omg shoes

I’m a girl.  In a nutshell that means (stereotype alert!) I like bad reality TV, Gerard Bulter and can be a little crazy-pants sometimes.  It also means I like shoe shopping – as evidenced by the 5 ½ inch pink patent slingbacks I bought for an upcoming wedding. Oh boy, are those great shoes... But when I walked into Fleet Feet this afternoon, I knew I was in over my head.

Just a few hours after getting back into the states I was eager to get going on the marathon prep.  I went for two things, a new water bottle and a new pair of shoes.  The water bottle was easy, the shoes, not so much. 

First thing first, they had me run so they could watch my gait. For the rest of the time in there the man would not stop talking about how I run.  He tells me he hasn’t seen as pronounced of a forefront striker as me in a long time.  Well shit, am I running wrong?  I don’t know what else to do.  I went from a heel-striker, which led to shin splints after a mile and a half that would leave me laid up for days if not weeks to basically tiptoeing through the run.  Since changing how I run I’ve been shin splint free and happily logging the miles.  The man tells me, its probably fine, if that’s how I am most comfortable, but that he’ll be surprised if I can keep that up for long distances. Great. I haven’t broken it to him that I’m training for a marathon. 

Next we talk about what I’m looking for in a shoe.  As little as possible is my answer.  I may not be a minimalist in all aspects of my life, but its what I want in my shoe.

He pulls a few out in my size for me to try on.  Two from Saucony – the Kinvara and Cortana.  After slipping both on the Kinvara won out.  It felt good.  It fits well.  I jog around the store a little and am quite pleased with them.  

Next up, the Brooks Green Silence.  While it may look like a skateboarding shoe from the early 90s, this shoe has more than a few things going for it.  Scott Jurek, vegan ultramarathoner extraordinaire had a hand in the design.  And it’s about as eco-friendly as you’re going to get in a running shoe.  Less energy to manufacture than the average shoe, 75% recycled materials, breaks down in a landfill in a fraction of the time.  It feels just as good as the Kinvara and makes me feel just a bit better about the environmental impact. 

I finally told him that I was training for a marathon and asked if this would be a good shoe for the task.  An emphatic no from the salesman.  I must say I was a little surprised, and a little crushed.  He told me it just wasn’t enough shoe.  That if I was going to be doing that many miles a week I really needed “more shoe.”  But I’m trying to avoid “more shoe.” More shoe = more injury in my mind.  He brings me back over to the wall and started pulling out shoes that look like they could be classified as lethal weapons and starts talking about heel stability and my over-pronation, etc etc. He starts to lose me. 

I look back over at the Green Silence. Not enough shoe? But wait a minute.  Didn’t Scott Jurek run over 165 miles in 24 hours in these shoes?  Now I’m not pretending for a second here that I’m on par with that man.  But if its enough shoe to run 165 miles in one day, and its comfortable on my feet, shouldn’t it be enough for my measly little first marathon. 

Isn't shoe shopping supposed to be more fun than this?  Overwhelmed I left without new shoes, but I’ll have to figure it out sometime soon.  I've been running in Keens for 3 months. Not exactly an ideal. My long runs are getting longer and I need to try to avoid injury in the next couple months. 

Maybe I’ll just go barefoot.  

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malaria trial field visits

The second day I spent with the Malaria Vaccine Trial was out in the field with the community health workers.  Over the course of the trial participants are required to have over thirty monthly visits, most of which take place at their homes. Field workers spend hours each day travelling by car or bicycle to reach all of the participants.  The following photos are just a small glimpse of the hard work these people do day in and day out. 

A woman sits with her child as other neighborhood children gather during a field visit.

Stagnant water near the village provides the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos, which transmit the malaria parasite.

During one of the scheduled visits field workers inspects the mosquito net that has been provided to the participants as part of the study. 

Go Blue

someone hold me to this

Dropped some serious cash today on registering for some upcoming races. If thats not incentive enough to actually keep doing this, I don't know what will be but I could probably use some encouragement along the way this fall.  And lots of good vibes/prayers/whatever you do in hopes I don't get sick or hurt before these. The schedule so far...

Carrboro 10K – October 1

Duke Medicine Ramblin' Rose Women's Half-Marathon – October 16

City of Oaks (Half) - November 6

Outer Banks Marathon – November 13

hash house harriers

I write this post, mildly intoxicated from the beers I was forced encouraged to chug. I have just come from my first hash. And am a bit sad there is only one more to go before heading back to the states.  This was the most fun I’ve head running… ever.  The group was mainly made up of Brits, South Africans, Dutch and Aussies and we were scolded more than once for our American accents.  Rightfully so. The required calls on the trail, like “on, on” and “falsie” sound so much better from everything other than American accent. It really is quite ugly. But, I digress. 

We met at the Lilongwe Wildlife Center.  And split into groups.  Walkers, a short run and a long run.  I decided that because of my recent long run accomplishments I would go with that group.  Turns out there is a difference between running long and running long and fast. And the latter I cannot do.  But I took off in the woods with a bunch of Brits.  Long story short I pretty much got my ass kicked.  But I managed to not let that show too much.  We ran through the woods, ducking under trees, climbing over fallen branches, crossing rivers, not on bridges but on huge sewage pipes, occasionally stopping to let some folks catch up. 

They try to pace the runs so all the groups meet back up around the same time and then the drinking commences.  My friend and I each grabbed a beer and chatted for a while until we were all called to circle up. Various groups were called into the middle, and the newcomers were one of those groups. We were all made to chug a beer whilst the other sang a song of encouragement.  My friend was driving so beer was stealthily poured into my cup so I would be the one drinking instead.  Then again I was called into the middle. This time for a penalty. Apparently Keens are deemed inappropriate footwear and I was scolded for not wearing socks on top of that. My punishment. More beer.  Good thing my days at Michigan paid off, eh mom? 

According to Wikipedia, the constitution of the Hash House Harriers goes like this:

·         To promote physical fitness among our members

·         To get rid of weekend hangovers

·         To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer

·         To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel

These things they certainly did.  I’ll be back next week for more fun, though hopefully less beer.