Running gag

[captainsblog]

Somebody get the smelling salts to revive the family and half the readers: I went shoe shopping the other day.

Last time I went outdoors running, I couldn't make it through the second 10-minute installment, and it wasn't so much the endurance or even the humidity as the fact that my damned feets hurt. I've had the same basic brand of Champions (same brand Eleanor swears by, and as they wear out occasionally swears at, for her on-her-feet workdays) for going on a year, and it was time. So I took an extra antidepressant and headed into Famous Footwear, coming out, in time, with this:



That's not exactly them: they have funkier pixel-y things above the dark stripe along the sole; they were slightly cheaper; and I did, of course, get two of them:P

Now, though, any time I put the old ones on for garbage duty or whatever? I kick myself and say, how did I last in these support-less things for so long?

Tomorrow's scheduled for my first Real Run in them, after breaking them in, more or less, in the gym and just walkin' round over the past few days.  I have two more three-day weeks of C25K training in advance of the next actual 5K, for which, if I keep to the plan, the final interval will BE the actual 5K in Cambridge a week from Saturday.

----

I'm suspecting there will be far less fear and loathing in this 5K than in the New Yorker piece I just read. It's paywalled, sadly, but this summary from (probably) one of the author's sources tells a significant part of the tale (and includes both a link to a summary of the Mark Singer piece and an offer to email any interested reader the entire .pdf).

In short, the subject of the piece(s) should be an inspiration to guys like me. A Michigan grad of about my age, who chose dental school as his less-than-ideal life calling, and who, only recently, found running as an inspiration for both fitness and charity.

Just one problem. (Or, if you believe the articles, several.) Dr. Kip had an amazing tendency to finish ahead of his age-class competitors in remarkable times, passing people who had no recollection of being passed. Echoes of Rosie Ruiz's early-80s subway-enhanced marathoning came to mind. At least one event was identified where the good doctor appears to have won a marathon that never, exactly, existed.

All of this was, allegedly, to raise awareness and funds for the treatment or cure of cystic fibrosis, which one of his kids suffers from, but the national CF organization has barely heard of the guy and certainly has no record of contributions to their cause commensurate with the publicity he gave it (and, just as much, himself) on various websites.

In the end, nobody admitted nothin'; if anything, the post-Rosie precautions put in by major marathons (onboard chips and regular checkpoints to ensure their electronic registration) vindicated the guy, each and every time. Nevertheless, the whole thing wound up stinking a lot more than I do after 35 minutes trundling around the neighborhood, and I can't imagine being any prouder of a fake 24-minute 5K time than I am, already, of my just-under 45-minute real one.

Comments

[elbiesee.livejournal.com]

You got a decent deal on those shoes - I always brace myself for dropping a c-note, at least.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

BOGOs are a beautiful thing. My work shoes were falling apart almost as badly, and the whole haul for both was under a Benjamin in exchange for giving them a (relatively useless) email address for their "membership" card.

[nentikobe.livejournal.com]

A decent pair of shoes when you've been shopping Payless for years is an eyeopener. Amazing how it helps the feets and back.

[ellettra.livejournal.com]

How are your legs feeling, hips and shins and all, in the new shoes? Did you see a marked improvement right away? I need new ones, too.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

I'm fine after running. It's the weekly "leg day" workout at the gym that makes it hard to walk, much less run, for two days thereafter. And yeah, they seem a LOT better- especially when I wear the old ones around the house.