Back From The Dead With A New Personal Best!

I have avoided getting sick for quite awhile. For most of 2008 and all of 2009, I did not miss a day of work due to illness. That all changed on March 6th when I caught a nasty stomach virus which lasted a few days. After missing three days of work I have slowly worked my way back to normal and last Sunday, March 14th I did a warm-up and a short workout just jumping rope and from there got back to my usual work week workout routines. I had to miss the March 13th Riverbound Race 5k as I was still recovering.

Perhaps the stomach virus was my body's way of telling me to take a break. Prior to the illness I was on top of game and most notably I was able to set a personal best 22 intervals on my triad of death workout back on Thursday March 4th. I am yet to try that workout since fully recovering but I will likely try it next week. This week I shocked myself and my trail running partner when we did our lunchtime Renaissance Park run in 20:41! This broke the old best at 21:56 by one minute and fifteen seconds! Not bad for my first run in almost two weeks! March 27th is the next 5K at Whitewater and I would say we are ready!

I have been doing my running in my new Inov-8 X-Talon 212s that I purchased back in January. I love these trail shoes! The only thing I was not crazy about were the laces so I bought a pair of yankz! sure laces at TrySports and now I no longer worry about my laces becoming untied. The X-Talons are a minimalist trail racing flat with terrific traction and extremely lightweight - the 212 is the weight in grams - approximately 7.5 ounces. The day I got sick I ran about 8-9 miles in them at the Whitewater Center in the morning and my feet and legs never felt better - even running the longer distance. I purchased mine on Zappos. I am a 9 1/2 in most shoes and the 9 1/2 in the Inov-8 also fits me perfectly!

Inov-8 X-Talon 212 at Zappos