Karen writes: The hard decision – rest or run on and SHOES

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Now that we have put something on paper (so to speak) publicly, it has certainly added motivation for getting on with things (more like panic), and the Perth marathon in 10 weeks time has suddenly come into very clear focus.  But you know how it is when the importance of something ratchets up, the excuses start appearing, for example, right now everything hurts after a wonderful 23k hilly bush run on Sunday (thanks Te Puru running club) and I have to decide if it is paranoia or time for a rest.   One of the hardest decisions as a runner is do I stop and get out of sync with my programme, or do I ‘run through the pain’ and risk damage which could take a lot longer to heal.

So I ran for an easy 50 minutes last night on a beautiful cold and dark Auckland winter evening, and my archilles tendons are now telling me that the hard run on the weekend was too much on top of the fact that I delayed too long in replacing my running shoes.  Sticking with sagging old shoes means that I now have to undo the damage caused by those old faithfuls (I get quite attached to running shoes) and get used to the increased support of new ones.   Shoes are a major to figure out when you start off, and if you make a mistake when buying a new pair it can be expensive.   Some running shoe shops though offer video assessment of your running style and it can be worthwhile doing this once to limit the risk of choosing wrong (“but they were such a cool colour!”), and prevent damage which can take a while to heal.   Some shops will also offer an exchange if they have recommended shoes and they still cause problems.    Once you know what shoes work you can hold out for good deals, but getting it right early is a good, well, essential investment, and then remembering to replace before things go wrong.   Some people have more than one pair of shoes on the go at a time, I haven’t been that organised up till now, but I need to be.

So for me tonight, hard decision though it is, i need to ignore my programme, listen to the body,  take a rest in the hopes I will be OK tomorrow, apply lots of antiflam to the sore bits to allow some recovery, and think about taking out a mortgage to buy a second pair of shoes!  

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