Today I decided to go back to my old motion control shoes I wore before I went to the nuetral ones with the insert. I wore the Aisics Gel Kayano model for a number of years, shelling out the big bucks for them as I really liked them. The last couple of times I bought them I had discovered the online bargain that is last years models, so my cost hit wasn’t too great. I harp on this as I feel like nobody should buy the same running shoe for full retail prices two times in a row, just search for your model and find the deals. So back to running with the old shoes. One thing I had forgotten about these that I didn’t like was how poor the traction on the front of the shoe when they get wet. I might as well be ice skating. I can’t believe I put up with that in Portland for so long. The other issue I had with them (and really all shoes in general) is that I experienced some pain in the ball of my feet. These seem to be especially bad. Of course it could have to do with getting rid of a corn on the ball of my one foot (gross!) I also remembered why I liked these so well. I run really smoothly with them and feel like I have a giddy-up in my step. I think I will run on them for a week or so and see how it goes.

One thing I was supprised about was the amount of miles I had left on them. I had really only run around 200 miles with them. I had put 600+ (probably too much) on a previous pair of them. Which brings me to a point I wanted to make, keeping a running journal. Not only can you track your progress when training, but you can also keep track of how many miles you put on your shoes so you have a better idea of when to replace them. There are a bunch of free ones available online. Actual paper journals are cool too, and can become much more of a keepsake, but the electronic journals can do all the math for you. There are some you can use online, or ones that you can download onto your computer. I use the Runners Log and track my routes, shoes, style of run, how I felt, weather, miles, time and now I am making notes on my spells (of which I have had none for over a month!) The other benefit it is it sort of fun in an OCD kind of way, I like putting my miles down and seeing the weekly totals. When I trained for the Portland Marathon logged over 1000 miles total in a year.