New Shoes, New Plans, New Beginnings!

 So, clearly I've had some issues with blogging...and running... I'm sick of making up excuses for my lack of motivation, and you may be really sick of hearing them. So none of that! I have the time to do this, and I'm going to!

I've been watching videos of people crossing the finish line of past Princess Marathons, looking at costumes, gathering ideas and of course, I have my handy dandy new running shoes!

It's been nearly three weeks since we went shopping, but I said I would tell you the story, so here it is!

My mom picked me up at my apartment, and we set off to the running store. My stomach was in knots as I thought about having to run in front of a runner--maybe a whole store full of runners. Yikes! Running in our neighborhood is embarrassing enough sometimes. (A quick confession: Sometimes, when I see a car coming down the road, I pick up my feet, raise my elbows and force myself to run faster). I'm self conscious in front of the soccer mom and her kids--imagine how terrified the prospect of running in front of seasoned runners made me. Yeah, I was nervous. We were greeted by a chipper young woman, who was eager to help us. There was no treadmill-machine-thingy. Instead, we were instructed to walk barefoot down one of the aisles and do a couple of one-legged squats.

And, hallelujah, that was it!

No embarrassing running!!

I learned that I have the tendency to supinate as I run/walk (my feet rolled out). Actually, on my first squat, I completely lost my balance and fell over. So, yes, I supinate. Our expert directed me toward shoes that would work well for me and I tried a pair of neon-pink Nikes and some subtly cute New Balances. The New Balance shoes fit like a glove, so that the pair I went with!

It would be a lie to say that running has been a dream since I've gotten these shoes (running's hard!)--but it's been better! They are extremely comfortable, and it's nice to know that my shoes aren't setting me up for injury.

Another great motivator: My first 5k! It's tomorrow already! Wow! My mom and I signed up for the run/walk trail, so it should be a pretty chill event. I'm shooting to run about half of it. Maybe I'll split it up into 1 minute walk run intervals, to make things a little easier. The 5k is apart of the Fargo Marathon weekend (one of the larger running events in our area). It's my first "race." I've decided to not worry too much about hitting a certain time. Instead, I'm just going to soak things up and enjoy myself!

We've started to lay out a summer schedule of races we may want to do. My mom and I are going to try to do another 5k in July and a 10k in August. There are also quite a few events in the fall for us! I think these more immediate goals will give me a stronger sense of motivation. When a race is only a few weeks away, then gosh darn it, you've got to start training now!