Previously, on What Would Another Mother Runner Do (WWAMRD), we’ve debated whether Jessica should run a half-marathon pregnant and pondered the plight of Jenn, who realized she had two right shoes at the start of the run portion of a sprint triathlon. Our latest installment explores the dilemma of Alison, the mother runner of one who hosted our Montclair, N.J., Mother Runner party last spring. Here’s her story:
It’s Saturday afternoon, day before the New York City Marathon. I was obsessing a little over what to wear the next day; it had been so unseasonably warm that I hadn’t trained in cold weather gear and had planned to wear shorts and a tank, but now they were predicting 30-degree weather while we waited to start in Staten Island, then 20 mph winds while we were running.So after trying on about four different outfit combinations, right down to different socks and headbands, I decided I was losing it and left the house to get a pedicure and chill out.
When I got back mid-afternoon, I felt great; time to just not think so hard, pull together my pile of race stuff, and let it all go, right? Right. I started making the pile, and couldn’t find my shoes. I thought I’d left them in front of my closet in my room, but no dice. Checked the bathroom. Checked my office. Checked the family room. Checked every bag I’d used in the last couple weeks, even though that didn’t make sense, because I’d just worn them the previous morning for an outdoor pre-work run.I started feeling a little panicky, but mostly just irritated; I was wasting a lot of energy running up and down the stairs looking for my damn shoes.
My husband thought I was nuts. “Of course they’re here,” he said over and over, “Where else could they be?” He started to help me look. Twenty minutes later, both of us were totally baffled. Then he had the smart idea to text our cleaning lady, who comes on Fridays. Maybe she’d seen them. He got an immediate reply, and I heard him go, “Oh no …”
She said she absolutely remembered them — the pink ones, by the closet upstairs, right? — and that she’d scooped them up with the rest of our stuff for Goodwill, and donated them while volunteering at a church in Newark that morning.
Oh. My. God. Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.
Nononononononononooooooooo! That was my reaction. With the wail at the end and everything. Over and over and over. But they weren’t IN the Goodwill bag, even if they were NEAR the Goodwill bag. How could this happen? This is a bad joke, right? Then, worse: Oh NO! My custom orthotics were in there too! What am I going to dooooooo?
I tried to be practical: What church? Can we call them? Maybe I can go and explain and get them back. Our cleaning lady was on the phone at this point, having figured out that a horrible mistake had been made. It got worse: No chance to get them back, she had seen them given out at the community event that morning. They were gone for good.
Then I started really freaking out. I could still run in an old pair of shoes, but I didn’t think I could run without my orthotics. The only other marathon I’ve ever done was 13 years ago, when I was a heck of a lot younger and more, um, spry. Plus, during all runs north of 13 miles, I’d had major foot pain. I ignored it, of course, because that’s what you do when you’re 25 and still kind of stupid, and I finished that marathon with an awful stress fracture in my right shin as a result. Then I didn’t run for nearly a decade. When I came back to it a few years ago, the same foot pain got me at any distance above 3 miles, and after doing an 8K Turkey Trot at Thanksgiving in 2009, I landed in a boot for 6 weeks afterward…same issue.
So last year, when I decided to really give this sport a try again, I pre-emptively went to a podiatrist, asked her for help, and she made me custom orthotics. They changed everything. I’d successfully done two half-marathons in the last year, so I was convinced they were my ticket to an injury-free marathon.
Without them … well, cue the hysterics. I mean, full-on hiccupping, ugly-crying, blotchy-faced hysterics … me, just devastated that four months of training (and a lot of fundraising-related Facebooking about the training experience) down the drain.
Cut! What would you have done?
Dimity says: Definitely would’ve run. I probably would’ve gone to my local running store, bought the exact same model of the shoes that were whisked away, and taken my chances on them. I might have put in some over-the-counter insoles as well. And I would’ve cried a lot too–probably more than Ali did.
Sarah says: Fired the cleaning lady….J/K, J/K. Given that I always rotate two pairs of the same model of running shoe, I would have grabbed my auxilliary pair, added a pair of the most comfortable-but-heavy-duty over-the-counter insoles I could find, and called it good. And instead of tears, I would have let a slew of swear words fly.
What Ali did: Ultimately, my husband and my podiatrist talked me off the ledge. After convincing Dr. Cappiello’s after-hours answering service that I was, in fact, experiencing the closest thing to a podiatric emergency that exists (apologies to all actual emergencies; I was clearly beyond reason), my doc called me back and said that while it wasn’t ideal, the real wear-and-tear on the body happens during training, so the fact that I’d worn the orthotics for the entire last year put me in a good position.
Then she said if I could get to my local running store and pick up a pair of over-the-counter insoles, those would help. I should do the race, trust my training to hold onto the form I’d learned over the previous year of running with the insoles, and we’d hope for the best—and she’d make me a new pair after the marathon!
Meanwhile, my husband was on the phone to our local Fleet Feet to find out how much later they’d be open, and they advised we hoof it to a specialty store called Foot Solutions, which they said had semi-custom options that were even better.
Those folks closed at 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays, but my husband begged them to stick around for me and I jumped into the car and sped over.
It’s Saturday afternoon, day before the New York City Marathon. I was obsessing a little over what to wear the next day; it had been so unseasonably warm that I hadn’t trained in cold weather gear and had planned to wear shorts and a tank, but now they were predicting 30-degree weather while we waited to start in Staten Island, then 20 mph winds while we were running.So after trying on about four different outfit combinations, right down to different socks and headbands, I decided I was losing it and left the house to get a pedicure and chill out.
When I got back mid-afternoon, I felt great; time to just not think so hard, pull together my pile of race stuff, and let it all go, right? Right. I started making the pile, and couldn’t find my shoes. I thought I’d left them in front of my closet in my room, but no dice. Checked the bathroom. Checked my office. Checked the family room. Checked every bag I’d used in the last couple weeks, even though that didn’t make sense, because I’d just worn them the previous morning for an outdoor pre-work run.I started feeling a little panicky, but mostly just irritated; I was wasting a lot of energy running up and down the stairs looking for my damn shoes.
My husband thought I was nuts. “Of course they’re here,” he said over and over, “Where else could they be?” He started to help me look. Twenty minutes later, both of us were totally baffled. Then he had the smart idea to text our cleaning lady, who comes on Fridays. Maybe she’d seen them. He got an immediate reply, and I heard him go, “Oh no …”
She said she absolutely remembered them — the pink ones, by the closet upstairs, right? — and that she’d scooped them up with the rest of our stuff for Goodwill, and donated them while volunteering at a church in Newark that morning.
Oh. My. God. Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.
Nononononononononooooooooo! That was my reaction. With the wail at the end and everything. Over and over and over. But they weren’t IN the Goodwill bag, even if they were NEAR the Goodwill bag. How could this happen? This is a bad joke, right? Then, worse: Oh NO! My custom orthotics were in there too! What am I going to dooooooo?
I tried to be practical: What church? Can we call them? Maybe I can go and explain and get them back. Our cleaning lady was on the phone at this point, having figured out that a horrible mistake had been made. It got worse: No chance to get them back, she had seen them given out at the community event that morning. They were gone for good.
Then I started really freaking out. I could still run in an old pair of shoes, but I didn’t think I could run without my orthotics. The only other marathon I’ve ever done was 13 years ago, when I was a heck of a lot younger and more, um, spry. Plus, during all runs north of 13 miles, I’d had major foot pain. I ignored it, of course, because that’s what you do when you’re 25 and still kind of stupid, and I finished that marathon with an awful stress fracture in my right shin as a result. Then I didn’t run for nearly a decade. When I came back to it a few years ago, the same foot pain got me at any distance above 3 miles, and after doing an 8K Turkey Trot at Thanksgiving in 2009, I landed in a boot for 6 weeks afterward…same issue.
So last year, when I decided to really give this sport a try again, I pre-emptively went to a podiatrist, asked her for help, and she made me custom orthotics. They changed everything. I’d successfully done two half-marathons in the last year, so I was convinced they were my ticket to an injury-free marathon.
Without them … well, cue the hysterics. I mean, full-on hiccupping, ugly-crying, blotchy-faced hysterics … me, just devastated that four months of training (and a lot of fundraising-related Facebooking about the training experience) down the drain.
Cut! What would you have done?
Dimity says: Definitely would’ve run. I probably would’ve gone to my local running store, bought the exact same model of the shoes that were whisked away, and taken my chances on them. I might have put in some over-the-counter insoles as well. And I would’ve cried a lot too–probably more than Ali did.
Sarah says: Fired the cleaning lady….J/K, J/K. Given that I always rotate two pairs of the same model of running shoe, I would have grabbed my auxilliary pair, added a pair of the most comfortable-but-heavy-duty over-the-counter insoles I could find, and called it good. And instead of tears, I would have let a slew of swear words fly.
What Ali did: Ultimately, my husband and my podiatrist talked me off the ledge. After convincing Dr. Cappiello’s after-hours answering service that I was, in fact, experiencing the closest thing to a podiatric emergency that exists (apologies to all actual emergencies; I was clearly beyond reason), my doc called me back and said that while it wasn’t ideal, the real wear-and-tear on the body happens during training, so the fact that I’d worn the orthotics for the entire last year put me in a good position.
Then she said if I could get to my local running store and pick up a pair of over-the-counter insoles, those would help. I should do the race, trust my training to hold onto the form I’d learned over the previous year of running with the insoles, and we’d hope for the best—and she’d make me a new pair after the marathon!
Meanwhile, my husband was on the phone to our local Fleet Feet to find out how much later they’d be open, and they advised we hoof it to a specialty store called Foot Solutions, which they said had semi-custom options that were even better.
Those folks closed at 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays, but my husband begged them to stick around for me and I jumped into the car and sped over.
By dinner time, over-the-counter insoles in hand, I finally quit crying, then went to bed early, and hoped for the best.
How’d the race go? Well, my old shoes + new orthotics felt weird, no question. But not bad. I had some foot cramps at mile 4 and then again at mile 8, which had never happened before. They got worse when I thought about them, so I just started taking random photos with my phone and Instagramming while I ran to distract myself, and they went away.
I took more (and longer) walk breaks than I would have liked, adding about 30 minutes to my expected running time … but I did finish, and I finished healthy. My knees and hips hurt the next day, which I’ve never felt before, so I’m guessing the footwear change-up also changed something about my gait, but by Tuesday I was 100% back to normal.
And I wouldn’t trade my photo-blogging tour of the Big Apple for anything, even a faster race time. Besides, what’s the New York City Marathon without a crazy story to go with it?
I feel your pain. I left my running bra at home when traveling for my first NYC marathon (ran in one I bought at expo, and who doesn’t need another running bra?). And at a tri I got out of the water and couldn’t find my bike shoes ANY where, I rode the 40K in my running shoes (yeah that was fun) then later packing up…there are the shoes sitting next to my bag…like a ghostly apparition….totally “lost” them.
you did great!
I have custom orthotics and would’ve panicked, too. OTC insoles are definitely not the same or a good replacement, so I would’ve been a wreck trying to figure out what to do. And custom orthotics aren’t cheap, either. Losing those would be awful! I’m glad you were still able to run, but what a stressfest. Great job!!
Way to make the best of an awful (and now funny) situation!
What a village she has to come together to make it work! I would have run and given myself a break on any goal time…just enjoy the experience with a good story to go along with it. Then buy a locked safe in which to put my next pair of running shoes before the next one :) Great job, Ali! We are proud of you!
LOVE IT!!! thanks for the happy ending story!
I would have completely panicked too! I would have bought new shoes, I wear my shoes down so much I couldn’t have run in old shoes. I also have custom orthotics, but wouldn’t have chanced it on new ones since when I was training for the MCM I developed horrible blisters from new insoles during training! Congrats to Alison on moving ahead with the race and on her finish!
I would not have been able to run. I wear shoes that I CANNOT get locally. No one around here sells minimalist shoes! Thankfully I have 4 pairs that I love. 3 identical and one new one, plus 2 alternate pairs that I can wear if I absolutely have to. I am also lucky in that I have an old pair, and another that would work in a pinch. Wait, so I have 7 I could choose from! Lucky me.
Left both my shoe insoles and custom orthotics at home when I went to the Bermuda Triangle Challenge last January. Seems you cannot buy much in the way of sports shoes and accesories on that little island. Took the leather insoles out of my Geox Walking shoes and put them in my Adidas. Then ran a 1 mile, 10k and half marathon over the week end. Major blisters by the end of the 10k, made them worse in the very rainy half. I was there with my best running friend to celebrate my 50th. We had a blast and I’m glad I improvised even it I had the blisters for months. Glad you still did the race and finished strong and well.
That’s awesome! I would have done the same; old shoes, new over-the-counter orthodics.
I’m wondering what her foot pain is; it sounds similar to mine. I’m wondering if custom orthodics are the way to go – they are SO pricey!
For some reason the text from your dr brought a tear to my eye :) You’re a tough cookie!
It’s a great story, and you tell it so well! Glad your Plan B worked, glad you finished and finished healthy. Great pics too:)
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