Some seriously sweet shoes. :)

It's been another week since my last post, and I'm shocked that I haven't at least taken the time to blog about my new, awesome running shoes!  They were sent to me as a gift from a good friend and fellow runner and they are the sweetest things!  The Asics Gel Nimbus are my shoes - I've been wearing them for, well about 5 pairs, or over 4000 miles now!  It's like strapping a little cloud to your feet, no break-in time necessary.  These are the Nimbus 14's in a limited edition multi-color and I LOVE them!  Remember my last pair were the bright pink, and I love them too.  I wish there was a way to give old running shoes an internal over-haul so you could get more mileage out of them. :)

So I got the shoes on Friday, and since then I've done two 7-milers and a 10-miler in them already.  There's nothing that motivates you more to get out and run like a new pair of shoes...except maybe some nice, sunny, warm weather. :)

My new training schedule has also been moving along the past week.  I finished up my training with Misty on Wednesday, then finished out the week on my own doing an interval run and Muscle Fusion X on Thursday, a chest/abs workout and a spin class on Friday and a 7 mile run on Saturday.

This week I've been going through the workouts by myself.  On Monday, I ran (just under) 10 miles early in the morning, then went to the gym for my back/abs workout.  As I did my first set of pull-ups, I felt a pull in the muscle around the front part of my left arm, near the shoulder.  Ever since then, my mobility in that arm has been a little limited, which sucks.

Yesterday I hit the road for another early morning run of 7 miles, then Chris and I went to the gym so I could do my legs/shoulders workout and he could go to spinning.  While he was in class, I bumbled my way around the weight room feeling a little helpless as I forgot how to do several of the new exercises on my routine and didn't have anyone there to help show me how to do them.  I started skipping the ones I was having trouble with and just doing the ones I new how to do, but then that messed up my sets and pretty soon I was feeling totally lost and frustrated.  I texted Misty (who was at home resting from a back injury and sciatica from her pregnancy).  She called me right back and as soon as she started talking to me, I could tell she was not doing well.  Along with her back issues, she now has a sinus infection and I could hear in her voice that she is miserable.  This woman is normally as solid as a rock, so it pained me to hear her suffering so much.  After I got off the phone with her, I sat down on the bench outside the weight room and, despite the fact that there is a sign next to the dumbbell rack that says "NO CRYING" (hahaha), I just started to cry.  I'm not sure why I was feeling so emotional.  I guess it was partly my frustration of still feeling lost in the weight room even after all this time, but also my heart was breaking for Misty.  She is my pillar of strength and my motivator - I hate to see her in such pain.

Just as I was seriously considering throwing in the towel for the day all together, Chris came around the corner from his spin class.  He stood by me while I slowly worked my way through the remainder of my exercises, and helped me figure out how to do the ones I was unsure of.

Today is a new day, and despite my sore shoulders, hips and back, I am determined to hit the weights hard. Chris and I will be heading to the gym shortly where I will do my tricep/bicep/calf workout, then we are planning to go to the mini-dome at the University to run stairs for an hour, a workout that Misty loves to do.  I'm going to run a few sets for Misty today...