It has been over a week since my last run of 7.75 miles. On that run, I had to walk the last couple miles due to ankle and knee pain. As a reminder, I injured my left ankle, which I believe is causing my right knee also to hurt because my right leg is working to compensate for the left ankle. Chicago is 7 weeks away. The Navy-AF Force Half

I’m way behind on posting my runs! I will get you up to date on what’s happening.  I have made it halfway through my training for Chicago,  but the back half will be more difficult.  Unfortunately things have not been good lately. I finished July with 112 miles run, and while that is not a crazy amount,  it is the most I’ve ever run in a month. Things were going

The Altra’s and Newtons I have are fantastic shoes. But with the recent foot pain,  I must still be adapting to them.  I decided I still need another shoe, more traditional,  and the Nike Structures are not it! The Nikes feel odd to me now. I researched shoes and found the Brooks Pure Flow 3, with a 4 mm drop and lightweight, this shoe still has a relatively low drop

I ran 12 miles in my Altra’s, as my training schedule suggested. I’m happy to report that I had no knee pain, but the bottom of my feet felt like they were on fire.  Also, I had a pain on top of my foot – painful to touch or flex my toes.  The Altra’s don’t have a lot of cushion in the front part of the shoe,  so I was

Going into this 10 mile run, I was not sure what to do.  My last run was with a loose knee strap made by Cho Pat, and my knee bothered me. So this time I tightened that strap up so that it was pretty snug and off I went.  The first 5 miles were great, and I thought my issue was a loose knee strap – until the knee started

After a week vacation at the beach, I have now started week one of my Chicago training. This past Sunday I ran 9 miles on my hill route.  I wore the knee strap but it was too loose. I don’t know if it made a difference,  but my knee was mildly achy around mile 7.5. I did not walk much and my knee was fine when I stopped.

Sunday’s run at the beach was my longest run since February.  Because of the ankle issues I’ve had in the Newtons,  I decided to try Nike with a knee strap on. The first thing I noticed about the Nikes was that I’m not used to their feel anymore. I did not like it. Early in the run,  I felt the knee strap was rubbing against my knee,  so I took

My 3 mile test run in the Nikes went well. I had no ankle pain during or after the run this past Wednesday.  Soon I will try a longer run in the Nikes and some shorter runs on the Newton/Altra’s.  Training for the marathon will begin soon.

Just as I was thinking Altra’s and Newtons are the best shoes ever and my knee issues seem to be diminishing,  a new problem surfaces. The weekend after my trail 5K,  I ran 7 miles in the Newtons.  It was really even a jump in miles, but my left arch bothered me on this run.  I missed next two weeks running for other reasons,  and I resumed on May 25th

A week after the Thomas Larner 10K,  I ran the Crozet Running 5K Trail Run and did I ever underestimate this one!  Runners were warned that the first mile is all uphill and steep, but I blew that off as a warning to beginning runners, not ones that run 10 miles with ease. But they were not kidding and before long, I was tired and walking!  Yep,  this hurt my