too intimidating and we set off for the PCT 10K route with some extra mileage to be added at the end. We got 2 miles down the greenway and we were really HOT! We decided to stay on the greenway which is a total of 4 miles round trip and then do more at the end. My sock felt a little goofy so I asked if we could stop at the picnic tables by the parking lot before going on to phase 2 of the mileage. We stopped, I pulled off my shoe, then my sock, and YIKES there was my big blister - painful and as big as it was last week. Honestly, I was really depressed and felt defeated at this point. Why? I had worn different tennis shoes thinking that would be the perfect solution. Also, I was pretty confident that my blister had healed over the holiday weekend. NOPE! It was all screwed up again. I was scared (and still am a little). I had 5 days off since my last run, and now today is already Tuesday. I have training on Thursday which is not a requirement, but more importantly, I have 3 5K's coming up this month alone - the first being this Saturday. I'm also scared because I really need to increase my mileage in order to be able to LIVE through the half-marathon. "C" gave me a cool 13.1 sticker and it is now on my car window so I am required to complete the half-marathon. There is no backing out now!!!!
Given this morning's set back, I took off to Fort Wayne today. I first went to return the never worn second pair of tennis shoes that I bought when I discovered the Pearls had cured my shin splints. At 3 Rivers Running Company, they were polite, but not really all that helpful. They said this kind of shoe the Pearl Float is unique in how it helps and that they really didn't recommend changing. They exchanged my Pearls for a half size larger and said that it would be okay. I then went to Foot Solutions - what a crazy place. There was one worker and like 12 people over the age of 80 all needing extensive help. I quickly left thinking that I would try other options before waiting there. Thanks to "C's" recommendation, I went to Fred Toenges. I left feeling FT's hopeful. I walked out with a pair of New Balance wide width shoes and something called heel levelers (dude, they are the littlest flimsiest thing and they alone cost $30 and have to be replaced every 3-6 months). They gave me some samples of Spenco 2nd skin for blister treatment and some thoughts on different socks to try. The shoes were 15% off - yeah! I must try them out on a treadmill for 1-2 miles to see if they work (treadmill rather than outdoors because they can be returned if I don't like them -yeah!)
So today's training was 4 miles of extremely difficult walking/running followed by new shoes . . . again! Stay tuned. Something has to finally click so that I can be rolling without issues soon!!!!! I'm beginning to feel like the weakest link in my training group and like a really HUGE drag on their progress!
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