Oh, the Drama

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Total Movement Mileage: 191.8 (running: 175.4; walking: 4.4; biking: 12) Elly's miles: 93.5  Money Found For Food Bank: $42.55

This was my pre-run prep today:

It's hard to convince someone I'm getting
ready to go running when it looks like
I'm starting a craft project ...

Yup. You guessed it. The new shoes can not handle the toes of steel, and one of them is already -- and, suddenly -- worn almost all the way through. GRRR. This was highly frustrating to discover this morning as I have been diligent about making sure that nail is cut as short as possible to make sure I'm not aggravating the situation. Evidently, that just doesn't matter. For whatever the reason that my big toes do whatever it is they do in there for stabilization purposes, most shoes just can't handle it. I know I'm in a large population of other toe busters out there, but I've not yet found a great solution to prevent this. However, as proven with my last part of Sauconys (which, by the way, are totally my shoe of choice at this point -- even more than the Brooks), duct tape seems to do the trick to hold it all together. I'm not thrilled about it, but I am ready to hit that point of resignation and just duct tape preventatively from now on. (That sounds like an easy thing, but if you've tried to cram your hand into the toe of a shoe and get the tape in just the right spot, then you know it's not. I told Aaron it would be so much more helpful if I were trying to place tape in his shoes. There's much more room in there.)

Who knows: Maybe my point of resignation and preventative measure will open the door to more shoe options ...

Regardless, I laced up. And, that was a whole other another issue because the tongue on that same shoe, apparently, had an attitude about being messed with and wouldn't settle into a comfortable spot. And, it wasn't just uncomfortable; it hurt. After five or six adjustments, a sigh, a bad word or two and some poking fun at me by Aaron about my diva shoes, we were finally on our way for this morning's four miler.

For crying out loud.

The temperature was 59, but it didn't feel that way. And, before we hit the end of the first mile, it started drizzling. And, then lightly raining. And, that went on for the duration. And, I didn't even have my hat. *sigh*

But! I was thrilled that the run itself was very surprisingly good! In addition to good company, I went up our rolling hills route with relative ease. After having done yesterday's 10 miles, not stretching this morning (thanks, shoes!) and not stretching out after yesterday's run ...

... I expected this morning to be less than ideal. And, that's a nice way of saying that I expected it to be totally crappy.

But, it wasn't. Evidently, this whole training thing is working as it should. Again, I don't know the science behind the schedule, but I am thankful for the person who worked all of that out. I have cursed that same person in the past for scheduling a 4-mile run the day after 10, but, apparently, there's a reason for it. And, it's a good one.

We rounded a corner to hit our home stretch when Aaron started whining about "The wind! The wind!" Let me just note there was a very slight breeze that hit us at that point which is nothing like actually experiencing wind. He reminded me that he was very wet, so the wind made him cold. I not only didn't argue with that, but I knew if I made fun of him any further that he was armed with plenty of ammo about my shoe-capades. So, we just picked up pace and wrapped this bad boy up!

We got to the end point with a few tenths of a mile to walk and cool down. That might have been my favorite part of it all, just sayin'.

Rest is on the docket for the morning!! I always love the sleep-in morning of the weekend!! Don't forget to set your clocks ahead tonight (boo!)! I'll be checking in on the morrow ...