A beautiful Maine spring is here. :)

Hey blog world. I’m coming to you from the beautiful outdoors, where Maine is being its best right now. It was a miserable week — rain and below 50 just about every day — but Sunday has shown itself to be truly spectacular.

The weekend started with a 12-mile run on Saturday morning in Lewiston. I did 4 miles to Jen’s house, she ran 4 miles back with me, and then she took my car and I met her at her house again. The whole thing felt fluid and easy and the weather was just about perfect for running, albeit a little damp.

I’ve been feeling this twinge on the side of my knee the past week and I knew it was time for new shoes. Tony and I got in the car and headed to the Nike Factory Store in Freeport in the afternoon.

There’s nothing like stepping into a new pair of the exact same shoes you own to realize how completely worn down your shoes get after a couple hundred miles. I’ve been running with the Nike LunarGlide 3s and I was … OK happy with them. I was really happy with them for the first few weeks. But after awhile … they come with a lot more cushioning than the shoes I was used to (GT 2150s) and even though they were a bit ligher, it still felt like a heavy shoe. Like my foot didn’t have a lot of communication with the ground.

But at the same time, after you wear a shoe too long, the air gets all compressed out of the soles and it feels like you’re running on these thick hard pads. And they’re worn unevenly because of how a person runs. So its not like running longer on these shoes makes that problem go away, you know?

So I did something you’re really not supposed to do 2 weeks before a huge race:   buy a different pair of shoes. I ended up —

Whoah. A butterfly just landed on my flip flop! Of course, when I turned the computer around to take a picture, it flew off. Drat!

— going with the LunarGlide 2s, which are the generation before the shoes I had before. They have a lower sole profile than the 3s do, but I can’t honestly tell if they are any lighter.

So it was a gamble but, when I explained what I wanted to the sales staff and they recommended this shoe to me, there was only one more pair in stock and it was in my size. It was meant to be.

In other news —

I think one of the reasons I’ve been feeling so drained lately is because my diet has been poor. Mostly things made from white flour and cheese. Yes, I know how bad this if for you but it’s a cycle. I feel too drained to make dinner after coming home late from a run so I eat fast (nutritionally poor) dinner and then stay up late because I ate dinner late so I don’t get up early for a run and I start the cycle all over again.

Sound familiar?

I made a list and went grocery shopping this morning. Then I spent about 2 hours making soup, cutting up vegetables for stir frys, and then making a half-dozen rice and bean burritos to freeze later. Dinner is made (or just about made) for the next 4 days. Every dinner is at least 50 percent vegetables and 100-percent grains.

I had the energy to do it because its taper time. I love taper time. 🙂 14 days until the marathon.

Afterwards while Tony was cleaning out the garage I looked longingly at my bike. I hadn’t taken it out once this year. Today is a beautiful day. So she and I got to know each other again. It surprised me how easy it was to remember to shift gears, to hold myself in the saddle. I think we’re going to have a good summer together.

 

Pattie Reaves

About Pattie Reaves

I'm a new mom and renegade fitness blogger at After the Couch. I live in Brewer with my husband, Tony, our daughter Felicity, and our two pugs, Georgia and Scoop.