Simple birthright (or a strategic marriage a la Kate Middleton) does not a princess make. No, a princess has to look the part. Real princesses have tiaras and other jewels. Half marathon princesses in training have running gear – sadly not funded by taxpayers.
So, to bring you back up to speed, it's August, and I've just registered for the race and picked out a 12-week training plan (more on that in the next post). The race is still 6 months out, giving me plenty of time to relax, reflect on the terrifying task ahead of me, and start easing my body into running. More importantly, it gave me time to find the perfect shoes. Now, I would NEVER underestimate the importance of shoes in a girl's wardrobe, but when it comes to running (unless you're one of those crazy barefoot runners...seriously, I will never understand that trend), they're pretty much the only thing that matters. Seriously, I once saw an ad for a race run naked. First off, no. Second, OUCH. And finally, no.
I have SUPER high arches. I saw a whole slough of podiatrists throughout college. One said I had the highest arches he had ever seen, and another told me to never do any sports that involved running (umm, so track was a bad idea?). So, all my previous attempts at running resulted in major shin pain (my teammate Molly and I both once broke out in tears simultaneously during a track workout in college once). I knew that any chance for surviving this undertaking would require the right shoes. I did a ton of research online and chatted with the experts at Garry Gribble's. I ended up at The Sports Medicine Store where I bought the Mizuno Wave Inspire 6.
I was also considering a pair of Brooks (I believe Adrenaline), but the Mizunos were cuter. :) Seriously though, they were also cut quite a bit lower on the ankle, and they felt a lot lighter. The folks back at Garry Gribble also recommended Archmolds. These are orthotics that start off super high and then mold to your feet after you put them in the oven. I have been thrilled with these and would highly (pun intended) recommend them for people with high arches. For those with flat feet, I would think they wouldn't be as helpful though. In addition, just to be safe, I also bought lots of socks that had extra arch support as well.
Now that I had prepared as best I could with the functional gear, it was on to the fun stuff! I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was to buy workout clothes. Knowing most of my training would be in cold weather, I needed to stock up on tights and long-sleeved shirts. But also knowing what a baby I am when it comes to cold weather, I planned on doing some of my workouts on the treadmill at the gym, so I bought some tanks and short-sleeved shirts too for good measure. Target, a.k.a. my money pit, has lots of great tops for working out, so I went ahead and stocked up, just to be safe. But there was one more thing I needed. When I was little, my parents would get on to me for having the sleeves of my sweatshirts pulled down over my hands. So, maybe it was a rebellion thing (yeah, I’m a bada$$), but from the moment I saw the cute workout hoodies with the thumb holes cut out, I had to have one. I’m really good at setting expectations unrealistically high for things, so I wouldn’t rest until I found the perfect one (that wasn’t more than $60…I just can’t do that for workout clothes). I finally found an affordable one at the Nike outlet, and I’m really sorry to report that it did not live up to my expectations…meaning it didn’t actually do the running for me. It was super cute, but the thumb holes kind of dug into my hands, and along with the cold air, it just made my hands really dry and irritated. So, the lesson I learned here is to not have such high expectations about a shirt…which is why I now put all my faith in shoes, purses, jewelry, jeans,…..
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