ALEC: New shoes. Woo hoo!

So, it's been a while since I have blogged. I have had three runs since my last post, the last run being the greatest. I finally got new shoes...Asics Kayano 16 (yeah!!!). These are the most recommended Asics for neutral runners and I had been holding off on buying them because of the cost, as I am still waiting to kick a project off that will bring in some income. However, I had a Groupon to Lombardi's Sports, one of the oldest sports stores in SF, and it was expiring on August 13th. So, on August 12th, Kevin and I headed over to Lombardi's and I was planning to buy whatever shoes I could afford using my Groupon and limited amount of money. We walked in and to my happy, happy surprise, they were having a sale on quite a few shoes. One of them being the Asics Kayano 16. Originally $140, on sale for $90. With my Groupon of $30, I got them for $60 (plus tax). Was thrilled and very grateful to the Universe for the perfect timing of my purchase. It's times like these that I know things are running (no pun intended) in perfect order. Okay, enough about my shopping experience and on to the actual running part. I walked around in my new "shoe shoes" for two days to get used to the feel of them. Then this past Monday I was ready to take them out for their first road beating. I headed up Market, knowing that I wanted to cross over to Corona Heights at some point and run those hills. Running in the neighborhood is such a different feeling and challenge then running on the TM, track or park. We live at the bottom of major hills, so unless I run into the Castro area (which I prefer not to do,) the only other option I have is to run up hills. The first 10 minutes are always rough for me and I wonder why I am doing it and my mind starts to come up with excuses of why I should just stop and try another day...but I just "kept movin" (as little wife would say). So, I continue to trudge up the hills until I get to Clayton Street that will take me over to Corona Heights/Buena Vista. Clayton Street brings me some short downhill spurts, where I was able to turn on the speed and see how my feet and legs feel. They felt great! I was elated and now know how very, very, very, very, very important it is to have good shoes (not that my old shoes weren't good shoes, but they were 5 years old). I continued on to what I call "the rock" at Corona Heights Park. Then I paused Runkeeper and hiked up to the top and took some pics. As I was panning the view with my iPhone, I could see Buena Vista Park to the NW. I knew there were paths winding in and out of that park and that the view from the top of the GG Bridge is spectacular. So, I decided...why not! I was feeling good and was only 25 minutes into the run. So, I "zoomed" off to Buena Vista Park and of course that meant more hills. Once I got to the park there is a path that runs around the park at a slight incline. I was able to run that incline without much of a problem. After running up steep hills, anything less than that always feels easy. I was at the entrance of the park and, once again, there is a steep hill to get to the top. I started off and was hoping to run the whole way to the top. Well, I got about 60% there and needed to walk for a minute. Then off running again (or maybe jogging is the better term for all this blogging). At the top, as I knew there would be, there was a beautiful view of the GG Bridge with clouds hovering over the Marin Headlans. I took a minute to take it in and just breath. At this point, I was feeling the need to take a "potty break" (LOL) but of course there are no bathrooms around (can you believe that...a park with no bathrooms). I decided I better start heading back towards home as I knew I would need a bathroom sooner than later. I zig-zagged through the streets until I got to 17th Street and then had a nice, long downhill run to home. Boy, did I just make it in time. They better have porta potties at the HMB marathon, that's all I gotta say...LOL. After going to the bathroom, I felt like I could still run and looked down at Runkeeper and saw that I was at about 3.5 miles and I thought, "I should just keep going and at least hit 4 miles". So, the water bottle got refilled and I was out the door again. I felt good and continued to run around the neighborhood till I reached 4 miles (1 hour). Coincidentally, LW called at 55 minutes to talk about the marathon. Answering her call, I told her I had 5 more minutes of running and would call her back. Finished the 4 mile run feeling great. But the greatest part was being able to call LW back and share in my success. It's always much more fun to have someone to share the end of a determination with. Long story, short...love my new Asics, even if they aren't the exact color I wanted...LOL, but once again, the Universe worked that out perfectly. Run on, peeps, run on! Peace.