Missed Opportunity

The weather looked gorgeous for a nice long 18 mile run this weekend. That is the mileage I was supposed to encounter. However, I didn't get anywhere close. In fact, I completed 0 miles this weekend and instead felt like I was going to lose a lung in the coughing spells that took over my days. Needless to say, I didn't leave the house much this weekend. Although I did try to take Duke for a walk later in the day Sunday when I thought I was feeling better--that ended in some icky coughing spells in which I was trying to control Duke (a strong German Shepherd) and my own body at the same time.

Anyways, if there is one lesson that can be learned from all of this, it would be to take the extra rest day early on rather than have to miss an entire weekend due to major coughing. I went to see the doc at MinuteClinic on Sunday and she told me that I should take some Claritin. So far that has made me extremely tired and somewhat stopped the crazy coughs. I'm hoping that I can get a run in tonight. We are only 5 weeks away from the Twin Cities Marathon and I need to get some runs in!

Summer is Here

I have so many announcements to make, I don't know where to start! I think I'll start with the weather. For those of you not in Minnesota, we are dealing with a bit of a heat spell. It was 97 degrees in the Twin Cities yesterday. According to Belinda and Jonathon Yuhas over at KARE11, that was the highest temp we've had since July 7, 2007 when it was 98 degrees. Anyways, I didn't get a chance to run in the heat yesterday for a number of reasons.

Somehow, I must be a magnet for getting sick these days. I acquired some sort of a cold near the tail end of last week. It doesn't appear to be too horrible of a cold because I haven't had a fever or anything. I've had a runny nose through the duration, but not even a bad runny nose. Yesterday, however, it decided to enter my throat and chest. Being that I do a decent amount of reading about running, I've seen a lot of advice that says you should rest if it is below the neck. So, I decided to take the day off running. It was extremely hard because I kept seeing runners out everywhere!!

Instead of running, I went to another running store, TC Running Company. I explained my situation with the Running Room and how they had thought I needed a low stability shoe. The guy looked at my shoes and quickly assessed that I should stay in a neutral shoe. I tried on the Vomero 3 and the Moto. As much as I really wanted to like the Vomero, it just seemed a little too soft for me. It was basically like I was running on a bed or something and it didn't feel quite right.

So I then tried on the Max Moto and it seemed to feel a lot better. Less cushion but not to the point where there is not enough. It fit to my foot well and I'm hoping it works out. It is not exactly the prettiest shoe in my opinion. I'm sure there are other colors available that would pop more but I didn't take the time to scope it all out. I don't really buy shoes on looks though so I can't really complain.

I'll hopefully be testing my new shoes out on the treadmill at the gym tonight. I still have an icky cough, but I figure I can at least get some running done inside. That and the treadmill would be a good place to try out my shoes and make sure they work right. Probably better since it is supposed to reach 90 degrees yet again today.

Update on Runs: I did manage to get a run in on Monday. It really wasn't pleasant. I'm not sure what my deal was. I had to walk like 2-3 times in a 4 mile run. My breathing was off and that could be because of my cold. My legs didn't seem to want to move at all either but I attribute that to having so many days off lately. I'm hoping I get some solid runs in next week because I am supposed to start training for the marathon on June 1.