Last week started so well and then fell apart. Tuesday I had a fantastic 5km run in the Domain at lunchtime. Afterwards though, I developed a little bit of a cough. I figured it was just from pushing myself a little harder than normal, but it didn’t go away. Wednesday I did a workout at Spudds and felt okay, but when I got home that night, I suddenly realised that my throat was sore. A headache soon followed, and I ended up staying home from work Thursday. I saw my doctor that night and he told me no running for the rest of the week. So here I am less than four weeks out from the half-marathon, not having run in the past 7 days. ARGH.

This week: 5.25km (3mi)
Last week: 20km (12.5mi)

HOWEVER – things are looking up. I feel like I’ve turned a corner today, and I’m not coughing nearly as much. I’ve been thinking about running form, and specifically whether forefoot running would help with the persistent back pain I’ve been having. Brandon is a big proponent, and Steve Runner is a recent convert. Brandon is always raving about his Newton shoes, which promote landing on your forefoot. On a whim, I looked them up and saw that there were a few retailers in Sydney. So I emailed HERT and Mark told me to come on in and check them out. I went over at lunchtime to try some on. He was clearing out last year’s models, so they were $60 off. What the hell. I decided to go for it. So I am now the proud owner of some very ugly shoes. I’m hoping to try them out tomorrow for a very short run around the neighbourhood. (I know you really have to ease into the forefoot technique.) I’m excited to see if it helps at all!