How's it going?

OK since you asked:

The new shoes might just be amazing. I ran outside in them (in the chilly rain, ugh) today for the first time. My left foot LOVES them. My left knee is mostly happy. My right foot wonders if there's something a little weird with the outer edge, but is pretty content. My right knee said "hello, I'm here" once, but then quieted right down again. This is the first pair of shoes I've had since I started getting serious about running that felt good right out of the box and hasn't required me to fiddle with inserts and insoles to make them fit. Not stopping to tighten or loosen. No blisters. No feeling of swimming in a sea of too-large-ness. Just smooth support - a platform to run on. Perfect. Just goes to show: it all depends on your own particular foot. (As I'd mentioned before, this model of New Balance has horrible reviews on Road Runner Sports. I wonder if that means they're more likely to be discontinued and I should snap more pairs up quick! The Asics I'd been running with will go straight to the garbage after one more test run in these. And the Saucony Hurricanes that I liked but lost (really!) and replaced with the Asic (because the store I went to in the mall didn't have the Sauconys) will lose their hallowed place in my memory as The Best Shoes for Me. Because these are way, way better! (Even though RRS says I need "Stability Plus" and these are just "stability." I suspect that just means they are lighter with less cushioning, and I seem to like that better!

My food diary is revealing fascinating things, things that should be glaringly obvious but weren't until I made myself write it all down. If food is there, I'll eat it. I have ZERO control around tempting foods. If I bring my food to work, and don't go out, I'm great. But if I go to the bakery across the street for coffee, I CAN'T STOP MYSELF from getting a scone too. If I'm at an event where brownies are being served, I WILL eat a brownie. Or two. And some cucumber sandwiches even though I already had dinner. If I'm home for a day taking care of two sick children (such as today), I'll eat a whole loaf of French bread that's out on the counter, instead of the delicious salad veggies that are in the fridge, in the drawer. I am a creature of impulse. Sometimes I can control this, but right now, it seems, not. Danger zones: the hour when I'm making dinner, and the hour afterward when I'm cleaning up. Once I go upstairs to put the kids to bed, I won't go eat more - I'm not a night eater. But between 5 and 8pm I can eat enough calories to last a whole day -- or two. (Even if I've eaten very well all day long, and by well I mean plenty of food including protein and fat - ie I should not be that hungry and usually I'm not - I just eat.)

Today's run was the first workout since Saturday. Sunday I was exhausted and rested. Monday I was still sore and achy, plus it's a really hard day to get in a workout. Tuesday was supposed to be a run day - I think it was POURING all day. Wednesday I should hae gone swimming but didn't and the rest of the day was out of the question. (One reason why: my mother in law showed for a visit when I thought she was coming NEXT Wednesday! She waited at the train station for HOURS before we could get her!) Thursday - was with her most of the day, then just racing so hard to catch up at work from all the lost time that a mid-day run was not an option. And that gets me to today - home all day with two extremely needy and demanding little divas. At one point I took a business call and went into my office, and they, who have recently discovered how fun it is to use the telephone, used my cellphone to call my husband and tell him they were bored. Little buggers - I'd been their entertainment all day long! But bless his heart, he came home early (with wine, hooray!), which let me go out for a run before it got dark! I have GOT to toughen up about running in the rain (or get a jacket for running in the rain.) I almost bailed because it was drizzling, and got quite a chill when I got home. But did my 4:1, for 32 minutes plus cooldown walk. (A few of the 4's were really 2's - what's weird is, my heart rate can come down to under 130 but I still feel like I can't catch my breath! I need to learn more about using my heart rate effectively. Above 150 and I just can't sustain it, but I know lots of athletes who can run forever in the 160's. How?)