Last night I fell asleep at 7 o'clock on the couch. I woke up at 8:30 to make a phone call to Drew, get myself a little something to eat, watch a little TV and go right back to sleep. I had set my alarm in order to get up and go running with the Terriers this morning, but when the alarm went off, I was still exhausted. I will say that the temperature also played a role in my decision. It was only 50 degrees outside! So far, this has been the rainiest and coldest June on record for New York City. I'm a little disappointed to be living through this record-breaking time. I much prefer it when those sorts of records were set a hundred years ago!
I decided that the sleep was more important at this point and that I would get a run in after work. Today at lunch I headed over to the sporting goods store in order to buy myself some new goggles. I left my old goggles at swim practice on Sunday, so I was really bummed that I had to get new ones. I think that I got the same kind that I had before, but I won't find out until Thursday when I meet Laura for a swim. I also had some things that I needed to get at the drugstore, so I stopped there on my way back to work. Unfortunately, when I stop at the drugstore at lunchtime without eating lunch first, I'm quite tempted by those $0.99 bags of chips. I bought a bag of Cheetos and had a couple on my way back to the office.
The bad part wasn't that I only had a few at lunch. It was that I finished eating the bag around 4:30 this afternoon. I knew that they would be a bad pre-running snack. It's just that when faced with the choice between Cheetos or the giant bag of almonds at my desk, the Cheetos sounded a lot better. So, after work, instead of heading straight home to go out for my run (because I needed to digest a little bit), I did some window shopping and then went to the grocery store so that I could make dinner and also have some better snacks at work!
By the time I got home, it was already 7. I had to get myself together rather quickly and head out to the park in order to get a run in before it got dark. Luckily Laura had given me a pair of speed laces that she had so that I could try them out so it was much faster getting ready than it usually is. I mean, I probably saved 30 seconds by not tying my shoes! I also thought I'd save myself some time by only taking the key to the actual door to my apartment, not the door that leads from the outside into the foyer. But more about that later.
I walked up to the park and was actually quite anxious to start running since it was a little bit on the cool side in just shorts and a t-shirt. I was planning on doing the same 3.2 mile loop I had done last week to see if my time would improve at all. However, once I got past the 72nd Street turn-off and up to the Boathouse, I realized that I just wasn't in the mood. I turned around and went through the 72nd Street cross-over and headed home. I ran 2.06 miles in 20:11. Turns out that those speed laces made me just a little bit faster -- 9:48 pace!
After my abbreviated run, I headed home as usual. I got to the front door of my apartment building, put the key in and nothing happened. The key wouldn't turn in the lock. Now, remember that I said I had only taken the key to my apartment door and not the key to the front door? Well, that used to be just fine. It was a little secret that the key to my apartment also worked in the front door of the building. I guess they must have changed something because nothing turned. I stood there for about 5 minutes trying to see if I was wrong or if maybe I should turn the key the other way. I was staring at the buzzer buttons trying to decide who in the building I could buzz to let me in. Luckily, right as I was about to press a button, my across-the-hall neighbor came and let me into the building! Lesson learned! Must take both keys from now on!
Now, as for the laces themselves. Laura had told me that she didn't like them because they were too tight. I think I wasn't a huge fan because I thought that they were a bit short. With my regular shoe laces, I was able to lace up through all the holes in my shoes, even the ones at the top that no one ever uses. I like to use those because I think that it makes the shoes feel more secure. When I was running today, I did feel like my ankle was a little loose and could roll around pretty easily, which made me slightly nervous.
The thing about these laces is that they're pretty much at the end when they're loose. When I tighten them up, there is still a lot of give. I think if I stick them through at least one more hole going up the shoe, it'll be a lot better. I'm not going to give up on them yet, but I'm also not 100% sold on them.
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I have been using Yankz for a little over a month now. It took me a while, but I think I've finally got them set perfectly. For awhile I had them too tight and they made my feet fall asleep! Not good for long runs. It hasn't happened recently though, so I think they're good. I also use the top hole, someone taught me a trick to lacing them, which makes the laces really pull the back of the shoe in tight. That's a terrible description, but perhaps I'll blog about it sometime and take a pic of my shoes.
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