Taper Week 1: Shoe Thoughts

Race day is almost on the long term weather prediction! Currently I’m hoping that the weather predicted that far out changes a bit. It’s looking like it might be in the 30s and raining?? Ewwww.

Before I share my shoe conundrums, one more thing about the weather. Last week was supposed to be my last big volume week. I was stacking up those easy miles left and right, and then it snowed. Like, several inches of wet, heavy, slushy snow. Some parts of town saw over a foot, while the airport (where the official NWS record keeping is done) only saw a trace. Where we live, we got a sizable amount in between and it hasn’t all melted yet. Why am I sharing this? (Besides to flex Alaska’s snow, of course.) I went running in that weather. I had to keep those miles up, after all! Long story short, my ankle was not happy with me and I decided to take the weekend off. Oh well, so much for a last volume week hoorah. It was not worth making a niggle worse, just to get in those last 13 miles I needed to hit my goal mileage for the week.

So here I am, the first full week of taper for the Half. I’m still doing quality workouts (I even dragged my dad off a mountain and onto some flatter terrain for a threshold workout!), but my target mileage is the same as a recovery week, or 30 miles, or a 25% drop from my peak volume. I’ll be doing one last “long run” this week, but it’s going to be much shorter than usual, aiming for 8 miles. I’ve done quality sessions longer than that… But, race day is approaching fast and we’re embracing the taper! Love the taper, be the taper.

Race day thoughts have led me to shoe thoughts. I have two pairs of road shoes that I currently rotate through for my training. It has been super handy (footy?) to have another pair of shoes when the last one is still drying from the rain. The older pair, Brooks Adrenaline GTS 21 has not reached the end of its mileage, but it’s definitely not a shoe I want to race in. I ran my last Half in my Brooks Glycerin GTS 19 and I was quite happy with them. Those shoes were young and full of vigor at the time though. I’ve seen some things that say that even though most running shoes have a lifespan of 300-500 miles, they are “freshest” in the first 100. My poor Glycerins are about to hit the 110 mark, and I’m still training in them. They aren’t too far past, right?

I have a solution. And that solution is more running shoes! Hah! It wasn’t more ski gear, for once. Take that, husband dearest! I actually bought a new pair of Adrenalines when my husband had to get new shoes. Yes, I’m a bit opportunistic, but I’m going to have to retire my current pair eventually, right? My current plan is to run in them a few times over the next two weeks to break them in a bit and then decide if I want to wear my new Adrenalines or my trusty Glycerins.

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My shoes, with the oldest in the back and the newest in the front. As someone who buys wide running shoes (and then uses a special lacing technique to cinch the heels down), I am excited that the newest pair of shoes isn’t gray. Can we have some of that color stuff that regular width shoes get?