New Kicks!

Ok, so ignoring the fact that Megan and I have been the worst bloggers ever recently (hey, life gets busy!)... 

I got new running shoes!!

But I'm very excited to tell you guys about the process.  I went to a local running store,Pacers Running Store in DC, after talking to a woman about her awesome kicks at the grocery store-totally random, I know, but I love chatting with people.  She gets all of her shoes there, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I had heard other good things about Pacers, actually one of my friends is training for the Marine Corps Marathon with them, but wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money on new shoes.  Let me tell you though, after the whole experience of buying there I won't ever buy athletic shoes from a regular store again.  


So I get to the store after work and walking in I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least.  A few moments after standing looking baffled an associate noticed I needed a ton of help-remember I have "special" feet.  So we started chatting, mentioned that I'm training for a half marathon (Disney Princess 2012!!) and maybe one or two other races before hand.  

I give him the rundown about my feet, what *think* I need, and that I have inserts that I'd like to try on with the shoes.  So we start off with some a pair of Adidas that I'm a big fan of, but I felt like I was swimming in them.  He shows me over to a treadmill that I get on and it has a flat screen in front of it with a camera mounted at the end of the belt.  It records your steps and slows down each stride.  I needed a shoe that was more stable, I over rotate to the inside of my ankle.  

He brings out about 5 more pairs, apparently my heel is pretty narrow- so he's looking for shoes that are wide at the toes, and narrow at the heels.  This guy knows his shoes, very impressive.  We talked about Vibrams, the new barefoot trend in shoes and races.  He knows his stuff.  So I get back on the treadmill with a few more shoes, some of them feel pretty good, others are just alright, some feel plain right huge on me.  I ended up wearing a different shoe on each feet because I have no idea which one I like more.  I hop back on the treadmill and see which I like better.  Between the Brooks and the Saucony, the Saucony won.  I really like the way the were snug and he even tied my laces in some crazy special way to make it tighter around my heel! 

I highly recommend visiting a local running store, if you have one.  These stores know pretty much all there is to know about shoes, sure you may pay a bit more than at a department or sporting goods store, but you're going to get excellent service and leave with the "right" pair of shoes!


~Cassi

FiveFingers Friday: Things. Are. Going. Slow.

(Okay, so it's Saturday... things were a bit busy yesterday, so please forgive me!)

First of all, if you know me, you know that I struggle with both my patience and my stubbornness.  I always want to push further, faster, harder, than I probably should; sometimes it gets me into trouble and I end up with an injury.

Well, my goal with FiveFinger training has been to. take. it. sloooooooooooooow.  (I think I've gotten somewhat wiser with age...) But, it hasn't been easy, let me tell you.  Vibram recommends not running on two consecutive days and starting with just 10% of your mileage.  Since I've been back from Disney, I've been running 3-5 miles for my workouts- 10% of that is a half a mile!  It's frustrating to think of driving to the trail to run half a mile only to either drive back home or run back to the car to change shoes, so I've been getting most of my runs in on the dreadmill.  (Yes, mine is by far a dreadmill.  It's in a small room in the basement with no windows and nothing to look at other than taupe walls!!! I seriously need a tv down there or something!) I wanted so badly to just put them on an run like normal!  I know that taking it slow is better in the long run, especially if I want to continue running in general. 

Last night the weather was beautiful so I took the invitation to get out on the trail and really break in my new kicks.  I ran a 10 minute mile in the FiveFingers, without too much issue, but decided not to push it too much, so I ran another half a mile before walking for a bit.  I finished running a short sprint and I'll admit, i've never run sprints on my forefeet before, but it felt great.

I came home and slipped into my new CEP compression socks (in bright pink!).  The compression is supposed to help with circulation and lactic acid build-up.  Since the FiveFingers work your calf muscles a lot, especially during sprints, I thought it would be a good idea to try and ward off any pain in advance. I can honestly say that my legs feel great this morning! So it looks like the CEP socks were a great investment (they aren't cheap, that's for sure!)

It's still slow going with my training but I'm sure it will get better. I have a four mile run next weekend in preparation for the Pittsburgh Marathon.  I'm currently slated for the 1st leg of our 5 person relay team, but one of our members injured her knee and may not be able to run, so who actually knows what I'll end up running. I'm also running a 5k with my boyfriend the morning before the marathon, maybe I'll be up to 3 miles in my FiveFingers by then.  Time will tell...

~Megan

FiveFingers Friday: Training begins!

Yes, I bought a pair of those creepy feet gloves, the Vibram FiveFingers - Bikila LS model to be exact.  You may or may not have seen them, and although they’ve been around for years they’ve only recently become mainstream popular.  Well, every Friday (at least I’ll attempt every Friday) I will update you on my FiveFinger training progress in a fun feature called, you guessed it, FiveFinger Friday!  

So, I had looked into these shoes for a while before buying them and the last push really came from running at Disney, there were quite a number of people using them.  Not only that, but when you’re wearing your medal home on the plane it sparks quite a few conversations, yes that was partially intentional.  While waiting to pick up our bags plane-side after the flight from DC to Pitt, I was talking with two runners who swear by FiveFingers.  The one guy said he had nothing but knee pain and plantar fasciitis when he would run, until he switched to these funky shoes.  That was really all I needed to hear- I have sometimes severe knee pain, the result of many years of dancing.   So, I picked up my pair at REI during their 20% off member's sale, yay!

I couldn't get home fast enough, I just had to try them out.  The moment I got in the door I put them on and started up the treadmill.  I didn't run very long, I was just curious to see how they felt. These shoes force you to change your running form, stride and all, which makes your body work different muscles.  Instead of heel striking you land more forward on your foot, which limits the impact to your knees, definitely a plus for me!  When you push off you end up rolling through the ball of your foot and using your toes more.  It’s a change that you’ll notice when you’re running, but it feels more natural and fluid.  

I’ve been told by several people to use these shoes as a training aid and not a full replacement for my regular running shoes, so I plan to heed that advice.  You also need to work into them slowly.  Vibram recommends not running 2 days back to back when you're starting out and to run only 10% of your normal mileage, if that.  I decided that on Wednesday I'd wear them for a portion of my run and then switch shoes.  I ran for about 10 minutes in the Bikilas, I didn't want to push it and risk any injury.  I was over-thinking my form for a few minutes, granted on a treadmill your form is skewed anyway, so I took a few deep breaths and just ran as my body intended. My form self-corrected and everything felt great, despite the minimal footbed, the Bikila LS has great support for my high arches.

I plan to put some more mileage on them this weekend hopefully outside if the weather continues to cooperate (we went from torrential rain mid 40's, the low 30's and snow, to mid 50's this week, Mother Nature has a serious problem with her sense of humor!).  Check back next week to see how it goes!

~Megan

Music Makes the Time Fly By

I've always been curious about the people who don't listen to music when they run, lift, or otherwise exercise.  Maybe they just listen to everything going on around them and think?  I guess I can't do that because I prefer to run in the city and there's too much traffic noise that I'd rather ignore.  My boyfriend was that way for a while, so I got him an iPod. He couldn't figure out how he did it either after having it for a while. 

I like to consider myself a fair weather runner; I don't run outside if its really cold, rainy, and especially if its snowing.  Particularly because these things inhibit me bringing my iPod with me (original Nano, compliments of my alma mater). 


I've always loved music, however, I don't consider myself a music snob- I like pop and top 40's as well as other music.  I just enjoy listening to it, which is probably why I was in band from 4th grade (ok, well that was orchestra) through graduation of high school.  In fact, I'm listening to some while writing this.  I'd rather have music on in the background than the television.  

So you can imagine my excitement when Fitness Magazine sent me an email about a half marathon playlist they created in conjunction with Motion Traxx.  I'm constantly updating my workout playlist with suggestions from websites and new music that I hear.  I personally enjoy anything that has a fast enough tempo for running that keeps me motivated and the half marathon mix has quickly launched its way to my number 1 go to track.  Its upbeat and has a voice over narrator to keep you motivated and on track.  To run a 2:15 half marathon you just need to play through this mix twice and you'll be right on pace.  I've only run with it a few times, but I know when I start to slow down a little and walk its a quick turn around to me running again! Which is exactly what I need, especially since I don't run with anyone else.  (My roommate is about 10 inches shorter than me, we cannot run together or we would.)


So what does everyone else run to?  I always love hearing what others use to keep them motivated.  

~Cassi

Disney Racing is the Best Kind of Racing

Ok, so that might not be the most accurate statement considering it was my first race. But come on, its Disney, everything is magical there!

About a month ago Megan and I took a trip down to Walt Disney World and we had a blast. After all we did leave the northeast (I'm in DC and Megan is in Pittsburgh) and head south, so that's always an improvement.

Saturday came and we headed over to the ESPN World Wide of Sports to the Fit for a Princess Expo-which was awesome.

We checked in, got our bibs (Mine was personalized with Princess Cassandra and I picked Jasmine as my princess, Princess Megan chose Belle) and D-tags (which I am still confused on why they are called that) and started shopping. We each picked up a running belt that we used to hold our phones, chap stick, and some other small stuff, I bought inserts (post coming soon), and we both bought an assortment of RunDisney clothing. After spending a good hour or more there we headed back to our hotel room, got our running outfits together for the "morning" (we had to be at the start line by 5 am) and headed out for dinner aka time for carb loading! After a pasta and veggie filled dinner at Uno's, we headed back to our hotel and hit the sack-which is really hard at 9:30 pm when you are amped up for a race the next day!

Sunday morning rolls around and we're up nice and early, 3 am early! We ate a quick, yet nutritious breakfast (bananas, peanut butter, and high protein cereal) and left for the race. My wonderful mother drove us over to the resort next door where the shuttle buses are and headed to Epcot for the start line! The anticipation is building!!! I cannot wait to get to the start line and get going!! Of course we stopped to take a photo or two in front of the Epcot Ball:

Ok so we finally get over to our corral, and everyone is excited, there are women EVERYWHERE, and the occasional men dressed as a prince or frog.  Megan, Val (one of Megan's friends from Pittsburgh), and I each ran with a cute party tiara, that was as far as our costumes went.

Let me just tell you, before a race begins it can be very emotional! I never would have guessed that! My wonderful little brother (17 and 6'3'') texted me good luck and I just started crying! Who does that??  But it was great to get some encouragement from my family! 

Each of the corrals starts their section of the race with Fairy Godmother counting down and then fireworks! We were in Corral D, which is essentially everyone who didn't submit a proof of time. As we slowly move up toward the start line each of us has a moment like mine. Finally, it's our corral's turn!  Now remember this is my first race, so my first inclination is to just start running! But then I remember what all of my runner friends have told me, and that is definitely not the thing to do! So we jogged, and jogged, ran and walked, and of course there was some sprinting at times-but really that was to get to the princes! 

After we were finished our 13.1 mile journey I can honestly say that I had a blast! I would definitely do it again, and I'm so excited to have started this blog with Megan!!

We will be updating regularly and posting about our running progress, different products and recipes we've tried. I'm currently looking into running the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll Half Marathon, which I've been told is so much fun, but I'm not sure much can top running through Magic Kingdom and meeting a bunch of Princes. We'll see...


~Cassi