Calling all runners:

Ok, I am, well, was training for a 5k.  I started with two miles, and yesterday I didn't just hit my goal of 3.1 miles, I actually ran past it!  I'm now 5k ready!

I got a little spark of motivation at my "turn-around" goal and just kept going.  I know it's only four miles but for me that is a huge step.  It was the most rewarding feeling on the way back, but it was also starting to get really painful.  As I reached the 3 mile marker, the sides of my shins started to burn.  I don't mean like oh my calf muscles are starting to cramp up, I mean my bones felt like they were on fire.  Ouch.  I think it has a lot to do with the types of shoes I wear while running, so that leads me into the purpose of my post, I need advice.

1. What types of shoes should I be running in? Anyone have any favorite types?
2. I'm not a fan of bananas... I'm also not a fan of cramping up on my run, so I need some potassium, right?  Well, what else is good for cramping up, oranges have potassium... I think, help!

A little advice that I've found helpful on my journey thus far:

1. Listen to music while you run.  I see people running with music all the time, I just haven't felt like it because I didn't want the headphones swinging around, and I didn't want to hold my iPod in my hands... no. Do it. 
2. Bowman saw a cat on a run about a week ago, and he pulled so hard I almost fell into the road.  That's when I knew something needed to be done. I saw this on Claires blog, and decided to give it a try. It's called the Gentle Leader, and it's basically a miracle worker on leash training.  Bowman is over a year old, and until this little gadget he thought he was taking me for walks rather than the other way around.  When I say this leash works, I mean instantaneously this leash works.
3. Stretch. Stretch stretch stretch.  I didn't think anything about stretching, I don't like it, it hurts, it takes more time-- I literally thought of every excuse not to stretch.  About a week into running I didn't stretch at all one Monday, went out for my normal run, and woke up the next day with the worst pain in my back. I could hardly breathe, couldn't lift my arm, it hurt. Alex gave me a "told ya so", and I've stretched since.

I'm officially 5k ready, and the run isn't until October.  Maybe I'll extend my goal to a 10k.  

Well, baby steps for now.

Just because

 

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."  

-Marianne Williamson