Officially signed up. Only running 3 miles right now, but I have a plan to get up to 13 by the time the race comes. Wishing well to all of you out there training. Question to everyone training:
A)What kind of shoe is everyone training in? I have a pair of Asics Gel-glide 2 that I use for the road and Nike Trail runners for the trails.
B)What if any kind of special sock do you use? I have been looking for different kinds of socks and not sure that the best value out there is. I have seen as high as 12/pair
First a general comment
shoes are one of the more personal things a runner has. Not picking on you but what works for me may not work for you or anyone else on the board. General notes on shoes like, my Newton brand shoes take some getting used to or they wear out 50 miles faster than other pairs are great notes. Picking a model because some one else wears them is not a great idea. I did some searching to see what kind of shoes you were in and that leads me to a few general comment for newer runners on the board.
a) Not being too nosey, but how old are your shoes and where did you purchase them. You really do not need to answer here
but you should, if you have not already, head to a running shoe store for a fitting. If you have, I am offering this to others on the list. Take you current shoes with you and a pair of the socks you plan to run in. You do not want to go to a mall store or a big box store like Dicks, etc for your initial fitting. The running store will look at your feet, your stride and the soles of your current shoes. Shoes come in three basic styles, cushioned, stability and motion control. Cushioned are for those who under pronate generally noted by high arches and a wear patter on the front of the running shoe long the outer edge. Motion control are for those who over pronate; generally those with flatter feet, wear patterns coming off the inner toe, or are on the heavier side of normal. Stability shoes are for the rest.
Running shoes have a life. A good log book noting all your running miles is in order. Shoes live between 350 and 500 miles. It depends on whether you run daily, rotating with other running shoes and stride. A serious runner will generally have at least two if not three pairs of shoes. One is the higher mile shoe and the second is the lower mile shoe. These are rotated between every run, especially if running day after day. Generally a great plan would be to start you second pair of shoes out when your first pair get to about 200 miles. The third pair is in the box and used occasionally on short runs it is a great barometer when comparing the ride to the oldest pair
you will be able to tell when to retire them.
B) Socks are going to be expensive as will running clothes. Lumping them all into a single group for a second; anything touching you should be a tech fabric, not cotton. Tech fabrics like dri-fit, cool-max, etc wick moisture off the skin and help keep your temperature regulated. Cotton on the other hand will retain moisture and the fibers will chafe you badly. It will weigh you down after a few miles. Wash all tech fabrics WITHOUT fabric softener. The silicon in the softener will plug the fibers and ruin the clothings ability to wick moisture.
Most tech fabric socks are thinner. The running store will have a few brands on the shelves. Look for ones with hidden seems to help keep blisters away. There are a lot of interesting ideas out there about socks and you may need to run in a few brands to find what works best for you.
Hope this helps some.
I ran 4mins, walked 2mins for 2miles and just finished it in a little over 24mins. Now that may not be anything to you avid runners but I am so proud of myself. Thought I'd share
And on a side note, what a big difference compared to running on a treadmill. Outside was MUCH HARDER.
