Today I ran for the first time in new running shoes. I was not feeling it this morning, so it was not a very good run.
Cara outpaced me for most of the 3ish miles we ran. Just so you can understand the magnitude of the new shoes, have a
look at this picture from 2006. That
is me at my very first 5K, the Pi Mile at GA Tech. I was 220 lbs and looking for a lifestyle change that would lower
that. Within the year my dad would have his first (and only so far!) heart attack. As part of my training for the Pi
Mile I splurged on a pair of real running shoes. I have been running with them nearly 10 years now - my entire adult
running career! Today I ran without them. In new shoes. Size 11 1/2. Sure, they are super wide but that is the smallest
shoe size I have bought in decades. Almost since I was Maxwell's age. I don't really need the length, but my grape
stompers are rather wide. They are good for walking on the snow without falling into it.
That first year running I worked up from a 5K at GA Tech to a 10K through Sonoma Valley. And then I ran too much and
hurt my knee that November. It wasn't until last last year that I
finally ran a half marathon.
This September I am planning to do my first full marathon. I have a
training schedule which I know, logically, will get me there, but I still have trouble
believing it. Then it will be on to ultras! Maybe I'll be running Western States or Badwater in a few years. My goal
is to complete at least one ultra before I'm 40. It's weird that that still seems so young. I did a ten miler last year
where a guy in his 80's finished a half hour before I did. Maybe I'll get there by then...
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