Hey, friends!
I completely forgot to post a recap of our race from two weekends ago. Brian and I signed up for the local YMCA’s five mile Frostbite run on December 1st. This was Brian’s longest race so far…
For a variety of reasons (including last year, shooting the beautiful, snowy New York wedding of Devon and Christy), I haven’t run this race before. It was like a who’s who of running in Stevens Point and Plover. 🙂 I literally saw all my local running friends- from my sole sisters…
…to the local fast guys from Wednesday night’s group, to my favorite beer bottle (George!).
We walked and ran the mile to the start as a warm-up. It was pretty chilly, but I wasn’t sure what the parking situation would be like, and it sounded like a good idea at the time.
The first mile was slow and casual, with a 10:30ish split. I was basically along to cheer for Brian and make sure he had a great time. We weren’t out to run our fastest race, but we wanted to enjoy ourselves. I tried to keep up the conversation, which included a few racing tips that I’ve picked up along the way. It was fun to share my knowledge! With each mile, we picked up the pace, and we finished strong… crossing the finish in 48:46 and 48:48. I cheered Brian on to a finish ahead of me. I was beaming with pride at my runner husband!
After the race, we ran over to Emy J’s for a delicious (and warm!) lunch, then walked/ran home. It brought our daily total to just over 7 miles, which was a new record for B. I was hoping that he wouldn’t be sore afterward, so we stretched a lot, and he was just fine.
We had just enough time to shower before heading out to Appleton to meet with another beautiful couple. We now have one more wedding on the books for 2014! It’s truly amazing how fast our schedule books up. We’re blessed!
Brian helped me put together a running wall in our bedroom. He built me the medal rack and shelf a while ago, but it was all alone on the wall, and it certainly wasn’t inspirational! I surrounded it with photos of races, running friends, and people involved with Running for Rachael.
Doesn’t it look great? Speaking of looking great, I had the opportunity to do some promo shots for my friend, Danny. He was in town to play a concert with the symphony, and asked me to do some new photos for him. We ran together once, and I embarrassed myself by going so slowly and trying not to throw up my chia seeds. Yeah. Anyway, he has since forgiven my running sins, and we spent an hour laughing together and playing outside.
What a talented stud. Seriously. If you want his music to melt your heart and blow your mind, you can find his stuff here.
On to my Mizuno problem…
I’ve worn men’s running shoes since I started wearing running shoes. In fact, I went to a running store with my friend, Bill, was fitted for Wave Alchemys, and I’ve never turned back. I’ve had those shoes in red, yellow, orange, and every combination of those three. I have them in outdoor and indoor pairs at any given time, and I’ve never even looked at another pair… Until I saw the women’s Wave Alchemys. I never realized I could wear shoes that were pink, or teal, or silver, or ::gasp:: purple!! I picked out a pair that fit, and wore them diligently for 250 miles. Until my body started hurting, and I noticed that they are completely worn down.
After only 250 miles! I was super bummed. I wrote the company, providing photos of these shoes, and of my last pair of men’s shoes (which were retired at 500 miles and didn’t look nearly as bad as those darn pink ones!). I was hoping they would just say that I got a defective pair, and I could still wear cute shoes made for women. I know I have huge feet, size 10 wide… so I tried to be thankful for all the wonderful things that I can do with my big feet, while I waited anxiously by the computer for their response. The official running shoe experts said that because of my wide feet, I need to use the men’s shoes to ensure that there is a wide enough base to support my supination problem. So, now what? I guess I have to go back to men’s shoes. The other option is to go shoe shopping from scratch, and find a new company or new style. I do love those men’s shoes, but these shoes are to expensive to mess around with, and my health, a.k.a. staying injury-free, is even more important.
Any thoughts from my seasoned runner friends?
I’ll leave you with a photo that pretty much sums up my life lately…
Lots of office time, photo editing, and phone conversations with clients. I love my job!
Miles this year: 642.5
artist & athlete | a glimpse into real life, Heidi style 