Running with Pixie Dust

Did any of you (the whole five of you that read this) watch the wedding?  

I spent much of my afternoon watching TLC specials about it... I want to grow up to be Kate Middleton.

I would love to tell you that I took fantastic pictures of myself before/during/after my run, pictures of the gorgeous scenery, and pictures of my Garmin in action for the very first time.  I would also love to tell you that I didn't just eat Reddi-Whip straight out of the can, but lying is a sin.

I did take pictures of my new shoes.  I don't think I ever wrote about my little running shoe saga, so first... a story.  About two weeks ago, I decided that it was time for some new running shoes.  My old ones (Mizuno Wave Inspire 6) had a lot of wear on them.  I had a coupon for $10 off a pair of athletic shoes at Dick's Sporting Goods, so I went to get either a replacement pair of the Inspire 6 if they had my size, or a pair of the new Inspire 7.  Now, I've never been super impressed with the customer service at Dick's - I usually find that the people who work there aren't particularly helpful, available, or even all that knowledgeable.  But it's a big chain store, and I have insanely high standards for customer service because of my Disney training, so I try to cut everybody some slack.  Plus, I like $10 off expensive shoes.

That being said, when I went to get the shoes, I had one of the worst experiences I have ever had.  First, I waited for a good long while in the shoe department for someone to help me, after my mom had gone to the cashier and said we needed help.  Another woman, also clearly wanting to try on some shoes, actually hunted someone down and he bitterly got the shoes for her, then started leaving the department again.  I yelled across the room for him, and he gruffly told me to wait a minute, and then came back over.  I understand bad days, I understand if you simply hate your job... but oh goodness, this boy was disgruntled.  I asked if he could bring me the Inspire 6 in a 9.5 (for my man feet), and before I could say anything about the Inspire 7, he shoved past me, grumbling something about "if we even have them."  Then he came back out a minute or two later with a shoe box, threw it onto a chair, and walked away.  Never said a word to me.  Luckily, I checked the box, because he'd pulled a 9 instead of a 9.5.  At that point, I was so annoyed that I decided to just leave.

As luck would have it, on my way out, a manager asked if we needed help.  I told him the whole story.  Don't get me wrong - I don't want to be a jerk and I don't want anybody to lose their job.  But I've worked retail and I'm sorry, but it's simply not that hard of a job.  I wasn't asking for a miracle, but acknowledging my presence is kind of important.  The manager was fabulous, and clearly wanted to keep my business, so he pulled a pair of the Inspire 7 in my size, then walked me up to the cashier and instructed him to give me 50% off.  I tried to say no, but he insisted.  Ha!

So... extremely long and tedious story short, I got a brand new pair of shoes for half off just for whining. I knew it would eventually get me somewhere in life.

What's funny is that immediately after taking these pictures, I decided not to break in the new shoes.  I knew it was going to be a tough run (it was) and thought it would be better to give myself a break.  But I think my body sensed that there were new shoes that I wasn't using because it rebelled and gave me shin splints.  Actually, all sorts of nonsense was going on with my legs today - I did get shin splints, which I very rarely deal with, plus both knees were kind of sore and stiff, and my left hamstring got tweaky about halfway through.  I'm not too worried though, just chalking it up to taking a week off, and going on a trail walk with my mom yesterday and not stretching after... oops.  Plus, the weather was weird.  It's actually snowing now.  How I have lived in this state so long I will never know.

But I was so excited to take the new Garmin out for a spin!  I really liked it and now that I've had a chance to play around with the software and Garmin Connect online, I think it's going to be a great tool for me to use when I finish Couch to 5K and start my half marathon training.  I'm so excited to really get going!  No wonder all the training plans say to take it slow... it's way too easy to get excited and go farther than you can at first.  

In other news, and I know this will shock everyone... I went shopping today.  I couldn't resist.  Two brand new Nordstrom Racks opened up yesterday and I had to check one of them out.  I tried on the most adorable dress ever...

Please keep all discussion of my linebacker calves to a minimum.

I didn't end up buying it because it was a wee bit shorter than I really feel comfortable in, and though it was very cute and very well priced, I really have no use for it.  I did buy a couple things, though... soon I will have to have a little photoshoot of all the awesome stuff I've been getting lately.  Because my narcissism really hasn't gone far enough yet.

Also, I had my second post-op appointment with the oral surgeon this morning, and am thrilled to report that it was painless!  I still have the clove-y dressings until Wednesday, but after that, I should be good to go.  Too bad though... it means no excuse to go to the fabulous mall right across the street...