Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Blisters!

My first real issue this season with blisters and running is upon me. The insides of my big toes are callused, and adjacent to the callus, a round blister has formed on each foot. The best part is that I stabbed and drained the blister on my right toe, and then it re-filled while I was walking around my apartment barefoot. Barefoot!

Also, I picked up some of Smartwool adrenaline mini-crews on Steepandcheap.com for about $5.50 a pair, plus $7 in shipping. In the end, I got three socks for less than the price of two at full price. I'm convinced these are the best running and hiking socks available, as long as the shoes you're in are trail runners or running shoes.

I'll be up at scout camp this coming week, so I'll get some real trail running in. I also completed my toughest workout of this season thus far, a two mile warm up, 2 x 10 minutes at threshold pace, and then an hour-long run.
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On a winter note, I may pick up some MontBell Thermawrap pants from prolitegear.com for about $102 and no shipping, or about 20 percent off. Not bad, me thinks. I paid $127.05 for my Jacket, and that was about 23 percent off. Given my upcoming winter trips, I think I'll have to jump at it.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Week 7 of 19 - Killed first pair of shoes

My marvelous pair of Salomon Comp 3's died this week. I had around 300 miles of running on them. The outside of them looks fine; the soles show some wear, and the fabric shoes almost none. There is just a crease on the rubber that brackets the balls of my feet. But structurally, they are shot. And so, they will be retired. I could tell because my shins started to hurt. When that happens, the support is gone.

I have needed to replace them for about three or four days now. The thing is, Salomon was between seasons for a few weeks. All of the '07 models were sold out or clearenced everywhere, and I didn't pickup three or four pairs like I should have. Last night, I went to REI and looked at one of their trail runners, the XA Pro 3D Comp. It is the same shoe that I hiked the SHT with, except that it does not have a Gore-Tex lining. After I had the folks down in Bloomington set aside a pair for me, the 08 models of the Comp 3's went up for sale online. I promptly bought a pair, and they will be shipped to my closest REI and will arrive next week. Thus, I'm thinking that I will keep two pairs of shoes that I can run at all times. When the first pair dies, I'll get another pair.

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Running has been going well. I'm following the "A" program in Jack Daniels' book and am putting on a lot of miles. I'm running almost everyday, and most days with ease. I've hit section two of the season plan, which is the early quality phase. In this phase, I am getting some speed work in, all for preparation of phase III, which is where the most difficult workouts come.