In conclusion, swimming does not keep you in really good running shape.

After three months and about 20 days, I finally hit my usual, two-mile running route, thanks to school's being back in session.

Almost immediately, my right knee hurt. My feet (stupid new Asics) were not far behind. Fortunately, the pain mostly subsided after about a half mile. Unfortunately, I had some side stitches to deal with after that.

I am not going to lie (not that I ever do in this blog or in general, actually): it was a pretty tough run. It took a lot out of me, and not surprisingly my time was not great (but not awful, either). At least I did it.

Mile one: 10:15
Mile two: 8:45

Total run time: 19:00

Because I felt I should have done better with such a short run and because I had time to kill, I ran the 65 steps 10 times after that. I have to say, running those steps made the two-mile run seem easy. It took everything for me to finish, and during the last trip, I was pretty much walking. I did manage to finish in 9:30, which is pretty good considering it came on the heels of my run (with a 10-minute break in between). And those stupid shoes...

Since I am subbing Wednesday through Friday and there is no way I would put my 39.5-year-old body through two runs, two days in a row, I am going to have to call it a week at least as far as running goes.

All that said, based on today, I am thinking I won't be running in the Steelers 5k this coming Sunday, as I had recently hoped (even though I had done little in the way of running this summer). I am just not sure I can do it in under 30 minutes, which would greatly disappoint me. I am still planning to run in the Race for Pace again. We'll see.

New shoes

Nike has always been my running shoe of choice. I went with New Balance one year because I noticed the winning team in the Steelers 5k all ran in New Balance, so I promptly went out and bought a pair. Of course, most companies/manufacturers make dozens upon dozens of running shoes, ranging in price from about $30 to over $200 (though most fall in the $50 to $100 price range), so buying by brand does not necessarily guarantee you a good shoe.

Yesterday, I decided to check out Kohl's "lowest prices of the season" sale for running shoes. I typically go by looks, then price. After not finding some Nike's I liked in my size, I came upon an Asics shoe, the Gel Enduro 5. The price was right (just over $33 on sale, from $65), and I liked the gray and fuchsia coloring. But what sold me on this shoe was the feeling. The shoes were so cushiony that everything I tried on after paled in comparison. I was talking to a woman who had recently started running and told her about the shoe. She too was a Nike person, but after trying on the Asics, she went with the same pair.

I am not entirely sure if I am ready to break out the shoes yet. Most running experts recommend replacing shoes every 250 to 500 miles, depending on your weight, running style, and running surface. Assuming I have run about 5 miles a week most weeks since September, I should have logged less than 200 miles. But I also wear my shoes most days while doing errands and taking walks once or twice a week. And I do run outside and probably pretty hard while going downhill.

I will let you know how they turn out. In the meantime, I am happy to report that on Tuesday, I managed to get my first mile down to 10 minutes. My second (easier) mile was about 10:25, so not as much progress there.