My heels have been hurting quite a bit since my 16 mile run several weeks ago. So considering this week was a distance pull-back week, a holiday week, and included a family funeral and visitation, I figured maybe this would be a good week to cut myself some slack and rest a bit. Apparently this was a much-needed situation because the last 3 nights, I've slept approximately 12 hours a night.
During my rest week, I've been taking stock of where I am. I've put in most of the training. I've planned out my race outfits. I've read books and watched movies to inspire me to run with heart. I've booked my flight, confirmed my room reservations and started making a mental packing list. My race countdown app says I have 40 days until the first Dopey Challenge race and I've felt like I'm pretty well on track. I have several more long runs and one more long, long run to go. Things are going according to schedule. And then...a shoe crisis struck.
See the last time I ran a full marathon, my shoe of choice was not the Mizuno Inspire I wear today. I love my Mizunos and have worn them for countless half marathons in the last 4 years. However I've never worn them for a run longer than that. After several long runs in the last month or so, I think my heel pain (likely the dreaded plantar fasciitis) is due to running in the super stiff Mizunos. So now I'm about a month out, with only a handful of long training runs to go and I have no idea what shoe to wear for the marathon.
Yikes.
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| So many shoes...so few options. |
Here are my choices:
1) Run in my Mizunos and hope all goes reasonably well. I'm not keen on this plan because my heel pain has been pretty bad and I don't think I could tolerate 26.2 miles like that...especially after I've already run 22.4 miles in the days leading up to it. I know I had planned on my Mizunos being my main shoe but I think I'm going to need to make some revisions if I want to survive this with a minimal amount of cursing.
2) Switch out my half marathon and marathon shoes. Most Dopey Challenge veterans recommend bringing at least 2 pairs of running shoes. One pair will be for the 5K and the half marathon and the other will be for the 10K and full marathon. That way you switch up how your feet fit in your shoes every other day, and you have a spare if there is a rainy day or something. I was planning on running in Nike Lunar Glides for the 5K and half marathon and my Mizuno Inspires for the 10K and full marathon. Now I may switch the two. I haven't run more than 10 miles in my Lunar Glides though so if I want to do that I need to decide quickly so I can get some long runs in them.
3) Buy new shoes. I don't really want to buy a new pair of shoes because I already have 18 pairs of running shoes. Sadly, most of them won't work for the challenge because they aren't the right type for my feet. I was given most of them due to my job in a running store so I'm not out a bunch of money, but it still seems wasteful to buy another pair. Plus, what kind would I buy? I could buy the model I wore for my last marathon but shoes go through a lot on incarnations in 6 years - who's to know if what worked for me then are the same things on the market today?
Right now I'm leaning towards option #2. But at 40 days out, this really isn't a decision I was thinking I would have to make. Ugh.
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