Recovery Run - 10 miles + New shoes...

Have I got an update for you guys. I'll try to make it short, but I don't know if that's possible. *ahem*

As you guys know (or maybe not), I've been wearing Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's for quite some time now. I've had my current pair since November, the pair before that I think I got in June, and I have no idea when I got the pair before that. I should also add that all my life, I've tended to lean my feet outward when I walk...

When I first picked them up, it was at a smaller Fleet Feet store that didn't spend much time with me. They watched me run across the store and back a couple times, then sent me on my way. With the 2nd pair, I was having a similar issue to the one I've been having (not the knee issue, but the one with my lower leg). I went into the bigger Sacramento store, and a guy in there spent about an hour evaluating my feet to see what might help.

He said the same thing: that I was a pronator, and need a stability shoe. He said that the Adrenalines were fine, but that I tend to turn my right foot outward as I run, and suggested insoles. I posted about it in the health thread at the time, he recommended green Superfeet. It made sense, since those are the same insoles I've been using for two years in my hiking boots.

The problem I was having got a little better, but never went completely away. I went through two pairs of Adrenalines with Superfeet insoles. That was when I started tracking my shoe usage, but you figure three, maybe four months with that first pair. So we're talking, running a year with Adrenalines.

My pastor had the running group going this Saturday morning, and I thought you know, I've had it. Let's take another trip to Fleet Feet, then run with the group and see how it goes. At Fleet Feet, I went through my history with them, and we went back to the drawing board. They had me put on my Adrenalines and run across the store.

When I got back the girl said, uhhhh, you're not pronating. Your feet are turning outward.

So she got 3 or 4 pairs of different types. She brought out a pair of Brooks shoes, some New Balance, and Nikes. This time around, I was comparing not the feel of the shoes on my feet, but how my leg felt as I ran. It was a tossup between the New Balance and Nike, so I put on a pair of each. The Nike won.

I give you Nike Pegasus 25


I ran 3 or 4 times across the store and they felt good. We also got the opinions of two other people in the store. So that's THREE people who felt I supinate instead of pronate. Finally to see how it felt, we put the Superfeet into the Pegasus shoes, and they felt fabulous. So I walked out the door with them.

I didn't make it to meet up with the group at 11. I got there at 12:15, and they were just finishing up. We talked about my new shoes for a while, and I decided that since I was alone, I'd go ahead and do my 10-miler as an easy recovery run. I didn't even wear my Garmin, I just went out by feel and decided to run/walk, walking occasionally just to see how I felt. At the 5-mile point I did a judicious amount of stretching, and in the end I think I walked about 1 out of 10 miles.

My average pace was 12 minutes per mile, although I was closer to 10 when I was actually running. As an indicator as to how easy I was running, my average HR was 122, and it never peaked over 145. I burned 957 calories as well. Overall I didn't feel too bad, but the real test would be later in the day.

We did errands and sure enough, as I got out of the car to walk into Walmart, the pain hit. In my leg. In my knee. So while there, I picked up a knee brace. I've never worn one before but figure what the heck, right?

Back at home when I put the brace on, it was like magic. ALL pain was gone, including the one in the middle of my leg. So I played around a little, moved my leg around. If I moved it at certain angles it would hurt, but nothing like before.

So I've been wearing the brace all day today. I don't plan to run with it, but my hope is that by wearing it when not running, while working and even at the gym, it will help it heal. *fingers crossed*.

Meanwhile, I'll keep you guys appraised as to how the Nikes are working out.