Running with Yax

I promised myself I wasn't going to do this to my bank account for a few more weeks, but I have. And I don't regret it. I bought a new pair of running shoes.

The rule of thumb is that you should replace running shoes every 6 to 8 months, or every 1000 km.

My old shoes are about two years old now, and when I took them to the Running Room guy, he said that, while they'd be good for puttering or walking about in, they were not suitable for running. He then showed me the side of my shoe, down by the bottom, where some creases were showing. Apparently, there is foam, like an Aero bar, in there, and the creases indicate that the foam is no longer springing back as it should. How educational!

So I broke down and got a new pair of shoes. Lovely Brooks shoes, the first ones on that I tried, and they're so comfortable. I don't even need to put my Superfeet insoles in them!

I also got a pair of Yaktrax ice-grippers. My hesitation in buying them lay in whether they would grip the slush that coats the sidewalks as well as snow and ice, but the salesguy assured me it wouldn't be a problem.

I would like to take a moment to mention - the Running Room sales people, and so far all running-equipment salespeople, are priceless. I was asking all sorts of newbie questions: what's a clinic like? It's more than one lesson for $75? Do you have any coming up for the 10K? and the guy answered them all patiently and thoroughly. He also gave me times when he would be less busy, and thusly be more able to answer any more questions I had.

Then, equipped with these things (and a price around $200! yikes!), I got home and went out immediately for a run.

I layered up - old long-johns underneath my lined running pants on bottom, a skin layer, long-johns top, my hooded top, and my wind-breaker on top. I was toasty as a marshmallow, lemme tell ya, but not too toasty. For this weather, it was great! I was doing one minute walk, two minutes run, rinse and repeat, and I can really say I felt great doing it. A couple of times at the end of the runs, I felt like continuing, and a couple of times, I felt like a walk was necessary, but it felt great!

The Yaktrax were a good addition - while they didn't keep me from slipping on every surface, they did a good job with the slush. The one problem was when they got bogged up with snow. Stomping on my heel did the trick to loosen the snow.

Anyways, I have a guest coming over for dinner (a healthy baked salmon with wild rice and broccoli with a not-as-healthy cheese sauce), and I've got tons of cleaning to do.

Later, what motivates me, and others.