I'm so proud of myself!

Ok, first let me start with Friday. Friday after my post, I went for another run, and it was another pretty good run, IMO. That was my deciding factor.... I definitely needed new shoes. That afternoon I went back to Luke's to get new shoes. Unfortunately they were out of my size and had to order them, but they went ahead and exchanged my other pair and gave me a store credit for when the new shoes came in. I love Luke's. They treat their customers well. So in the meantime, I'm running in my old shoes, which is completely fine with me. 

I spent the rest of Friday afternoon just hanging out, running errands, nothing extravagant and then I went to bed early since I had to work an early shift on Saturday. Saturday morning as I was getting ready for work, I noticed that when I bent over, I was feel a small "click" in my lower back. At first it was just annoying, but after a few times, it started to hurt. I don't know what was going on. By the time I got to work, anytime I went to bend over (to sit, stand, anything!) it would hurt. I thought it was a pulled muscle, but I'm not sure how it happened. By the end of Saturday's shift, I was really, really hurting. I was planning on running 6 miles on Sunday morning, and by that point, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it! Needless to say, I was in bed by 8:30 Saturday night..

The next morning when my alarm clock went off at 5:00am, I moved around in bed a little and thought, "this isn't so bad.. I can probably run" but then went I went to sit up, it was horrible. There was no way I was going to be able to run 6 miles. I decided to go back to sleep for another couple of hours before going in to work. Needless to say, my back was still hurting all day yesterday, but it was definitely better than the day before. I'm still not sure what is wrong with it. It only hurts when I bend at the waist, and it feels like bones are rubbing together back there. Definitely not a good feeling.

So today it's still hurting, but manageable, and I knew I couldn't put off running any longer so I decided to give it a try. According to my training schedule, I was suppose to run for 50 minutes, but since I didn't make my 6 mile run yesterday, I was really aiming for that. My favorite place to run is Katy trail, so I got ready and headed out there. I started off walking, and my back was feeling pretty good, so I started running slow and progressively built up my speed. I was surprised, but my back didn't hurt much at all during my entire run! I ended running for 52 minutes (4.75 miles) with only a 1 minute water break at around 2.75 miles!! THAT'S why I'm so proud of myself! I didn't quite make it to 6 miles, but I did go over 50 minutes AND that is the longest I've EVER ran in my entire life!! Granted, it wasn't the fastest, but it was the longest. lol

What a great way to start my day! I can't wait until my new shoes come in.

So it's been a month....

And my runs have gotten worse. I missed the 6, 7, and 8 mile runs with my group. I have only been doing about half of the training schedule. For about a week, I seriously thought about just giving up. But I can't. And I don't. I have set a goal, and I'm going to stick with is. So I have been racking my brain trying to figure out WHY I'm having trouble with my runs... besides the lack of motivation. lol. I think I have figured it out.

Back in early July I got new running shoes. They are a totally different brand than what I previously had and they feel really heavy. I expressed my concerns about them the day I bought them, but the salesperson/running expert insisted they were the best fit for my feet. I think he was wrong. They are too narrow, too heavy and I feel like I stomp when I run. So yesterday I wore my old running shoes on my run. Let me remind you that for the past month, my longest run without a walk break had probably been 20 minutes, and I have only been doing like 2 training sessions a week, and not even the full sessions. Pretty pathetic, huh? Anyway, my run yesterday was pretty good I think. I ran 26 mins (2.5 miles) before I took a walk break. All together I did 4.5 miles. 

I will be making a trip back up to the running store today and getting a new pair of shoes. I feel good that I think I may have found the problem. Well, at least one of them. Hopefully the new shoes will have a little bit of motivation tucked away in the toebox, because I could sure use some of that. :) Now to get back on track. I'm once again excited about running!