New Shoes and 3.5 miles

September 19th, 2007

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.

3.7 miles

September 18th, 2007

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.

.75 mile walk and 2.5 mile run

September 15th, 2007

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.

3.6 miles

September 15th, 2007

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.

3.6 miles

September 12th, 2007

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.

3 hard miles and 4.3 good miles

September 11th, 2007

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.

3.5 miles, a walk and lack of sleep

September 9th, 2007

Friday night we were still in the hospital and looking forward to possibly coming home Saturday.  Facing an evening of low sleep and having a puppy at home who hadn’t gotten exercise that day, so I headed home to burn some nervous energy.  Great run.  Got in 3.5 untimed miles, but felt great.

Friday night got a little more sleep, around 3 hours, but was pretty beat by Saturday night.  Took the dog for a walk and crashed.

We’re finally home and got some good sleep on Saturday night.  Ready to run today.

3 miles

September 7th, 2007

After 1 sleepless night in the hospital Tuesday, Carrie’s Mom offered to stay with her on Wednesday night to allow me to get some sleep.  I gladly accepted and got to sleep for the first time in a few days.  Thursday evening, I still had energy and after being at the hospital all day, headed home to feed and exercise the dog.  Got in a good 3 miles and still felt refreshed for another low sleep night last night.  Good run, but no time, just went for what felt good.

4 Miles and 2 Beautiful Babies

September 5th, 2007

Went for a four mile run on labor day around 7pm.  Nothing special.  Felt good, nice temps.

But it got even better.  Carrie woke me up at 1:30am Tues September 4, with her water having broken and she quickly progressed to full on labor.  At 5:11am 7lb 12oz. George Christian made was welcomed, and his little 5lb 5oz. sister Abigail Bess followed shortly at 5:31am.  Both babies were extremely alert and took to nursing quickly.

Carrie is a true champ.  It was the most extreme event I’ve ever seen.  With the help of our Doulas Karen and Erica and our fantastic midwife, Leeanna, Carrie met her goal of a natural delivery.  Wow, it was amazing and such a feat.  Check our family blog okjankowskis.blogspot.com for further details and pics to follow shortly.

Six miles, and Hanging Half a Hundred (plus 29)

September 1st, 2007

Decided to sleep in this am and not do the 6am run.  It has been relatively cool in the morning around here, somewhere in the lower 60’s, so I decided to wait a bit to run.  Went out around noon, after watching parts of the early college games.  Nothing too interesting, at least not being televised.

Decided to run by the stadium to check out the first tailgating of the season.  Good crowds, especially for a 6pm game, and especially for 85+ degrees, full sun and very little breeze.  Disappointed I didn’t see any of my buddies out though.  Ended up with 6 miles in 56.5 min.  Not too shabby.  Felt good enough to edge and mow afterward.

Got to watch the Sooners follow one of Barry Switzer’s favorite motivational speeches of hanging half a hundred on the opposing team.  Granted it was North Texas, but 79 is a lot of points to put on any Div IA school.  And it was a redshirt freshman starting at QB and a true freshman starting at running back.  Good nights for both.  Bradford set school records for passing yards by a QB in his first start, and had that on the first play of the second half.  Murray scored 5 rushing TDs. Very surprised, but glad to see the 2d string QB take all but one snap in the 3d Quarter, and 3d string QB take all snaps in the 4th Quarter.

Maybe it won’t be too bad of a year after all.  Big test next week when the U comes to town (Miami for you college football luddites).