Breakin' In the Shoes

Yesterday afternoon I jumped on the treadmill (or as Steve maligns it, the suckmill). Instead of running for time, which I had been doing last month in the taking-it-easy department, I ran for distance. I warmed up by walking and jogging 1.0, then running 2.0 at 6.3 mph, which included 0.25 at 7 mph, 0.25 at 6.1 and 5%, and 0.25 at 7-7.5, followed by 0.5 cool-down for a total of 4.0 miles in my new shoes. Remember when you had to break shoes in? I'm not sure what sort of evil materials they're using these days, but they're good almost out of the box.

For the week beginning January 1, it's time for a weekly mileage wrap-up. Thursday and Sunday totaled 7.5 miles for the week, month and year. That was easy!

Today I added a ton of races to my training calendar. (For those of you interested enough to check it out, I wrapped up the 2008 stats and started a new page for 2009.) These races are all on the Triple Cities Runners Club calendar for this year or last year. Of course I won't run all of them, but I'm making a New Year's Resolution to run with my club members more than a couple of times. That's why I joined last year - to run with people - and I went to one meeting, and said Hi to a few members, although not on runs.

At the risk of turning this into a run-on post, there's an interesting column in the February Runner's World about runners waving, of course to each other, but with more emphasis on non-wavers. I will tell both of my readers right now that I am a waver. Not a goofy spaz who wants to give you a big, sweaty hug, but just a guy who acknowledges the existence of his fellow human beings with a quick look in the eye and either a slightly upraised hand or a nod of the head. In this area, most people I've come across are strict non-wavers. As responses go, I get an even mix of nothing (usually other runners) and what the hell is that guy doing running on the sidewalk, in my neighborhood, during MY walk? If a person can look confused, disgusted and irritated at the same time, that's Binghamton pedestrians for you. Readers, feel free to explain. Local readers and TCRC members, what gives??