Day 189.

Back to reality today, after a great weekend where I was spoiled beyond belief.  We went to visit some good friends (my running mentor, besides being great friends), and while we were there with them, we went to the Wasatch Running Center.  That place is amazing!  They have everything running related you can imagine, and they do a personal fitting and gait/running evaluation so you can get the perfect pair of running shoes.  My mentor had me fitted for some new shoes, and he also got me a few things that he thought I would find helpful in my running, including some Zensah calf sleeves.

Zensah

I ended up with a new pair of Asics Gel Nimbus 12's, and they are awesome!  It's like running on a cloud.

Apparently I wasn't even wearing the correct size of running shoes.  In normal shoes I wear a 7 1/2, and I had read that your running shoes should be 1/2 to a full size bigger than your regular shoe size, so my New Balance shoes were an 8.  At the Wasatch Running Center, I was fitted for a 9, and I can't believe the difference it makes.  This morning I had a 4 mile run planned, but even as I approached and reached the 4 mile mark, I felt so good, I just kept going until I got back to my house, instead of allowing some time for a walking cool down, so I actually ended up going 4.5 miles.  The Zensah leg sleeves are also wonderful.  They keep my legs from getting as tired, and apparently they're supposed to help keep you from getting varicose veins, which is good since I already had a couple of those starting to form on my calves.

Anyway, the kids had their first day of school this morning, so now my training schedule will have to change a little bit.  I woke up at 6am with them, got their lunches made and everyone ready, then I had time to do a 25 minute Pilates/Yoga warm-up.  Then at 7:30 I walked the kids to school, and from there left on my run.  And as I said, I went 4.5 miles, and it was a great run.  For the first time, I forgot I was running for a portion of the run, because my mind was wandering and daydreaming, which made the run go by even faster.  When I got home I also did workout 1 from 30 Day Shred.