Indulge my while I brag a little.

We ran for 45 minutes yesterday! That is the most we have ever run since we started our running program. I was ready to give up after 30 minutes because I wore the wrong pair of shoes but if I had two options 1. Stop running and walk back to the car which would take me about 30 minutes or 2. Keep running and make it back to the car in 15. I choose to run. At the end of the run I could have kept going for another 15 minutes but we were trying not to over do it since we have to run hills tomorrow and I will need all my strength for that.

If you ever think about picking up running make sure you visit a running store that sells running shoes. I am not talking about your local Foot Locker or shoe store inside a mall; I am talking about a running store where you can pick up everything from your shoes to your clothes. When we first started running I was wearing my old pair of Nike’s, they were cute and stylish but definitely not made for running. After a couple of weeks I kept getting chin splits and a pain on the right side of my knee. After visiting the running store where we do our running program they fitted me (by fitting I mean they made me run, with shoes, barefoot, walk and measured my foot) for shoes and determined that I needed different shoes. I know what you are thinking…SUCKER they are going to sell you the most expensive shoes they’ve got! And I thought that too but I paid about $100 for my first pair of shoes.

I took them home and I ran in them for about 2 weeks but I was still having problems. So I returned the shoes and I was fitted again. This time I paid $69 for a new pair of shoes and my pain went away. I got a pair of Asics and I love these shoes. If they are a good shoe store and not out to make a quick buck, they won’t try to up sell you and will get you the right pair of shoes, no matter how much they cost.

I later went back and got a pair of Nike Zoom Elite because of a sale they were having. I paid about $48 for the shoe. Great price but not a great shoe for my foot. This is the shoe I wore on my run yesterdays and if your foot goes numb…It’s not a good thing. The right socks also make a big difference. I like these Nike Elite Structure socks. They hold your foot together and have the dri-fit technology that takes the moisture away from your skin which keeps your feet from getting all sweaty as you run.

This post was not meant to be advertising for Nike. But I do like most of their products, especially Nike+. This product works with your iPod and it keeps track of how far you run, your pace, speed, etc. You insert one piece of the gadget in your shoes and the other one gets attached to your iPod. It also communicates with you and tells you how you are doing. Which is great for a little added motivation. I don’t have one of these so I can’t say how well it works but I would love to have one and try it out. They are not that expensive, I believe they are about $30 but you need an iPod nano which is where I run into a problem. I have an iPod video and I am not willing to buy another one just for a gadget.

So the moral of this story is to get fitted for shoes and go out for a run or a walk. It will make you feel so much better.