New Black Shoes...Love 'Em or Hate 'Em

Have you ever run in black running shoes?

Since it was time to get out a new pair of shoes and start breaking them in for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon I figured I'd pull out the black shoes. So, I got ready for my run today in my new black shoes and black running socks and headed our the door.

Today was all about a 4 mile easy run. Now, the new shoes are the same brand and style I've been wearing since I started this running adventure. Breaking them in really hasn't ever been a problem - the only thing I have to fiddle with is making the laces loose enough and tight enough in the right places to keep my feet happy and my toes from falling to sleep.

I started out for my .25mi warm up walk and felt pretty good. The shoes have lots of cushion and springs. My favorite part of new shoes is the bounce you feel from all that unbroken support.

Time to run. After about 1.25mi I had to stop and readjust the laces. My toes were pretty much asleep and I can only wiggle them so much while running. Kept running. Stopped again to readjust the laces. Kept running. Okay, this is just not working today. Why can I feel the waffle pattern of the soles of my shoes in my entire ball of my foot? I must be mentally making that feeling happen. There's no way that I could feel that right? I've never had that feeling before. I run some more. I stop and try running without tightening the laces at all.

At 3.1 miles it was just too much. I stopped running, took the shoes off and walked for a few minutes in my socks. This has never happened before and I hope that the next run in these shoes will be much better. If not, I have have several other new pairs to switch to - thankfully. I picked up a few pairs during a great sale so at least I'm not stuck with one bad pair of shoes if these don't work out.

So, I wonder if black shoes are bad for my karma. I felt like I was trying to be a tough runner. It's weird looking down and seeing black running shoes instead of white. I know...I'm crazy :)!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It was okay here.

I've been quite remiss in my training over the last week. I've skipped two long runs now - an 8 and a 10 miler. I'll be trying for 11 this weekend anyway as I am running short on time and I'd like to make it up to 12 and still have time to taper...I think I'll be able to do it.

I ate pretty poorly over the week and weekend, but I still managed to drop a few pounds last week so I ended up with a loss of 8 pounds for November. I am happy with that. I know I can do better so I'll have to keep going and working hard in December.

I'm excited and nervous for January. I really cannot wait to meet everyone - that is so exciting! I really want to break that 2.5 hour 1/2 marathon goal of mine (third time's a charm right?). I'm nervous that I'll get injured before the race, but I'm doing my best to prevent that.

That pretty much wraps it up for me for today. I hope everyone is training hard and getting ready for whatever race you're tackling in 2010!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to take a second to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

A very short list of the things I'm thankful for this year:
My pets - they are my kids and many days keep me going.

My health - it's the reason that I can run, work, and live.

My job - even though there are days I can't stand it, it helps me do the things I want to do.

My family - while I am not super close with my immediate family, I know they are there.

My strength - without this I wouldn't be able to do the things I want to do mentally or physically.

My friends - if you're reading this blog, you are a friend and I truly appreciate the support you provide.

As I said, this is a very short list and I'm thankful for so much more, but you get the idea. Take a few minutes today and reflect on the things that you are thankful for and enjoy this holiday!

50+ days, 40+ Miles, and Wine&Dine

Just got back from my 6 mile long run. Felt so good today. The goal was 12:40 per mile and I smashed that coming in at 11:28 per mile. Amazing what happens when you let your body decide the pace and don't dwell on the Garmin :)! It did feel really good, but I know I have a long way to go until the Half in January. Most of my problems seem to be mental right now as a mile in I was thinking I wasn't going to make it - had to change that attitude right away. Quick body check told me there was no reason I couldn't run the 6 and be just fine. That did the trick - from there on I felt pretty good and just let myself run for a change.

On the diet front - things are okay. I haven't been super good, but I haven't completely fallen off the wagon either. I hope to post a loss again this week and that's really what matters right now. Each pound I take off will make my running that much easier!

Hoping I can talk myself in to getting back on the strength training routine this week as well. I've been so tired when I get home from work that it's been tough to put in two workouts a day. That's ridiculous so I need to force myself to do it and I know I'll feel better and get stronger in my running!

Still don't know what's going to happen with my job, but I'm going to sign up for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon in October. If I can't make it I'll be out the registration fee, but hopefully I'll be able to make it. That would mean I'll have the following Disney Halfs next year: WDW Jan, DL Sept and WDW Oct. I think that would be really cool if I can manage it.

Hope everyone else's training is going well and that your running faster, further and easier!!!

Digs Has Gone Home!!!

The puppy I found yesterday has gone home!!!  You have no idea how good that feels.  Having three dogs is enough, but throw a fourth one in the mix and it might has well be a living example of the chaos theory!

My girls are quite protective and started to really show it tonight as the new guy wanted to play with me :)!  They had quite enough of this interloper and wanted their Mom back to themselves.

The first thing I did yesterday was post a found notice on one of the local lost and found pet sites.  Didn't hold a lot of hope, but had to try.  Then I took the fella in to my vet today to see if he had a microchip - he did not.  I spent the day trying to find a new home for him.

At 8:30pm I received a call from someone I didn't know and let the answering machine pickup.  A little girl left a message saying that she thought I had her dog and to call her back.  Thank goodness I have Caller ID because she didn't leave her number :).  I called right back and the Mom answered - we had a bit of a language barrier, but I got her to describe the dog and found out his name and she said she had a license for him.  I agreed to bring the dog to the local Lowe's which is less than a mile from both of us and her husband was going to meet me there.

Packed the little guy up and we headed out.  I pulled in and parked and the little girl was standing outside.  As soon as the pup saw her he was completely excited.  He was so happy and so was she.  Dad came out of the store and said that the kids had cried for hours when he got away and he was so happy that they found him.

I explained that I found a tick on him and that I sprayed him with flea and tick spray, I trimmed his toe nails and that if he has a license he needs it on his collar.   I don't know how much of that made it through the translation barrier, but I hope some of it stuck.

He asked how much I wanted for returning him and I told him - nothing, I just want to make sure he got home and stayed home with them.  That's where we left it.  I did find out his name is Digs and he is 10-12 months old...I was pretty close on his age.

I can only hope that the kids will take good care of him now that they know what it's like to not have him.  I had my reservations about sending him back home with them - that's just me.  My animals are my kids and I can't imagine not going all out to find them and make sure it doesn't happen again, but I managed pet stores and I know that's not how everyone else feels.

I am very happy that he didn't end up being a foreclosure puppy...We have a rash of dogs left in backyards when people leave their houses.  That's inexcusable and while I don't condone animals getting out it's forgiveable - abandonment is not!

Okay, off my soapbox for tonight.  Now my kids and I can get back to our normal routine :)!

Another Week Done...

So, I went out for a little walk with the dogs this morning.  The weather is beautiful and we were having a nice time just taking our time not worrying about speed.  I wanted the dogs to just have fun so we'd stop and play at parks, and mud puddles and whatever else they wanted to do.

We were about a quarter of a mile from home when around the corner came a dog.  He was very cute - he crouched down like he was going to pounce on the girls...when in reality he was just being shy.

The dogs and I kept going and we had a new friend following us.  The dog was walking with us.  Now, I didn't want the dog to follow us home.  I tried to shoo him away, tell him to go home and nothing was working.  He just kept following us.  He was very skitterish around me, but was curious about the girls and was sniffing them whenever he could.  I finally stopped and crouched down.  Every time I'd try to grab him he would dart just out of my reach.  So, I crouched there and waited until he came to sniff one of the girls. and I grabbed his collar.  Well, turns out it's just a flea collar, but I had him.  He tried to get away, but as soon as I picked him up he just calmed right down.

I kept trying to figure out where he came from.  I finally saw a guy working on his van and asked if he knew who the dog belonged to.  Well, it turns out that the dog has been wandering around for a few days and no one else had been able to catch him.  Lucky me.

Well, I'm a sucker.  I can't leave a dog out on the streets to get hit by a car.  After all, that's how I got Ralph, my 16 year old Shih Tzu/Terrier mix, I rescued him from the streets.  So, I carried the dog home with us.  He's in my backyard - I put one of the girls' puppy collars and a leash on him.

I cannot just give him to an animal control shelter.  They are so crowded, the average time an animal has to be adopted is 48 hours.  I can't do that to an innocent animal.  I'll have to try to find a no kill shelter that has space this week - as if I have time for that ;).

Here's a picture of the little guy...


He's had some food and water and we just had a good play time.  He's very sweet.  I just gave him a toy to play with.  I think he's been with people and just got away.  I hope I can find his home.

Report Card For This Week

Diet – Pass

Exercise – Needs Improvement

Stress Management – Fail

Ah, the fun continues! I've been doing pretty good with my eating this week. I’ve been keeping my calorie count around 1500, a little higher than I wanted, but not terrible either.

I took yesterday off from working out, but I have been trying to put miles in and I’ve done pretty good with that. I haven’t started back in to strength training yet and I know I need to. I’ll keep working on this.

Stress continues to be a huge problem for me. I had a meeting with my top boss this week and the news wasn’t great – reorganization will eliminate my position and right now they don’t know where to put me. So, I am stuck with the dilemma – stay or go. Should I stay and see how this plays out and hope they can find something for me to do and then end up without a job? Should I leave and try to find something else and lose seven years of employment, vacation time and salary? It’s a tough call. I really wish I was brave enough to try to move to Florida – that’s where I’d really like to be. It’s difficult thing to pick up and move across the country all alone – these are the times it sucks to not have someone to share the stress with me.

Going to try for a three mile run tomorrow and a five mile run on Saturday. Both should be doable if I can just get my head in the game!

I really want to get back to my trip report too. I’m just getting to the good stuff now and I really want to share so stay tuned!

Easy 3 Miles - NOT!

Ugh - ever have one of those runs where 3 miles feels like 50....Yeah, me too :)!

I was feeling so good about my progress last week. I ran a good 13 miles and walked about 7 miles. I wasn't really very sore and for the most part I felt really good.

Then tonight came and I went out for my 3 miles....I knew at about a quarter mile that I was in for a long run. Everything felt wrong - my breathing, my calves, even my wrist with my Garmin felt sore and heavy.

Regardless, I'm still happy because I did manage to do my 3 miles...Much slower than I would have liked, but I didn't give up!

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day. At least I know it's just a walk tomorrow :)!

I hope everyone else is training hard and ready to go for January....I can't wait to meet you all in person!