Busy... Busy... Catching Up

I really don't like going more than a week without posting something... and here I am, working toward a week and a half.

I have been trying to keep up with the blogs and posting comments when I can.

I feel like I have been busy. I have been busy with work and this Wednesday I'm headed back to San Diego for a few days. I have also been working hard to make sure I'm getting seven hours of sleep each night for my contest points. I guess it has taken time away from other things, like writing blog posts.

Tuesday I worked in my remote remote office. Which means instead of working at home, I work from a variety of coffee shops around Orlando. I had lunch plans with my friend Colleen, so after I dropped the kids off at school, I headed to Panera in Altamonte Springs. After lunch I headed to Starbucks in Maitland at the Sheraton North because I had a few meetings.

My next stop was Track Shack for some new shoes. My hip had been bothering me. Apparently, my shoes are good for 325 miles and not much more.

I have been running for the last year or so in the Nike Air Structure Triax+ 10. The new model, the 11, was recently released. I spoke with the gentleman who was helping me about my current shoe, what size I wore, how many miles they had on them and how I was feeling.

He went in the back and came back with the new Nike Air Structure Triax+ 11, and a pair of Asics. He went into the back again and came out with a pair of Mizunos and a pair of New Balance. We went through this process several times ruling out shoes for one reason or another. Finally, we had narrowed our choices down to the orginal Nikes and the Original Asics. I tried one on each foot and then switched. I ended up with the Nikes. It was one of the best shoe buying experiences I have ever had!


My New Kicks (picture courtesy of Zappos)

And don't you just LOVE running in new shoes? It's so refreshing! And it feels so bouncy! This week I have reduced the life of my new shoes by 10% - 33+ miles on the 11's already!

My son's class went to the National Training Center on Friday to compete against six other schools in track events. Stone ran the mile in a respectable 9:09. Here's the thing, he came in fifth place, but I couldn't be prouder if he came in first. He never stopped to walk once. He paced himself and stayed strong the whole time. I was so glad to be there to cheer for him. It was really great!


The NTC Track

And finally, I ran nearly twenty miles this weekend. Yesterday I ran 9.45 on the unofficially named Tavares Trail along Hwy 441 across from Lake Eustis and all the way the Leesburg. It was a nice cool morning and I made the distance in 1:32:52. I felt pretty good about that time.

This morning, I met up with my friend Cheryl. She's running the Country Music Half Marathon next Saturday and she was looking for some support on a ten miler. I told her that I would go, but it might be slow going. I completed 10.48 miles in 1:59:18. Slow going indeed. I didn't figure our trip to EPCOT yesterday afternoon into the equation. We walked and walked and walked...

Despite the miles over the past two days, I feel pretty good. My legs are a little tired, but not awful. I felt good enough to play tennis for a few hours this afternoon.