It was hot out this morning… which sucks. Still, even with the heat I beat my previous best for 4 miles by 2 minutes. I set my personal best late last year when it was definitely a lot cooler which makes me even more proud of my achievement.

With my super awesome new Asics Gel-Nimbus 10 shoes, some changes in running form (more focus on running tall) and today’s 4.17 mile solid run I think I’m finally over the injuries and problems caused last December. I feel really confident about my success too. If I had been at this fitness level a year ago before starting to train for the half-marathon vs. mom then I would have beaten her no problem!

I was a little worried when I received a notice from the running store saying that the Gel-Nimbus 9 was being discontinued. I received the notice several months ago. Since the shoes I currently have seem to be wearing out (yes, you really should change your running shoes often) I was extra worried.

Then over the weekend I received the new catalog from roadrunnersports.com. Lo and behold… the Gel-Nimbus 10:

Whoa! Sexy glamor shot!

So since I needed new shoes I ordered some right away. The initial reviews by people that had bought them were very encouraging: People who had upgraded from the 9 to the 10 were pleased with the changes.

I don’t actually think so, but it is definitely putting unnecessary strain on my lower legs. Last weekend I did some quarters (tempo runs 4x 0.25mile distance) which went great, but by Monday my lower legs were aching worse than ever before. It wasn’t until Friday that it actually feels back to normal. I’ve had these kinds of problems since getting past 3 miles distance or so, which makes me think I never really did build up my leg strength properly. I try and take it easy on the training to reduce the risk of making things worse, but that has to be balanced against the need to keep training.

So my running had been going well. I had started over from scratch and was slowly building up my speed and distance. By starting over from scratch I really mean from scratch. I’m focusing a lot more on running a better pace this time too because when I run faster than a 15 minute mile I’m actually more in a running stance instead of a walking/jogging stance… and it uses my upper leg muscles more than the lower leg muscles (where I’d been having a lot of problems).

I caught the flu. I’m almost through with it, but it derailed my new running plan by a little. It shouldn’t be a problem though, after all… I have left myself more than enough time to finish the training. KT and I had gone to NY for the holidays and we did great there. No major weather woes, no health problems… everything went smooth. Two days after I get back though I come down with symptoms. KT too. I’m thinking it was someone on the plane.

So the half-marathon was a bust. I got up to about 9 miles in training but I think I increased my mileage too quickly. I was doing great with the program at the start, but after having missed a few weeks of training because of a house move (stupid mistake, never stop the training!) I think I jumped back into it too hard. That combined with the toxic problem just knocked me out for good.

To make up for letting mom beat me I decided to up the ante to a full marathon by the next Dallas Whiterock marathon.

I don’t think I could ever do these:

1. Mark Covert has run at least one mile every day since July 23, 1968
2. Xu Zhenjun Ran a Marathon in 3:43… backwards.
3. Three men ran 4000 miles across the Sahara desert in 111 days
4. 7 Days, 7 Continents, 7 Marathons
5. Finish Badwater
6. Dean Karnazes running 350 Miles Non-Stop
7. Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie Marathon World Record Time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 26 seconds
8. “Running God” Yiannis Kouros, who ran 303.506 km or 188 miles in 24 hours

The wife and I went down to cheer mom & dad on and she shot some pictures. We missed dad by just a few minutes (he ran faster than he thought he would) but caught mom right when we expected her. Unfortunately we didn’t get pictures of her though. Something about trying to switch from pictures to video and it not working or something.

So instead we only have pictures of random runners and I was reprimanded for not uploading any.

Well then. We can’t have that so here they are:

It came, it went. I didn’t go.

Mom and Dad both finished and kicked some butt. I’m jealous.

Kind of. I’m still doing better but I think it’s too early to say my knee is better. I think the long run on Sunday aggravated it.