new shoes!

so


not to brag or anything


but i ran 5 miles before work this morning


and didn't get hit by a crazy school bus


but a big truck honked as he drove past and i almost leaped off the road thinking i was about to get hit (i wasn't)


it's not my ideal way of waking up


but it did the trick.


before saturday's run i checked the bottom of my shoes

annnnnd there's about zero tread left on my toes

it's kind of a great feeling to know you've ran SO MUCH your shoes are DONE.


but it also sucks because i have to drop considerable $$$ on new shoes


and ideally you shouldn't probably wait this long to buy new shoes


but it happens


and i'm cheap.


thank goodness i won on that scratch off this weekend or i might have put off buying shoes until there was an actual hole in them


about a year ago i found my forever shoe


the brooks' ghost series

my first pair were the 4's

which i loved on extra hard with lots of pavement


and my current pair - the 5's

a couple of months ago they came out with ghost 6


but i'm cheap


and brooks still offered their 5's at a discounted price (about $40 cheaper than the new model)

i kind of wanted to get the purple and blue again

but they were out of those

and the only ones they had left


are the "dark denim and blue angel"

which, really, i don't care what color they are - i refuse to wear tennis shoes any other time besides actual running because i think they all look hideous with jeans.

so in 5-10 days i will be the proud new running mama to fresh running shoes!

shiny happy sneakers

good morning!

my morning started off with coffee and a chocolate chip cookie on my ride in to work

that means it's going to be a good day, right?

right.

when i got home last night, i practically jumped for joy

they finally arrived!

sidebar - bill picked up a shoe and smelled the inside of it - saying "i love the smell of new shoes."  weirdo.

i couldn't wait to lace them up!

i went out solo without woodford, and completed a mile.

i wanted to do more - but it was so windy - i couldn't get my breathing down while running and by the end i felt really winded and my side was actually hurting from my poor breathing.

it's still cold today, but the wind isn't as bad - so maybe tonight i'll venture a bit further out.

the best part of the run -

grippy shoes!  seriously, i had forgot how nice new shoes grabbing the pavement felt.

annnnd - no shin pain!  none at all!  which could also mean i've built my endurance back up - but let's pretend it's the pretty shoes.

i also think i kept a slightly faster pace for most of the run - i forgot to plug in my garmin, so i'm not sure - but it was probably because i didn't have a doggy stopping to pee on every bush.

my motivation to run today:

 "Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'"
- Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner

bonne saint valentin!

happy valentine's day!

yesterday was a typical kentucky winter

it snowed during the afternoon - some areas getting 2-3"

and by the time i got home it was warmer (45ish) and all melted!

which is fine by me

i have a goal to keep!

day 1 of 40 consecutive days of running

went well!

i had a cute furry friend with me

it's amazing how dogs pick up on different cues.

i usually come home and put on lounge pants, but last night i put on running tights and a sweatshirt and was lacing up my tennis shoes

and all that added up to a run in little woodford's mind.

he was jumping and prancing and looking at me with a wagging tail.

so we jogged around the neighborhood - and he pulled me the whole way.

about 10 minutes after the photo above was taken i captured my little fur baby like this

anyone who has a britney spaniel, or any sporting dog for that matter - knows how relieving it is when they finally lay down. 

on the running front - i knew my shoes were bad

i trained for a marathon all last summer in them

but i guess i didn;t think they were this bad

i can feel my finger push through the other side - eep!

the rest of the shoe looks relatively good still, but i tend to run on my toes - jog - for the most part - and after my brief jaunt last  night i quickly felt the pain in my calves and ankles

luckily, i was proactive earlier in the morning

and ordered a new pair of brooks online


i loved my ghost 4's so much i went ahead an upgraded to the ghost 5's.

i kind of wish i could still get them in the green and yellow - those were fun colors

but maybe the purple and blue will look prettier with my running clothes?

annnnnd i spent last night trying to come up with a new header for the blog - what do you think?

i added a dailymile widget too - on the right - it should count all my miles and keep my honest - as long as i remember to plug in my garmin data daily!

are you on dailymile? let's be friends!

like running valentines :)

speaking of valentines...

woodford got me a card

but picked up the wrong sized envelope

bless his heart

and this card...is obviously meant in the most literal sense...

oh and his daddy got me a card too

our first valentine's day as a married couple!

spent opening cards in bed before work

actually...i haven't given bill his card yet.

we really don't have any plans for valentine's day - especially since bill will be working tonight.

and we probably won't do much this weekend to celebrate specifically for valentine's day -

do you and your significant other celebrate valentine's day?  or are you more laid back and just exchange cards?