Monday

Thank God the foot is in pretty good shape. The day was very mellow. I ran one mile. Count it. And I chased a 7 year-old up and down steps barefoot, diving into piles of pillows. The early part of the day was tough, but the foot loosened-up. Last night I iced and kept it raised a ton.

Today I went to the local running store that has a huge clearance dept., and bought 2 pairs of "once worn" cushiony shoes for a lot less (Asics cumulus and Brooks glycerin), ones that I have used and like. There are a lot of roads around here, and I run on them. Can't afford to get hurt like that.

So the run turned-out to be a really good "test." Got me to get right in the shoe department. I felt fast for a fat guy. Just need to keep the weeks going like this last one, refine, tweak, improvise and let the fitness rise.

One of my new favorite workouts on the treadmill is to hit about a 3% grade and run like it's flat, for me a 8ish min pace. This works especially well after a nice solid warm-up with even some steeper stuff so the 3% feels totally flat. I'd like to try to get this little run faster and faster, could even go 4% and just go.

Granted the 6-10% stuff is healthy, but I'm having fun getting my MAF and AeT pace to a place where running can be really fun. Throw-in some slight grades and get after it, nice and smooth.

I've had some good beer recently. The stand-outs are the usual suspects: Pliny, Firestone Walker Double Jack, and Hop Stoopid. But my wife did get me a couple of new ones. She splurged and bought an Allagash 4 Ale. What the hell does the number 4 mean? From BA: "A one-of-a-kind ale crafted from four malts, four varieties of hops, four natural sugars, and fermented four times with four different yeast strains." Let's cut to the chase and say the wife and I liked this beer. It has a freakin cork. It's got all the nice subtle nuances of a Belgian style ale, with it's apricots, or apple syrup and other fruitiness; the wife sensed coffee and of course all hale the yeast. It was very balanced, which is pretty clear from the description above. Malts and hops x 4. Sophisticated and expensive. Try it; I'm sure you'll like it.

She also bought me a more affordable Enlightened Black Ale. This was definitely malty and coffee and creamy, but light. I enjoyed it. I think I saw it for $2.99 at Henry's. Good buy.

This week looks like recovery (unfortunately). I will target the quality work-outs: hills, and some longer efforts.