What I Picked This Weekend Besides My Nose

Three favorite scenes from the weekend:

1. My dad with Heidi (I swear my dad is the dog whisperer. Dogs love him. I think it’s the steak tartar cologne he wears. Or, his white socks):

2. Emma and I went apple picking (honey crisp apples. $1/pound):

3. This stray dog we found. We kept her for the night (I was hoping we could keep her much longer), then we were able to locate her owner (if you can guess the dog’s name and/or her breed I will give you a prize):

My KNEE Update:

This knee condition is the weirdest running related thing I’ve ever had. I’ve never had a pain that went from NO PAIN to I-can’t-run-another-step pain, with nothing in between. There is no warning and no telling when it will happen. This kind of freaks out someone like me (like most of us) who is an anal control freak and likes to know exactly what is going to happen.

However, the good news is that I am almost 100% sure (I guess that would be 99%?) that the pain was linked to my shoes. Let me tell you why:

For the past few weeks I had been running almost always in the Hokas. I loved them. They felt great. Then, I had the knee issue start and thought it might be those shoes.

Monday: Rest. Worry about my knee and blog about it because that is what I do. Read your comments. Learn a thing or two about knees.

Tuesday: Run 6 miles. Non-Hoka shoes. Pain starts at 4 miles. Shit.

Wednesday: Bike 27 miles

Thursday: Bike 17 miles

Friday: Run 6 miles. Mile .5 – knee hurts. Come home, defeated, cussing. In an impulsive moment, I look around my dirty and disheveled mudroom and see a brand new pair of shoes staring me in the face. These:

The Altra 3-Sums (get it? threesome? Hahaha!! Very clever because they are a triathlon shoe). Anyway, as part of the Runner’s World Festival, Altra sent me these babies. I decided I had nothing to lose and put them on. I headed out for 5.5 pain free miles.

Saturday: Bike 31 miles

Sunday: Run 10 miles – pain free in the Altras

Week totals: Bike 75 miles, run 22 miles

I have no eff’ing clue what is going on. I’m not even going to try to figure it out. I just know nothing hurts, so I am going with it. Maybe the Altras, being zero drop, change my form enough that my knee doesn’t hurt. Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe someone gave me a knee replacement the other night after I drank a bottle of wine and I did not know it.

I am just glad to be back running pain free.  For the moment, anyway.

In other news…You know how much I love this hydration pack, right?

I do every single run over 6 miles with it. No more fuel belts or handhelds for me.

Then something tragic happened. I went to Virginia and left it in the rental car never to be heard from again. I KNOW some rep from Avis is running around the airport with it.on I emailed Josh over at Orange Mud and asked if he would send me another hydration pack. Not only did he do that, but he sent me their new handheld.

I am not a lover of the handhelds, but this one is pretty cool. It has a side pocket where you can actually fit a phone, condom, tampon. Also, an elastic thing to hold your gels. Plus,  it has this form fitting design where you can get a really good grip on the bottle. If you like a handheld, you will love this:

I am not lying when I say that almost every time I go on a run with this pack someone stops to ask me where I got it. It is my favorite piece of running gear. Trust me when I say it is worth the investment.

What’s the dog’s name or breed?

What kind of hydration thing do you run with – handheld, Camelback, fuel belt? I used to run with a Nathan fuel belt (2-10 oz bottles), until I got this pack.

What is your favorite piece of running gear? This pack. And, my Ironman visor. I would only wear these two things on a run if it was legal.

SUAR

PS: If you have any inkling that you want to do one of the races (5K, 10K, half marathon, or the Hat Trick – all three) at the Runners World Festival on October 18-19, here are some coupon codes for you for 10% off your entry fee:

· 5k: blogshutuprun5K
· 10k: blogshutuprun10K
· Half: blogshutuprunHalf
· 5 & Dime: blogshutuprun5&10
· Hat Trick: blogshutuprunHat