Since you didn't ask

I had a math and training problem last weekend. There was the race, of course; and the training schedule which called for a 19-mile long run.

With warm-up and all the race covered 13+ miles. That left just six to do on Sunday. I felt like doing more especially as I ran on down the road, towards the beach ... so I kept going and did 11.7 miles to amass my highest mileage week of the year (40).

To add to my risky behavior I ran again Monday and Tuesday (risky because of the above normal mileage without rest). Thankfully it rained hard yesterday and I took the day off, answering work emails in advance of a return to my office on Monday.

This morning I plotted my next runs. This morning I put in eight and this weekend I want to cover 21 miles on a long run. I had a lot of fun playing on my Google pedometer to find that kind of distance in the beach communities that run along the Rhode Island Coast. I have two good options. My only concern is some soreness above my right ankle, interior to my shin. It cropped up mid-run but dissipated over the last two miles.

Soft Sole reviews. If you have been to your running store and stared at the rack of in sole options you're probably like me: no real clue which one to choose. A nice lady named Rachel with Soft Sole solved my indecision. She sent me free samples!

I swapped out the in soles of my new Asics 2130s which were slim and flat by comparison. The Soft Sole Athletic was a good fit and presented nice cushioning that resembled my Kayanos (the king of cushioning in the Asics line). The single observation I made while running was that I sensed my heel sitting higher in the shoe by how much less of my heel was covered by the back of the shoe. I suffered no irritation or rubbing so long as my shoes were tied tight.

I also received some sample socks to try. They're a good fit with enough heel/ankle coverage to fit nicely into any shoe. They're not super thin like some I like to run in in Florida but they are thoroughly seamless and comfortable. I wore them last Sunday on my 18-miler in the rain and I feared for the slippage inside my shoe. The rain came down through my shoe tops. Puddles were unavoidable. I took on water over the sideboards more than once and thought I'd sink.

I expected I would slosh all run. I expected blisters. Somehow the water in my shoes disappeared. Lacking drains I suspect it was the socks wicking the water away. I was totally pleased.

Thank you Rachel!