New Sneakers

I finally have new sneakers!  After two failed attempts to order some extremely cheap ones from Dick's Sporting Goods only to be disappointed days later when I found out they were unable to fulfill the order, I finally just went to the store and picked up the last pair of Brooks Pure Cadence2 sneakers they had.  Luckily it was a size 11.  Yep.  I have big feet.  Well only when it comes to sneakers.  I take between a 9 and a 10 for everything else.  However, what I've read online has said you should buy bigger for running sneakers to help prevent black toenails.  I am willing to have surfboard feet in an effort to save my nails.

I also ordered a pair of mens Mizuno Wave Rider 16 from another place.

I got them in a mens size 9.  The sneakers that I've been wearing, men's Brooks Pure Cadence, were a size 8.5.  They seemed almost big enough but since I have a black nail right now (gross, I know) I wanted to go a half size up.  I tried them on the treadmill today (just in case they were uncomfortable) and they were GREAT!  I can't wait to try the Brooks on the treadmill.

I've been doing a lot of biking lately.  On mornings I have off, I've been doing between 16 and 21 miles on the bike.  It's been a lot of fun.  I don't think I'll ever get used to a bike seat, though.  Why can't they be more comfortable??  I think the cross training is really helping me a lot.  I feel better on the days that I run.  I've also been doing some intervals on the treadmill on Mondays (or when it rains).  I've been moving the running intervals up a tiny bit faster each time I do it.  It has been feeling pretty good. 

Last week I was on a staycation.  We did a couple short bike rides (just over 6 miles each time) and then a lot of manual labor dealing with a clogged storm drain on the back porch.  I know why plumbers charge so much.  If I had to snake a storm drain for someone else, I'd charge 10,000 an hour.  It was hard work.  Each section of steel coil was 8 feet long and weighed a ton.  You had to hook them together and take them apart and pretty much needed a minimum of 3 hands to do it.  Then we'd periodically pull all the coil out of the drain and I'd have to run it up the yard to get it out of the water (we live on a big creek).  It was crazy.  We snaked 120 feet of this crazy coil.  I was so glad when it was over but also pretty bummed because even though we pulled out a lot of roots, I don't know for sure if the problem is fixed.  We may have to dig up right behind the back porch to see what is going on.  I really don't like disorder and disarray, so I'm not looking forward to a muddy patch in the middle of the yard.  We'll see what happens. 

Achievement Unlocked: New sneakers