The Moab Half and an Apology...

The Moab Half Marathon is this weekend and I am really looking forward to getting into some warmer weather and enjoying my first longish run of the year.

You heard me. I am going to enjoy this run. No feeble PR attempts or banging myself into the ground. I am shooting for a reasonable 2 hour time, which is a 9:10/mile pace. That is going to be a big enough stretch this early in the year. It is going to be an exercise in restraint and test my maturity and ego, but I gotta do it.

Because I am hurt a little. I have a weird leg thing going with the inside of my right leg, where the calf muscle terminates. I am not sure if it's muscular or bonular or tendonular. It had been off and on for a couple of weeks, but since running last Sunday, it is so very much on all the time. Tender to the touch and generally bothersome.

But I am entered and so run I shall. I'll back it off (if backing off any more without stopping was possible) after and cycle more to ease off the pounding and see how it goes before heading to a doc.

And now, I would like to publicly apologize to generations of ladies whom I have generalized when it comes to shoe shopping. You see, I wanted to buy a new pair of trail runners. So I went to the running shoe store (Striders) and told them what I wanted.

Holy CRAP!

Within 5 minutes I had no fewer than 9 styles of shoes in 2-3 sizes each. I got confused and spent an hour and a half in there. Walking around and running on the treadmill. I finally settled on a New Balance because I was truly feeling stupid. I took them home and wore them around a little before deciding they were too big. So I took those back to find my size was gone. So I chose a La Sportiva Crosslite. Which is totally bad ASS. But I think they are too small. Plus, I can't put Speed Laces in them and they are a little tough to tighten up. Who cares? My bike to run transition cares.

So I may take them back and go with a Mizuno. Hopefully in the right size.

I don't remember being this wishy-washy in a long time. Especially not over something as simple as a pair of shoes. I guess it is more about the potential for the shoes to damage my feet with blisters that I worry about. Still...

I'll never make fun of women shoe shopping again.