5 tough miles

I ran with the group last night....the first of many 5-mile weeknights. It kicked my butt! I felt like I was bookin' it, but in reality I ran just under 10 minute miles. Still, at this point in my training I think that's pretty good. I'm not in the best shape yet, but it's comforting knowing that I'm already running at the pace I did the half in last year.

My toe starting acting up again. I bought a new pair of shoes that seem to be more roomy in the toe area, but because it was so cold I didn't want to try breaking in my shoes in the freezing cold when I couldn't even feel my feet. Thursday I'm going to give them a go.

Also, it seems I have a little IT band issue up on my upper thigh area. At least I think it's my IT band. Whenever I do the "IT Band" stretch on one of my DVDs, it hits the exact spot that's sore. It doesn't bother me too much while I'm actually running, but afterwards it hurts. I'll look up some good stretches for it and see if I can find anything to alleviate the problem.

I'm going to a seminar this weekend put on for the training group by Oxford Physical Therapy. They are going to have us do a bunch of activities to test our strength, flexibility, balance and whatnot and then give us exercises to do to help alleviate any deficits. It's free, I might as well go. Maybe they can give me something for my IT band.

Tomorrow I have 5 more miles to look forward to. I'm doing those on my own to see how that goes. I'm sure I won't bust my butt as much...but I'll get the job done. I'm just looking forward to using my new shoes and seeing if they make a difference with my poor little toe.