Sometimes I choose pain over comfort.  That’s why I’m running the Around the Bay race again this year.

Running 30 km is a great way to test your will and stamina.

I’m a bit behind in my training. As usual.

The race is a little later this year, so I have a buffer. It’s in mid-April instead of the end of March.

I hadn’t updated my running shoes since the end of 2024.

They needed updating, so I got some new shoes.

When I bought them, I forgot that I usually get wide shoes because I have a wide foot.

The first run I took the new pair on was 18km. I had a bunch of blisters afterward. Was it a fluke?

The next long run, more blisters. Not a fluke.

Wider shoes would have been better.

Of course, I already have 40km of running on them. So, returning them isn’t an option. That’s a drag.

But I’m going to suck it up and get another pair. I can use my current pair for short runs.

This year’s race will be different. I’ll be running it solo.

Tara and Dan won’t be running it this year. It was a treat to run the race with my daughter last year.

Tara and Dan were much faster than me. But we were able to hobble home together in solidarity.

The run isn’t about how fast I run. It’s about pushing myself to do the run.

Call me a masochist, but I love the challenge of the inner dialogue. When my mind is telling me to give up. To stop. To quit.

But my spirit is saying “You can go a little further. You’ve got this.”

I’m not going to ignore real pain or injury. It’s more about ignoring the “comfort alarms” that go off when you push yourself beyond what’s easy.

It’s important to me to be able to push myself every now and then. To remind myself to be uncomfortable occasionally.

I’ll have a replacement pair of running shoes to try on my next long run this Sunday. I’m hoping that means no blisters.

But if there are blisters, then I’ll have one more opportunity to push through discomfort.