6 Mile

I was supposed to run five miles for training yesterday and ended up running a little over six instead. (No, this isn't because I inadvertently did NOT run seven miles on Saturday)

I planned to do the outer perimeter of Greenlake, then jump to the paved path around the lake, but I just didn't. I've discovered after my second mile my left foot becomes numb. About 3/4 of a mile later, the right foot follows. A few friends at training group and I have commiserated about this, looking for solutions. I've laced my shoes tighter, looser, and even wore those socks with individual toes to help. The socks did help somewhat, but not entirely.

So after the first loop around the lake I decided to run the outer perimeter half-way to Super Jock 'n Jill, a running store at the northwest end of the lake. A super nice employee there, Eric, helped me. I thought wearing compression socks might help support my feet, but when I asked him what he thought, he suggested we fiddle with my shoe fit a bit more before shelling out the $60 for the CEP socks they carry. He re-laced my shoes. Not just pulling and re-adjusting, but he took the laces out entirely, skipped the first row of holes and re-laced them. Very very nice, considering I didn't even buy the shoes there. He had me take a jog up the hill and come back to check on how they felt. They felt much more roomy and comfortable, and encouraged, I thought finishing out the perimeter would be fun.

I did finish the perimeter feeling good. But my foot did get numb again. This time I had more room to wiggle my toes and scrunch them around, so that was a plus, but I really can't figure out how to avoid numbness entirely.

Maybe I can't. Maybe I just need to accept the my body is telling me to stop, stretch, take a breather and let me feet regain feeling. After I do this, my feet feel fine and are ready start again. I'm going to have to figure out how I can run this half-marathon in this condition. Running on numb feet is no fun, so perhaps I will be hitting the pavement in two-mile increments with stretching and walking in between.