Running OK

From late Monday night through late Wednesday I was struggling with some sort of stomach bug.  Not pleasant and definitely not the type of thing you can run through.  So I passed Tuesday and Wednesday evening.

Was feeling much better Thurs.  Took Abigail for a .5 mile walk to calm her down and then took Boomer out for a run.  Was planning on only running 3 miles, but there is just something about taking a few days off.  So I went a bit further and pushed 3.5 miles.  Good run.

Finally found the Elvis Edition Reeses PB cup with Banana Cream.  Good stuff.  Ate one and gave the other to Carrie.  Yummy.

Short run last night. Was pretty beat. Just went out around the neighborhood. 2.8 miles, but felt pretty quick.

Think I’m gonna pass tonight and try to get to sleep early.

Did get a run in Thursday night, but not remembering it at this time.  Wonder why.

Friday night I really wanted to go for a run, but we had an invite to watch the OU/TU game at some friends’ house, and Grammy and Grandpa offered to watch the kids. First time we left the babies at home an went out. It was nice. Good game and great to see some friends and focus on something other than poop and feeding.

Friday night George didn’t sleep much and I stayed up with him. Got in a couple of hours sleep in the wee morning hours, but was beat. Watched some football during the day and around 9pm decided to take the pup out for a run. Was feeling tired, but not dead. Headed out and put in 3.5 miles. Probably had 3.2 in me. The last .3 mile sucked. Was tempted to walk it in, but pushed through. Was beat afterward.

Saturday, George continued the non-sleeping, but I was able to sleep from 7am until noon. Repeated the 9pm starting time, but this time felt much better. The spring was in my step and I took the 3.7 mile loop. Felt good.

Just realized that the Dallas Half Marathon is a little over 2 mos away. Wow, I need to start some long runs. I think I’ll try to meet up with A & D this Saturday to get some mileage in.

Wednesday night went out for 3.5 miles.  Nothing spectacular.  Kind of hot and muggy.  Felt every step of it.

Celebrated actually going out and not sitting on my duff like I wanted to with a Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No.5.  Wow. Just Wow.  Great brew.  Nice thick, creamy body with just the right amount of bitters.  Finishes with a great kick as it is 10% alcohol.  Good stuff.  If you’re anywhere near Texas, I advise you go get you some.

Grandpa came back up to Norman for a visit and brought a new pair of kicks for me. Last time he was here I complement his Saucony Hurricane 8’s and told him that I loved that line. He informed me a store in San Antonio had them on close out for $35.00. Wow. So I asked him to snag me a pair if he was back down that way. And sure enough he did. Oh so comfy.

I’ve been alternating shoes since I was unable to find a good deal on a pair of Hurricanes last time I need new shoes. I have difficult feet and build for finding shoes as I need some cushioning, a touch of motion control, and some stability. The Hurricanes tend to provide all of this in just the right amounts.

When I couldn’t find a pair of H’s, or other suitable Saucony line, in my price range, I settled on the Brooks Beast, which is the first true “Motion Control” shoe I have ever purchased. It is a good shoe for controlling foot movement and is a very comfortable shoe. But, it is huge and feels like a weight on runs. I haven’t run a long run in these, but my mundane 3-4 milers are very comfortable, but kind of slow, and tend to make me feel like I’ve worked extra hard, almost like running through sand or grass.

To balance this feeling, and to get a distance shoe, I picked up a pair of Avia 2051’s at the running stores annual clearance sale. Never bought Avia for running before, but they are somewhat stability shoes and at $25-, the price couldn’t be beat. Gotta say I’ve been wonderfully surprised by these sneaks. They are well cushioned and have enough stability for my overpronation. They have a little lever built in that gives a great spring to the step. I feel like I’m flying in them and come back from runs with light legs. But I can’t run in them day after day. My ankles would kill.

But hurricanes, man. They are great.

Anyway, took out the new kicks and felt great. 3.5 miles 34 min.

It was hot yesterday.  I was tired.  George and Abigail took turns screaming through the night Sunday.  Resulted in a good 1.5 to 2 hours sleep.  Good times.  Remember, they are so cute.

Went to have the announcement photos taken at a friend’s house at 9:30am.  It was a long, but amusing and good session.  We got some great photos, but we had to really work to get them.  It began when Trina was positioning Abigail for the first naked baby shot, when A just let it loose and pooped and peed all over T’s leg, foot and inbetween her toes.  It continued from there.  For the record I was peed on at least 4 times and pooped on at least 5.  Again, they are sooo cute.

Got a good nap in the trailer in the afternoon as I couldn’t stay awake any longer.  Felt refreshed and ready to roll, but it was hot outside, so I pushed off running.

Some friends were heading over around 7:30 so I decided to take the dog out around 6:45.  To my surprise, the temp had dropped down to mid 70’s with a nice breeze.  I was tired, but hammered out 3.7 miles.  Not the fastest, but saved enough to sprint the last .1 mile.

Good day of college football.  Didn’t sleep more than 1.5 hours last night.  Luckily Grammy came in this morning to watch and calm the kids while Carrie and I slept for 2 hours through College Gameday and the beginning of the 11am games.  Was planning on going for a longish run, but give the lack of sleep and not eating at the right time, and of course waiting until the end of the Sooners’ stomping of Utah State, I kept pushing my run further back.

After Texas pulled out their squeaker at UCF Carrie and I went for a walk and I decided to go for a run.  Had planned on doing my 3.6 mile route, but I had nothing in the tank.  flet like I was dragging the whole way, so really pushed through it and went for an extremely hard 2.5miles.

Friday night I was feeling good.  Had a relatively good night sleep on Thurs and went to work to finish off a project so Grammy and Carrie had baby duty.  I was rested and we just got back from a walk so I decided to head out for a quick run around 8:30pm.  A cool front had come through and temps were in the upper 60’s.

Things clicked and I took off.  felt good enough to do another 3.6 miles and was pushing it the entire way.  even kicked it up the last “hill” into the neighborhood.  Good times.

Another good night run.  The twins got to go on their second walk.  This one was a .5 mile trek around a different block in the neighborhood.  They are getting pretty good at them.  Slept almost the whole way.

Afterward, took the pup for a run to try to tire him out.  Went 3.6 miles.  A little more humid today and a bit warmer.  But still can’t beat low 80’s in early September.  Man I love fall.

Went out for 3 miles Sunday evening with the dog.  Felt good except for being tired.  Probably pushed it harder than I should have, what with the lack of sleep and all.

Last night I got some good sleep and this afternoon I was feeling good.  A cool front came rolling through last night and dropped temps down nicely.  Felt so good we opened the windows last night and had to shut them before bed as it was too cool inside.  Bottomed out in the mid 50’s.  So around 3 I headed out for a run.  Sun was shining and a slight breeze, but not quite a wind and temps in the mid 70’s.  Wow, this is great weather and just in time.   Ended up with 4.3 miles at 36 minutes.  Felt good.

Ended with the kids first walk around the block.