The last two weeks have been incredibly hectic, which has done nothing for my training or weight loss. My best friend from home came to visit me in New Orleans last weekend, which meant a lot of walking around as I showed her the city, but also a lot of eating a variety of New Orleans delicacies, including Bananas Foster, Snoballs, and beignets. Needless to say, I wasn’t able to get a lot of working out in last weekend, but I tried to make up for it this week.
I went on three runs, including a six-miler that was the best run I’d been on since I the half marathon a few months ago. I also got my race number in the mail for the Crescent City Classic, the 10K that I’ll be running on April 23. The fact that the race is coming up was exciting, but I’m still a little nervous about being ready for it.
To keep up my motivation, I also got two of my friends to run to Varsity Sports on Magazine Street to buy a new pair of running shoes for when I hit the 300-mile mark on my current pair next week. I’m not letting myself wear them until I get to 300 miles, though (18 miles to go!). Hopefully I’ll be wearing my fabulous new shoes next week. I’ve been told it’s a good idea to replace running shoes every 300-500 miles, and since my next half marathon is in seven weeks, I figured it would be a good idea to start breaking in the pair I’m wearing when I run it. At Varsity Sports, they also did a gait analysis to determine what type of shoes were the best for me based on my arches and how my foot rolls when I run. It’s a good idea to get a gait analysis done when you’re buying running shoes, because wearing the wrong pair is a sure-fire way to get hurt.
I usually go for pink running shoes, but I’m super excited about my electric-blue Brooks Ravenna sneakers. Varsity Sports is also known for its t-shirts, which say, “Run Hard, Live Easy” on the back. With every pair of shoes you buy, they give you a t-shirt for free! Because I didn’t get pink shoes, I got a hot-pink t-shirt instead.
I’m super excited for all of my fabulous new running gear, and I’m hoping to keep up the momentum I built this week, as my next two races get closer.