New Running Shoes after 650 miles

After a healthy 8 hours of sleep I woke Tuesday feeling refreshed and ready to get after it. The coffee had just started to brew as I made my way to the kitchen. In a hurry, I whipped out sit-ups and then 40 curls. I had to wait a few minutes for the coffee to finish. Played on the computer until 605am. Felt good to be ahead of the game. I haven't been able to say that too much since returning from vacation.

I did a good meditation and stretch routine. Both felt great. I was ready for my run even before 630am. Can't remember the last time that happened. Immediately out the door, I noticed a big difference in the sun's position, not quite up over the horizon at that hour now. It won't be too long now before the early run is back in darkness. There was a slight chill in the morning air. That hasn't been the case too often at all this summer.

I ran the full 4.1 miles with any trouble though my hammies were achy again, especially during the first mile or so. I finished my run strong and was back inside the house near 710am. Before tending to my breakfast and lunch, I delivered Mindy a cup of coffee. I was sure she asked me to bring it early. She was taking her mom to a doctor's appointment that morning while my dad came by to keep an eye on the kids.

I fried three eggs, two for me and one for Eiknarf, though she wasn't up to enjoy them until I was about to head up for a shower. I went ahead and walked her before a shower. Mindy was still sleeping when I headed up for my shower but she was up before I headed back downstairs.

We hung out for a little while before I left for work. By then the cool morning sunshine was gone. It was very warm and muggy in the early sunshine. I made sure to take my Finishline coupon with me to work. I thought I might pay a visit their at lunch time. If nothing else, I could try on a few different pairs and buy online if they didn't have the color I wanted. Ah, the beauty of the internet. I also took my new AMEX card so I could book my flight to Chicago for next week. I left for the office around 825am.

It felt good to not feel under the gun right out of the shoot at work. That's a feeling I haven't experienced since before vacation. For the past two weeks it's been one deadline after another. The reprieve would be short lived. It was already month end already. Yikes! Where did July go?

I was able to book my flight as well as taking care of a few other minor tasks that had to be placed on the back burner while I played catch-up. My boss popped in around 11am. We chatted only briefly, me sharing that I booked my Chicago flight and that I was in the office until almost 9pm Friday night for my laptop issue.

I left for lunch around 130pm, driving to Tuttle mall. I parked behind Macy's and cut through their lower level and into the mall to Finishline. I looked at all the running shoes, most I'd already viewed online. None looked that pleasing to my eye. On the other hand, several women's designs look awesome. Perhaps I'll buy a pair of women's running shoes next time.

I ended up trying on a pair of Nike and then a pair of Asics. I've been running happily in Asics for the past few years now. They fit much better than Nikes, not as narrow. As in the past, the Nikes were too restrictive. The Asics I tried on felt good but they were a bit pricier than I was really wanting. They were $140, though I did have a $20-off coupon, but still. The sales guy's manager came by and tried recommending a few other brands of running shoes for me to try. I was turned off by his pretended expertise. I had them check the Finishline webpage to make sure the shoes I liked weren't marked lower on there. I did so because I noticed at least one other pair where I know that was true. I pointed them out. He checked, no problem. They weren't on sale. I needed new shoes, having gone a week shy of 6 months in my most recent pair. I went ahead and got the ones I tried on. They're royal blue and black, a color combo I wasn't too wild about, but they felt good, which is far more important when you run as much as me.

After making my shoe purchase I browsed a few different departments at Macy's. I bought nothing else, however. I headed back to the office after being out for about an hour. Felt good to take an hour for myself. I spent the afternoon working on a couple escalations as well as tying up a few dangling loose ends. I left the office near 510pm feeling good about all I had accomplished that day.

As usual, I phoned Mindy on the way home. Said she boiled down the rotisserie chickens from dinner the night before and made chicken and noodles. Not exactly a summer kind of meal but it's still one of my faves. Once again, Jacob was off to soccer practice and Bella with Jimaken at his mother's. Mindy and I decided not to go anywhere this date night. Instead, we simply enjoyed chicken and noodles at home. Good thing too. Mindy again wasn't feeling too well and begged off to our bedroom around 7pm, or soon after we finished dinner and had spent a few minutes together on the deck. I, on the other hand, headed off to water all the flowers front and back. The lawn's starting to dry out in spots here and there again. We really could use a good soaking rain. Doesn't look like we're going to get it anytime soon, however.

Finished the watering then headed inside to do a playing on the computer. I spent at least an hour writing in my blog, which is way behind. At the time I had written up through the prior Thursday, but just haven't posted anything for almost two weeks. But I'll likely get caught up in the coming days.

The kids were home near 8pm. Bella was most concerned about her mother's whereabouts. I shared that she was already in bed, but likely watching Olympic coverage. Both kids headed up to see her. I was right. She wasn't asleep. In fact, she came down and made Jacob more dinner, even though he ate before soccer practice. She and the kids were right back upstairs after their brief time in the kitchen. That afforded me more time to write in my blog without distraction.

Once again I started to get really sleepy around 930pm, and rather than fight it I secured the home and headed up to bed.