Having gotten back to the states relatively unscathed, my first order of business was getting started on the upkeep of my poor suffering bod. I hit the masseuse who gave me a good 90 minute workout.The situation with my neck has gotten extremely bad and the 20-plus hours of travel did little to help matters. As a result, much of her effort focused on that. While it seemed to help somewhat after, the pain returned again full force today.
So I have an appointment with the chiropractor Monday and we shall see...
Next up, equipment. I headed over to see my friend Erin and the good folks at Performance Footwear in Tempe. I took to the treadmill to get a look to see what we could see and the results were surprising.
It seems the pronation on my left foot is almost completely absent now. It still gives a bit more roll than the right but the exaggerated slant inward is pretty much gone. The recommendation was switch from a motion control shoe to one that simply provides stability.
After trying a number of shoes I settled on the Saucony Grid Omni 5. This was a pretty difficult choice to make because every shoe I tried was so very different from what I had been using before - most noticably the severe reduction in the weight.
Erin also thought the construction of the toe area would reduce the chance of the blisters like I have been getting on the ball of my right foot on longer runs.
To further focus on this I also picked up some WrightSock friction-free socks. The warmer temperatures and relatively high humidity here at the moment will have me sweating more and that's led to blister fun on my pinkie toes. These socks have two very thin layers to help reduce the amount of movment of the material against the skin itself.
Lastly, I picked up a pair of Native Eyewear sunglasses. I picked up a pair of these a few years ago and really was impressed by their comfortable fit. I chose the Tare style because they felt the best on my head - and by that I mean they didn't feel like they were on my head at all.
The incredibly bright sun here in Arizona makes having a quality pair of glasses a necessity for runners and the extremely high altitudes in Peru I have found myself working in make them a necessity for my work as well.