Editor’s Note: To mark a milestone birthday, WTOP’s Paula Wolfson has signed up to run the Marine Corps Marathon. She will be sharing her journey along the way in a series of blog posts.
Paula Wolfson, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – I think this is the craziest thing I have ever done.
To mark one of those big “0” birthdays, I am running a marathon.
And not just ANY marathon — I am one of the few, the proud, the Marine Corps Marathoners!
Well, not actually “the few.” Come Oct. 28, I will be surrounded by 25,000 or so of my closest new running pals — most of them faster, many of them younger, but all of us chasing after a big fitness goal.
A lot of us have fitness goals of one sort or another. Mine is to survive and finish one — just one — marathon. Perhaps yours is to run-walk a mile or two, or maybe even a block or two. It doesn’t matter. For each of us, it is indeed a journey that begins with a single step.
And that’s the whole idea behind this blog — to share the journey. I will share my successes and frustrations along the way (what do you mean I have to run 15 miles this weekend in the Washington humidity!!!!). And since I am not an authority on all things fitness, I will be getting a lot of help.
I take inspiration in all of this from Dara Torres, the swimmer who is trying for her sixth Olympic team at the age of 45. She has “Team Torres,” a bunch of trainers, docs, nutritionists and the like to get her to the medal podium in London.
I am putting together our very own “dream team” of experts who will be offering advice and answering questions from you (and me) through this blog. Where to start? Well, if we are starting with a single step, then I guess we start with shoes.
If the shoe fits
Running shoes, shoes for walking, soccer, basketball and all sports require a perfect fit, according to my podiatrist-on-call, Dr. Arnold Ravick (we’ll have more from him later). He has seen more running injuries than he can count and almost all involve poorly fit shoes.
It’s definitely not a do-it-yourself project. He advocates going to one of the many running specialty stores in the D.C. Metro area. There are lots of good ones.
My shoe guru, Joe Schultz says go in with an open mind and let the professionals do their work.
That’s exactly what happened when I met Joe at Pacers in Alexandria.
Take a look at the below video to get a better idea of the high tech tools now being used to fit running shoes:
By the way, while I am training for the marathon in the make and model Joe suggested, I made one change. Instead of the blue trim you see in the video, I got the same shoe in pink. That’s because I am running this marathon for my cousin who is battling breast cancer. I may be inspired by Dara Torres, but Kathy, my real hero is you.
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