Running/Jogging status so far...

The first 3 days of running have been great. The running shoes are feeling fabulous on my feet. Of course after the 3rd day of running, my calves, thighs, and abdomen are feeling extremely painful. Every time I sit down or stand up because my thighs and calves are suffering from the exercise, I feel as if they will give out at any moment. Sometimes when I yawn or cough, my abdomen hurts soo much I end up curling in. You know how the phrase goes -- "No Pain, No Gain."

Yesterday, I went jogging and I always come to this point after the first week. I seem to be taking steps backwards. I get more tired before reaching the end of the block and I run less and walk more. It usually lasts for another week and then I'm back to making progress. My calves and ankle were cramping up soo badly during yesterday's run, that the most I could do is walk. And when I walked, I walked like a duck because of the tendon and muscle cramps, it left me with little room to bend or rotate my joints. I don't know if I'm getting too old or if this the result of injuries past. When I was in high school, I was an avid basketball player and suffered from a torn ligament, dislocation, and sprains of my right ankle. I also injured my right knee to the point my doctor instructed me to not engage in any physical education for 6 weeks. After the 6 weeks, the fluid build up in my right knee had drained on its own, but I guess it left some damage because about 6 months later, I heard my knee pop during a rebound and I was down for the count. I couldn't straighten my knee with out pain and without feeling as if I had no knee cap. I felt like I could bend the knee in the reverse direction it was supposed to bend. So for the rest of the year, I stayed on my ass as long as I could until my knee felt better. I was told by another doctor I went to that my right knee cap is damaged in a way that it cannot receive the nutrients in order to heal itself or for it to stay healthy. It feels very jelly like and it swells up if I have been standing for a very long time so I guess the knee cap is deteriorating. My knee was also hurting yesterday.

So I took 5 - 10 minutes longer to make my run. It normally takes me 30 minutes to cover 1.2 miles as I mapped it out on mapmyrun.com and yesterday it took more like 40 minutes. I'm also feeling a little asthmatic when it comes to running. After the run my breathing turns into wheezing, but I'm not falling on the floor gasping for air at least. I think I'm just out of shape and I'm trying to push myself as hard as I can.

Brooks Glycerin 8

I decided to head down to the Run store in Union Square, on the corner of 14th Street and University Place on Sunday after a brunch with some awesome girls. :-) I guess as part of the first day of Spring, the store decided to have a 20% off sale on all the items in the store. I spoke with an awesome store manager named Laura. She helped me understand my pressure points and told me what type of shoe I needed. I tried on a pair of Asics Nimbus 12 and absolutely loved them. She had me run for about 20 seconds on the treadmill. There is a video camera capturing my stride and how my feet leave the floor and in what position do they come down. She decided that I needed a neutral shoe and that I do not under or over pronate. That was a relief ---I always thought I had bad running methods and stances. I was in love with the Asics, but unfortunately, due to the bunion on my left foot, it was too tight. We tried a size larger and I noticed the larger shoe had less cushioning and it wasn't like running on air anymore.

Laura recommended the Brooks Glycerin 8 as they are not as constricting as the toe area is mainly made of mesh. She also told me when I run, my feet will swell (something I did not think about). It was difficult for me to part with the Asics, but I said to myself, alas, another time. I purchased the Brooks and in all honesty, was relieved. The back of the shoe is high, which I like because it makes me feel comfortable --I may be the only one out there who likes the feeling of my shoe up against my Achilles heel, but it's reassuring in some ways. I've torn the ligament, dislocated, and sprained my right ankle within 2 years of each other when I was in high school. I play a lot of sports, basketball especially and suffered a lot of injuries, including permanent damage to my right knee. (I'm a lefty can't you tell? --I have almost no control over the right side of my body) I didn't go running on Sunday, but made a promise I will try these out Monday.

And we have Monday here today. I came home from work, had a few quick bites of food, and laced up. I quickly noticed from walking around the house in these running shoes that they are very soft. I wonder why I didn't notice them yesterday (probably all the shoe trying on and off). These were very cushy and almost like walking on pillows. I like these more and more. I went out started running and noticed how easy my strides were. I'm very pleased. I figured since I haven't run in 6 months, that everything I did last year would be undone. Not so! I'm not sure if it was these shoes or that I retained some of my stamina, but I was able to run a whole 2 avenues before my lungs gave out. When I ran with my beat up 6 year old New Balance's I could barely run down the first avenue. These really helped propel me forward and I'm not even a pro at running. They did however make me look like a pro. Running down, I noticed the shoe firmed up and walking back, it was soft and cushy again. I did not research the shoe until after I came back to find that these have a new technological foam behind them. One that acts like a corn starch and water mix. Now I understand what I was feeling.

Although, I've only ran in them once, I am very pleased for now. And instead of $130, I only paid about $110 after taxes. At the moment, I'm extremely happy. Will keep you updated as I go along.