Knees, shoes, running

Swan breaking trail in the ice

A few frozen days and now the excitement is over. Have been running every other day with a bike on the trainer in between to aid my knee. Started to ramp up my mileage and have felt good in the knee department. The addition of some aggressive massage, lots of stretching and quad/hamstring exercises I'm sure have helped. 

Yesterday got out for the first time since Brecon Beacons in the light which was nice. Kind of a crappy day but the temps were great and proved to be a refreshing trail run. Ran under the Severn Valley Railway twice while the train went by and of course didn't have my camera! I think that is the first time I've ran by while the train steamed on by. 

Duck landing slide marks on the frozen canal, wish I'd witness this one!

So, knee feels better. Legs have been alright. But still feel a bit tired out there. I think I need to get back into the routine of it all. I've been running in the Puma Faas Trail still and have really enjoyed them despite their minimalist design. I think that the low mileage I'm running at the moment was a perfect time to change to this type of shoe. I'll write more on those after I've got some more miles under them.

Brooks Pure Grit - hi-viz yellow!

Speaking of shoes I randomly enter many odd competitions online for shoes and other running paraphernalia. Today a package from Brooks Running showed up at the door. I hadn't ordered anything and the package had no explanation to it. Just a pair of Brooks Pure Grit shoes! After a bit of research I found out that I had won them in a random competition I had entered online! Pretty cool. I was hoping to get a pair of the Pure Project shoes in the new year through my job but this was great. I was however bummed because I am still fairly new to the Pumas! Really excited about the Grits however, this may be that mental boost I need to get back at the higher mileages too. 

Anyway, things are a buzz around here, time is creeping up to our trip to Minnesota to see my family for Christmas. I think the overseas flights will be challenging with a one year old but worth it 100%, patience will be the key as always. We are due up for a break and with snow on the ground it will be all that much more fun. I cannot wait nor can the wife and little one.