Small Victories

Sometimes running sucks. There’s just no way around it. You’re out there, literally pounding the pavement, sending your knees and ankles and boobs and joints on a real wild ride, and let me tell you, these body parts feel it. That reminds me, I think it’s high time I invest in a few new sports bras.

My latest running investment, which is hardly an investment at $19.95, is working out swimmingly. I was mulling over the visor/hat decision for a while before deciding that I already get hella hot and sweaty when running and I don’t need any extra material over my head keeping all that in. So I went w/ this one and am loving it. My sister ordered it for me w/ her Prime account b/c I’m 90 and barely even use regular Amazon. 

Another running win happened over the weekend when I was killing my 7 mile run and felt the unfortunate sensation of a blister popping up on my back left foot. Let me start over b/c that is obviously not a win. During my Sunday run, I started feeling a blister forming and my initial reaction was “fuck. off.” I bought new sneakers in March, the same day I signed up for my race, hoping it would kickstart my training. It didn’t. I didn’t get my ass in gear until about a month later; so the fact that these sneakers have only seen regular running for about two months and were already tearing out in the heel was totally unacceptable.

I still had my receipt b/c if you know anything about running you know running sneakers don’t come cheap, and I wanted to make sure I at least made it through my race before losing the receipt. I bought these sneakers at Marathon Sports, a Boston (New England possibly?) area chain that I really like. I bought my first serious pair of running sneakers there back in 2012 when I decided I was going to try and become a runner. They have a location about 25 minutes from us, which is where I bought the new kicks back in March. 

Prior to this, both pairs of running sneakers I’ve had have been Aasics. When I went to get fitted in March, I told them this and they respected that; but also showed me a few other snazzier options that I ended up digging. I’ve never really appreciated the flashy sneaker trend, until I realized that I don’t like to draw attention to my body, but my feet? Sure, take a gander at all the purple and green zigzags going on down there (actually, the shoes I bought were silver and neon and blue and hardly flashy compared to what I see other girls in, but they were much louder than my previous black pair).

The new pair were Saucony’s, another solid running brand, so I figured I was in good hands (and shoes). So I’ll chalk it up to manufacturer’s error on this particular pair, b/c after barely three months of training, averaging 3 runs and 10-12 miles a week, the gaping hole tearing through the fabric in the heels was just not satisfactory; the huge blister on my heel was added insult to injury. 

Bottom line, Marathon Sports took one look at my shoes and hustled me into a new pair, poste haste. I went back w/ my trusty Aasics, promising never to be so reckless again.

So there you go, some good news to read instead of all the terrible goings on in the world lately. In other good news, Brent and I are headed to Philly tomorrow to visit w/ my sisters and then see my parents just in time for Father’s Day. We’ll probably hang out in a park and try to recreate this gem from 29 years ago. My bonnet might be hard to find, but that blue and white striped shirt Sarah is wearing is definitely kicking around somewhere.