It's a Treat to Beat Your Feet

Well, looks like I beat mine too much. Left heel, which has been aching dully, is suddenly quite painful. I went for a short one this morning (3.5 mi.), and it hurt more than usual, at least for the first mile. When I got home it was fine, but after I showered it started in barking again. Advil and ice calmed it down, but now, at 2 p.m., it hurts like heck. More ice, more Advil. This may be the running gods' way of telling me to taper before the half marathon. As in, lay off for a week (yeah, right).

Going to go out in a little bit and look at new shoes. My work shoes, which I wear every day, started out cushy but over the course of six months have sunk to the comfort level of a couple of planks. While I'm in a shoe frame of mind, I think I'll go to my local running store over the weekend and lay out a small fortune for a new pair of Sauconys. The supposed life of a pair of running shoes is 300 to 500 miles, but I find after about 250 I start to hear that slap-slap that signals exhausted midsole material.

Running seems like it should be a cheap sport, really. It is, when you are able to confine your expenses to periodic new shoes and shorts. It is less affordable when your main pieces of equipment, i.e., your feet, break down. Those mechanic, er, podiatrist bills can add up.

But it's a beautiful spring day, and I'm working on staying positive. I've been eating better for a couple of days, and feel the happier for it. And it's Friday here in the land of wage-slavism!

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