Damn, it was hot yesterday.

No video this week.  Figured I needed to concentrate on running and besides that, I forgot the camera.  Oh well.

So yesterday we did seven miles.  And it was hot.  Real hot.  Thank God we run at 7:00 am because at 3:20pm yesterday, this was the reading on the thermometer in my wife's car.

 Yep, 107 degrees in the Valley yesterday afternoon.  (My wife said it was hotter than a bull's ass.  She's odd.)  Obviously it wasn't that hot yesterday morning or else I wouldn't be here today but it was on its way and the sun was just beating down.  And there was no peanut butter and pickles this week.  I'm not sure if I can run without them anymore.

Anyway, around the 5-mile mark, the ball of my right foot started hurting.  A lot.  It felt like there was a pebble in my shoe right under the second toe every time my foot came down.  I thought it might be because of my sock but no, the sock was fine.  So I just kept going with it and by the time I finished it was really hurting.  A lot.  Both the bottom of my foot and the top of my toe.  I went home and iced it for about an hour and that helped a little. 

The real culprit was the shoe.  I had bought a pair of lower-end New Balance that were very comfortable and fit my wide foot nicely and on the short 3.5 mile runs I do by myself, they were great.  But on longer runs, not so much.  Our running coach kept talking about how you really need to be fitted for a proper pair of running shoes but I was hoping to put that off a while again.  But my foot was telling me that now was the time.  So I went to the best running store in LA, A Runner's Circle, where they evaluated how I walk (I pronate - which I think is Latin for "your shoes are wrong") and I got fitted for a really nice pair of NewBalance.  The second I put them on I felt the difference.  I took my first step and felt no pain in my foot at all.  So I guess the lesson is, don't look for bargains in running shoes.  You gotta take care of your feet.

The second lesson is avoid chafing.  I bought some Body Glide yesterday.  Because a grown man should not walk around looking like he has a load in his pants.  But that's a story for another day.

Once again, here is the link to my AIDS Marathon Home Page.  If you know anybody who is looking for a tax donation for a really worthy cause, please send them there.  And thanks again for the amazing support.

Bart