Week 24 Wrapup

Prior to starting running again on Thursday, I had only run two days in almost three weeks. In that time, I've had one business trip, two large birthday dinners, and a twenty-fold increase in my average weekly cookie consumption. All of these things combined have caused me to take a running leap over the 200 pound mark. I'm very confident I'll go under 200 again at the beginning of next week, but by the middle of next week I'll be in Mexico again for another food orgy. So, I have no idea where my weight will be when I get back.

I started running again on Thursday, just trying to do an easy 2.5 miles each day. On Thursday, I ran in my Mizunos with my new stability inserts. I didn't have any pain at the spot where it's been hurting for the last several weeks. What I did have, though, was a tearing pain in my outer left shin after a mile, kind of like the shin splints I had when I first started running. I stopped and stretched it, then finished my run, and it got a little better.

On Friday, I ran the same thing with my New Balance shoes, the original pair I bought when I first started running in 2001. I figured I'd try those since they were a motion control shoe. I had not intended to buy a motion control shoe; I just bought whatever was the best deal since I hadn't run before and would have no way to predict what problems I would have. The results were pretty much the same as Thursday's but with a twist. Since my Mizuno's have such a meshy part around the toe, they really circulate air through the shoe well. That's not so great when it's cold out, but is excellent in the summer. Going from those to the New Balance made my feet feel like they were baking. They felt so hot in those shoes I practically had to tear the shoes off as soon as I walked in the door. Obviously, they were fine to run in when I did run in them for a whole summer, but the contrast of going straight from the Mizunos to these really messed with my perception.

On Saturday, I ran the same thing in my other (identical) Mizunos, but with the arch support inserts. I had a little less of the tearing shin pain, and a little more just general pain and soreness around my ankle and whole lower leg. Also, it felt like I had a very large hard thing stuffed under the arch of each foot. None of the pain at the the specific spot where I hurt before, though, so I think I've got that problem licked.