I cannot express to you how good it feels not to get on a plane at all this week.  If I stay grounded for a little while, it won’t be the worst thing.  This weekend still flew by and I’m not entirely sure where the time went.  But it was a productive weekend.  On Saturday, after taking a much needed rest day on Friday, I got 7 miles in and Sunday was another 4 spent focusing on speed intervals, so no complaints.  What powered me through these back to back crazy runs?  My new shoesssss!!!

I have run in Brooks Glycerin 12s for about two years now.  They have never failed me and I kept buying the same pair over and over again because I just loved them.  But, crisis hit when I went to my local running store only to find out that Brooks had “updated” ruined perfection their Glycerin model to the Brooks Glycerin 13s.  I decided to suck it up anyway, how different could they really be?  I will tell you, they are a whole world of different.

The toe box seemed wider, the ride wasn’t as smooth, and there seemed to be a lack of cushioning around my tender feets.  I toughed it out though (running shoes ain’t cheap and I hate returning them if I’ve warn them) and trained in them for my entire half marathon only to be met with constant blisters.  Once I had finished my treadmill half, I decided enough was enough and took off to my local Road Runner Sports to get a new pair.

If you’re just starting out a fitness routine, FIND GOOD SHOES.  They make all the difference.  A lot of injuries in the knee and ankle start because of foot problems that force different muscles to overcompensate, so don’t skimp.

At Road Runner, they assessed my feet (hello, high arches) and my running gait (I am a normal runner who tends to toe strike) and gave me a whole stack of running shoes to try on and model by running around the room and on treadmills they provided.  I ultimately settled on the ASICS Gel Nimbus 17 in the sassy blue color seen above and so far I am loving them.

I’ve run in ASICS before, but I found them to be a lot heavier than the Brooks and often more clunky.  I cannot describe accurately how different I think the newest Gel Nimbus are from traditional ASICS.  I am having a love affair with them right now.  Especially because my foot blister count is currently 0.

In addition to all this running I’ve been doing, I have been throwing in some extra quick body weight workouts lately.  I want to be as strong as possible because I’ve found that adding strength routines into my workouts really helps stave off injury and I’m all about that.  So today, I did a quick 15 minute full body workout.

Do each exercise for 45 seconds with a 15 sec rest in between.  Repeat the circuit 3x

• Walking Lunges (with or without weights)
• Squat jumps
• Mountain Climbers
• Burpees
• Curtsy Lunges

And I’ll leave you with this drop dead gorgeous picture of the sun rising by my house the other day.  Few things in life will ever be this beautiful.

-sj