Saturday, May 19, 2007

Tidying up some loose ends

Thanks, as always, for your comments. It truly helps to know I'm not writing into the void. You like me! You really like me!

Jonathan asked yesterday if I rotate between two pair of shoes. Not at this point. WS mentioned in a comment that she does, and Jonathan does, as well. I still haven't made it to a "real" running store, and I don't want to buy two pairs of shoes until I get some expert advice. I'm basing my shoe selection on reviews and what feels good, but the shoes I'm wearing might not be what I need. Just think: If an experienced, trained salesperson analyzes my stride and recommends The Perfect Shoe, there's a chance I could go even faster!

Isn't there? Heh.

Speed isn't everything, as I so clearly demonstrated when I did four flat miles in 50 minutes yesterday. Oh, well. This is fun, damn it! Fun!

Anne and Jonathan have both mentioned a new food product this spring and I want to add my recommendation for Bell Plantation's PB2. Getting a peanut-butter fix
with PB2 isn't quite as easy as sticking your finger in a jar, but almost. And there's just enough simple prep involved that you can put the brakes on. Having to mix two tablespoons of powdered peanuts with one tablespoon of water gives you the moment of clarity you need not to polish off the whole jar. Oh, and it also gives you a sandwich's worth of deliciousness for only 54 calories. How cool is that?

Finally, the toys can see! I stitched their little eyes on last night. The photos are crappy, but the penguin and koala are zoo-ready. Or, maybe, baby-shower-ready. The patterns are by Fiber Trends, but I honestly have no idea what yarns I used to make either of the toys.

Felting [or, more correctly, fulling] is quite an inexact science. Remember the Noni disaster carpetbag I made earlier this year? But these little critters turned out just dandy. Good thing they're toys – they don't have to fit!

The penguin is soft and squishy and cuddly, while the koala is quite firm. I'd have preferred a little softer koala, but you know what the Rolling Stones said: You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.

What I need now is for the sun to come out and my legs to hold up for the eight-mile morning run. I'm tempted to put it off until tomorrow; I feel like this whole week has gotten twisted around somehow. At some point I will be switching my long run day from Saturday to Sunday, but I want to plan for it – not just put it off because I'm feeling lazy and discombobulated.

Mary's race is tomorrow – go wish her well!

3 comments:

Mary Gee said...

Thank you so very much! I got fitted by a pro and got rid of a terrible case of plantar fasciitis. I am glad to pay $140. for a pair of shoes since they eliminate that pain!

ws said...

I think the shoes that "feel good" might be the best recommendation you can find. And, you will get faster - strength training + miles seems to do the trick.

According to Backpacker magazine "Going Faster is mostly in your head" and one of the Carmichael Training coaches seems to agree. According to them "to go faster, you train the nerves in your legs to fire faster; this in turn makes your muscles contract faster, which then increases your speed."

Unknown said...

If you ran in your shoes injury-free while training for a half marathon, then they're probably perfect.

I don't rotate my running shoes, but I also don't run every day. My running-freak husband found an article that said that shoes take a day to spring back after a hard run. I don't think that's a big problem for me since I only run three days a week.

But you might want to buy a second pair of the shoes you're wearing now, because in my experience, you just find a pair of shoes you like, and the %$#@! manufacturer goes and changes them on you and ruins them.