30 Miles

Reaching a new weekly mileage goal is a significant step in training, and I just completed a 12-mile run (my first since June 7) that brings be a little closer to that significant number:  30 miles.  All I will need to do is run 3 miles tomorrow or Sunday and I will be there.  I have found in the past that when I reach 30 miles, I simply shift into another gear.  My running surges ahead a little more easily as I shift into that higher gear; everything becomes a little easier, feels more natural. 

Today's run was long and slow and difficult (my third in three days, with some fast miles in those past two days and not much rest) and it was not easy to persevere.  But at the same time, I could really feel the lack of cushioning in my shoes.  I am a relatively heavy runner at 180 pounds and also an over-pronator, so I wear New Balance 993s for cushioning and support; I alternate between two identical pairs, which I have found gives the shoes more time to recover and extends their life.  But today I felt as if there was not much there.  I could feel each piece of gravel on Lower Lake Road, and my legs felt as if they had taken a real beaten at the end of the run.  I examined the heels.

The shoe I chose to wear today:

The perfectly good pair of shoes waiting in a box in my closet:

That says it all.  Why would a runner run on the first shoes, trying to eke out a few more miles, when he already has a brand new pair boxed up in the closet?  Too cheap, I suppose.  And shortsighted.  Because shoes - at a hundred bucks a pair - are the only major expense in this sport.

Tomorrow I will lace up a new pair of shoes, record the date under the tongue, and take them out on the road.  And it will feel like that new pair of "sneakers" felt when I was 10 years old and it was dandelion wine summer:  breeze in my face, morning dew and newly-mowed grass, and I felt like I could run forever . . .