This week has definitely been low key. It's sort of a "rest week" between all of the exciting local events of early November, and some major travel coming up (again!).
Saturdays always start early for me, because I have a weekly track club run that starts at 6am. I can't be late or skip, either, because I pace a group of Birmingham Track Club runners training for the
Mercedes-Benz Marathon. Now, I'm by no means a fast runner, but I do keep a fairly consistent pace, and I'm able to do it naturally, sometimes even with negative splits. I kid of think I'm a "natural negative split" runner because halfway through a run I'm just like, "ughhh...must finish as fast as possible."
Anyway, over the next 15 weeks, I will be providing pacing for the Saturday long run on the training schedule designed by the track club coaches. I'll be pacing groups in the 8:30-10:00 minute/mile range, but it will change from week to week. This week, I paced the 9:00 group:
On Saturday afternoon, we headed over to
the J. Clyde, a gastropub owned by my friend Jerry, to watch the MSU/Alabama game. I have no comment on the game result, but we didn't stick around too long afterward to get hassled by the Alabama fans, haha.
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| My boys sharing sweet potato fries. |
We are trying to get W started eating with a spoon, but he's like me and he'd rather eat with his hands. So far, he can tap the spoon against the food, and move food to his mouth, but he gets bored and frustrated and the spoon ends up on the floor.
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| He's a lefty, like his dad. |
Our property management company just finished remodeling the gym in our building, and they put in two new treadmills. Yay! But also ewwww, because I loathe running on the treadmill. I did get in one treadmill workout on Wednesday night, because it was dark and pouring rain by the time I was free to go running.
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| All the cool kids are taking gym selfies. |
I did pick up some new running shoes, in my continuing effort to find a shoe that actually fits my foot (or feet, I guess, since I have two of them). I have been running in the Brooks Ghost 7, using a toe spacer on the right side. I also have Mizuno Wave Rider 16s, but they are way too rigid. I got the Brooks PureConnect (on sale, of course) and took them out for a spin on Friday. I got neon yellow, because...YOLO, I guess.
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| I honestly don't think these shoes could be any brighter. |
Big mistake. Huge. At the long run the next morning (back in my Ghost 7s), my calves and shins felt like they were on fire. I think I will need to work these shoes in gradually, and get used to them over time. They have a very low heel/toe drop, about 5 mm, and that changes the way your lower legs have to work. And by the way, if anyone else has a really skinny foot with high insteps and bones sticking out everywhere, please help me find a shoe that doesn't feel like I'm standing in a giant, rigid box of pain.
Well, and I was also sore from a little family trip to
Red Mountain Park. We took Nico to check out the new dog park (it's awesome, and she had a blast), and then we walked some of the trails with W in the Kelty carrier on my back. That child is getting heavy!
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| As you can see, the boys aren't really into selfies. |
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| Mongrel dog for scale. |
Next week, we are traveling again. It will be W's tenth trip on a plane. Unfortunately, I'm still not comfortable enough with the whole Babies on a Plane situation to avoid feeling some anxiety in the days leading up to a flight. And as W gets older, he actually seems to have LESS patience for longer flights. After about the second hour, I just end up feeding him snacks and letting him play Fruit Ninja on my phone. So, uh, this next week is going to be stressful.
Since I work for a Chinese company, I'll probably work through the Thanksgiving holiday, but my boss is pretty good about observing U.S. holidays...after all, there are loads of Chinese holidays on the calendar, too. Have a great Thanksgiving, y'all!
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