Shoes, Glorious Shoes!

After trying on TWELVE different types of shoes (and having the guy watch me run in all of them), I finally came home with the Brooks Glycerin. I know, I know - that was the shoe I should have gotten last time instead of the Asics so I could have walked in and out in five minutes. But the hour spent was worth it. I began to really be able to feel the difference in the amount of cushion, support bubbles, shaping, etc. I feel confident I got the exact right shoe for me this time.

We immediately headed over to the Bolin Creek Trail to test them out! The plan called for a 30 minute run with 4 x 20 second sprints with 1:40 Rest Intervals. I felt great. My knee did get a tiny bit twingey but I was able to stretch it out as I ran. I had some juice left at the end so sprinted to our "finish line" (and then walked for some cool down.) It was a fantastic run.
This, by the way, is a picture of our finish line. Our running path goes right by a community rose garden. Isn't it beautiful? On the other side of the hill is the playground (which can be seen in the second picture). Often there are families out and about and toddlers squealing with delight as they roll down that hill. I was going to take a picture of my favorite roses - the sterling silver tea roses which smell so sweet - but the blooms were all gone. Sorry not to be able to share those with you but it was hard to stay sad as there were literally hundreds of other blossoms.

You may have noticed that flowers have a bizarrely motivational effect on me. I'm not a gardener at all, but I completely have flowers on the brain. The first thing I thought when I tried on the Brooks shoes was, "That is the exact shade of my sister's Gerber daisies. My shoes look like flowers." (I probably spent all that time trying on other shoes to mask the fact that I was buying shoes based on their resemblance to pretty daisies!) Silly or not, I love my new shoes. Let's hear it for Flower Power!