Running on Rocks

So, I'm sort of a runner now. I run on rocks for fun, I guess. From gravel to greatness...or something.

Nothing super serious, but I've been logging about 10 miles a week or so. I usually meet this goal by doing a 5K (3.1 miles) and 10K (6.2 miles) a few days apart.

This whole journey started in the summer when my wife had already been running for several months. I thought that I should get some good exercise, too.

So, without thinking too much, I started running and pushing myself and running and breathing hard and sweating and sweating and sweating. And before long, I was so sore and hurt and injured that I wasn't positive I was making any progress. My feet hurt, my knees hurt, my ankles hurt, and my chest hurt from breathing so hard. But, progress was made. And I could run farther and faster each week.

But I needed some running shoes...

I tried some cheaper Asics shoes from Shopko, but they weren't the final answer. Although they felt good initially, they didn't last long and the heel cushioning gave out. However, thanks to the Shopko shoe size tester, I learned that I've been wearing the wrong size shoe for the last ten years. That was funny and eye opening. I just never realized I was wearing shoes about .5 size too big.

I decided to buy some Brooks Ghost 6 shoes after reading many shoe reviews and researching my foot type all over the Internet. The Brooks shoes have been very worthwhile and have fixed all my knee joint pains due to running. They aren't perfect, though. As stated above, I run on gravel, and the Brooks Ghost 6 bottom sole has just the right type of tread for various rocks to get stuck in-between grooves and refuse to come out while I'm running. But the shoe is light and fast and comfortable, so I live with it.

And I continue to run and run. There's more to all this, but that's the gist of it for now.