That's ok, I'm looking forward this year, not backward.
Another thing I'm looking forward to is running a 10k. Last year I thought I was gonna jump the gun and go right to being a half-marathon runner. think again. It was less than a year after I tore my hip flexor, and in less than 2 weeks I was running 5 miles straight. But I could hardly walk the next morning. not smart.
This year I'm doing it a bit more wisely, and following a couch to 10k program, which I started yesterday. First I had to purchase a new pair of sneakers {mine were fossils in the world of runners}. My sister had a wonderful time buying her sneakers from the local shoe guy, so I followed her suggestion and went to the same gentleman. boy, am I glad I did.
Not only did I find out I have been purchasing the wrong kind of sneakers all together, I also learned that I have "wicked flat" feet, according to Jack {the shoe guy}. Yup. We just tell it like it is up here in the north east. He had me doing a 'fast walk' down the center aisle of the store in my socks while he was down on one knee and staring intently at my feet.
Conclusion: I need sneakers for "wicked flat" feet.
Jack knew almost everything about sneakers and running and side walks and treadmills and 5k's and 10k's and...well, you get the picture.
He sure did like to talk, and I appreciated everything he told me. I even appreciated the fact that he told me if the $120 sneakers didn't feel $20 better than the $100 sneakers, to just by the $100 sneakers. I did just that. I walked out of the store doting a brand spanky new pair of Asics Duomax GT-1000. These are my favorite pair of sneakers yet.
I gave them their debut run on the treadmill yesterday doing Week 1 Day 1 of my Couch to 10k program and I loved them. Doing Week 1 Day 1 of my Couch to 10k program on a treadmill, however? Not so much. It consists of
Today was Week 1 Day 2, and the sun is beginning to stay out long enough for me to enjoy it after work. I hit the sidewalks full stride, with the sun on my face, and my Drop a Beat play list on Songza. If you haven't discovered songza yet, that should be the next thing you do. It's like Pandora on steroids, with no adds, and free. It WILL change your life. {Much like my Vitamix did. See Previous post}
There I am, enjoying my combination of walking/jogging, and breathing in fresh air, until I come to an enormous puddle stretching the entire width of the sidewalk, and then some. It's wintertime in New Hampshire, and the weather here is like a woman on menopause. Hot, cold, snow, rain, warm, cold, colder...It can't make up it's damn mind, and makes for sloppy sidewalks.
I'm committed though, and apparently committed to the sneakers I've run in only once before, because I ran through the thinnest part of the puddle I could see. It wasn't so bad, but the 20+ enormous puddles that followed didn't make it any better. At one point I was running up on the foot and a half high snow banks, because it was less wet than running through the 4 inches of water. I am definitely not returning these sneakers now. {good thing I love them}
I also came across Jacob Marley and his pooch. You know. Jacob Marley from A Muppet Christmas Carol. He looked just like that door knocker. creepy.
And apparently we were on the same track in opposite directions, because I saw him again on the other side of town on a side street.
Today I felt accomplished and ready to take on Day 3.
Running outside is considerably harder than running on a treadmill, but it is much more fun, and I live a mile and a half from the beach. Summertime morning runs along the beach? I think so.
By then I'll be finished with my Couch to 10k program, and ready to enjoy the coastline for as long as my little legs can handle.
Thanks for coming along with me on my latest adventure. I'm excited to see how this one will turn out.
