Pay attention to directions!

I finally got to try out my new Under Armour cross training shoes. According to my half marathon schedule, I was scheduled to run 3 miles this past Monday. Usually on the days, that I run 3 miles, I like to do one of my Gold's classes so that I can hurry up and fill out a card for the fitness challenge and hopefully win the raffle for the free massage. So, this past Monday I ran 2.25 miles on the treadmill. I figured I could finish up my 3 miles after my step class. My boyfriend already warned me that I shouldn't use my cross training shoes for running long distances. I said, "I'll be fine, 3 miles isn't long." My face even looked like this.
(Note: I just wanted to use this picture so I figured I'd try to incorporate it any way I could. This is actually me imitating what my dog looks like when she lifts her head up and her hair on her face is all messed up.)

Anyways, back to when I was running my 2.25 miles on the treadmill. Right when I was at 1.5 miles, I said to myself, I feel like I'm getting blisters on the arches of my foot. But like a solider, I trudged on and went to my step class. While I'm waiting, another girl who is doing the step class asks me how I like my new Under Armour shoes because she was looking at the same exact pair. Do I tell her other than the blisters that are forming, the shoes are fantastic? I told her I would let her know after step class to give more accurate feedback. I continue with step class and can honestly say that the shoes were really great at absorbing the shock of continually jumping up and down on the platform. My knees, ankles and lower back all felt great. I usually had issues with them after step. I meet up with the girl after class and I tell her that the shoes really did their job but, don't tie the shoelaces too tight, a reason I had been contemplating was the cause of the blisters. We'll see next week if she shows up with the same shoes.

I finish up my 3 miles, running the 0.75 miles that was left. (See, I'm not letting the Tech math classes go to waste.) But this time I try to run more on the outside of my foot as not to put more pressure on the blisters on my arches. I may have just invented a new running style.

I get home from the gym and tell my boyfriend he was right about not running in the Under Armours. Then he goes on, I believe to rub salt in the wounds, and says, "Remember the Dick's Sporting Goods manager said don't run more than a mile a day in those shoes because they aren't made for running." I don't know how I missed that but, I wish I would have listened. The manager must have said that while I was busy admiring the shoes in the mirror, picturing myself jumping more powerfully during step, kicking higher in kick boxing class, lifting weights twice as heavy as last week - all of this due to my new Women's Under Armour Proto Speed II trainer shoes.

The next day, I broke out my Band-Aid blister block. This has helped me on many new high-heeled occasions. It's like a small deodorant that makes a barrier against your skin and whatever is rubbing on it. I apply the blister block to the blister on my left arch. Then decide to read the directions.




Directions: Do not apply on already formed blisters or broken skin.

So, I wipe it off my left foot and never apply it to right foot.

Moral of my very long story: Pay attention to directions!

Note to self: Do not run longer than a mile in your Under Armour CROSS TRAINING shoes. Read directions before you try to medicate/fix yourself.

Images courtesy of:
http://images.eastbay.com/is/image/EB/00280161?wid=300&hei=300
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51sxuW4F8TL._SL500_AA280_PIbundle-4,TopRight,0,0_AA280_SH20_.jpg