Thankful for Dilemmas

I've had my Superfeet Green inserts for a whole 5 days now.  I've run in them twice for a total of 6 miles.  I must say that I love the arch support that they provide, but am still skeptical about the lack of heel cushioning.  As I woke up today, I thought about returning them.  My heels were achy after yesterday's run.  The good news is that the achy feelings were gone by the next day.  I was putting the inserts back into the package for return when I noticed the instructions.  They said that some discomfort might arise due to the use of the inserts and to give them a couple of weeks.  I changed my mind and decided to give them that extra week.

I've had two good runs in the Superfeet inserts--one on a track and one at a park.  I'm getting faster with less effort so that's good.  I'm about to begin week three of my comeback.  I plan on adding a fourth day of running to the week, so we'll see how that feels.  There's a 5k run for a local food bank this Saturday that I had signed up for.  I'm not in any shape to try and race a 5k at this point, and I don't want to get hurt by pushing too hard.  I'm asking myself if I should treat it as a regular run or go all out and let the chips fall where they may?  I'm thankful for the dilemma.  I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to have her check my heels.  I'm not sure if she'll send me for an MRI, or back to the podiatrist, or she might just say," get over it you baby." 

I read a book last week called Why We Run by Bernd Heinrich.  I liked it, but can't recommend it.  The book chronicles the author's running experiences from high school through college and culminates with his attempt to run a 100k ultra in Chicago.  I really enjoyed reading about his running experiences.  The parts that I didn't find so great dealt with the biology and physiology of animals and insects.  Heinrich spends a great deal of the book analyzing how animals and insects are able to achieve speed or endurance.

I watched the Millrose games on Friday and was very happy to see Bernard Lagat win his 8th Wanamaker mile in an effortless 3:56--just amazing.  Lagat is 35 years old and still at the top.  He trains in Tucson with one of the coaches from my alma mater, The University of Arizona.  I've heard that he's a good guy who is known to offer a nod or wave to other runners during his easy runs.