New Kicks!

We are about a week and a half out from  our first race, the Grape Day 5k. Our training has been going pretty good so far except for my feet. The first few times I ran I got blisters on my big toes, nothing really too painful just a little annoying. Dan encouraged me to try out running in all of my workout shoes so I began running in all of them, and hoped that this would help with the blister situation. Yeah.  No help. During one run my feet either swelled a whole lot, or the shoes just didn't fit right, and for the last half of the run my feet were tingly and numb. During another run, to mitigate the issue of tingly feet, I loosened the shoelaces, but that only resulted in my heels coming out of the shoes during the run. It was then suggested to tie up my shoelaces to one of the back holes, my heels were fine, but then my toes, oh my toes. I ended up with blisters between my big toe and then the next toe. I had some anti chafe cream so I rubbed that on my toes for the next run. Again, no help. This time I ended up with a huge blood blister on one toe and little blisters on the tops of all the other little toes. What a huge pain and a hard time to walk afterwards. That pair of shoes found its way to the Goodwill pile.

After all this drama with my feet and several recommendations to check out the Running Center to get fitted for correct running shoes, Dan and I checked it out today. I was totally not prepared for it, but it was definitely a worthwhile experience. I was rocking a skirt and dress shoes from work, but they worked with me anyways. They began by fitting me in the correct size shoes and then watching me run. The first issue was the size 9s I have been wearing were too small. No wonder I have been getting blisters on my toes. After getting the correct size they then had us run. Yes I ran through the store in my skirt from work. They were actually impressed with our mid-foot running. They then had us try on several pairs of shoes to see what fit and what didn't. After trying on several pairs Dan found a pair he liked and I opted to take two. Since I haven't done much running before this I wanted to try two different pairs to see which type of shoe would ultimately be the best fit for my feet. I was shocked to walk out with a pair of 9.5s and 10s...yes you read that right...size 10! The two pairs fit my wide foot and narrow heel and I am excited to see how they affect my runs! Hopefully no more blood blisters, or any blisters for that matter.