Super Saturday: This Week Wrap-Up

Hey everyone!! I am so glad Blogger is back up and running! The *stutter* that happened did give me a chance to catch up on everyone's blogs (thank you Google Reader!!) and I'm so inspired by everyone! There are so many people running 5k, 10k, half- and full marathons, I just love hearing about everyone's experiences--I can't wait to join the ranks and talk about my own races (soon, very soon). Actually, in exactly 2 weeks I will be running my first 5k (oh my goodness, is it really only two weeks?) I feel like I am nowhere near being ready to run 3.1 miles--but I digress.

So I had been talking about going to get a gait analysis, thinking that I would do that after my 5k, since I will be in the nearest city that has a specialty running store, but the planets aligned (ok, not really like that, I ended up volunteering to do some extra work) and I drove to Huntington WV on Thursday. Well, I volunteered for the extra work (driving a complete stranger out of state) after looking up running stores in Huntington and finding....TAADAAAA!!!!!! There is a store called Roberts Running and Walking Store right downtown!!

I went to the store initially to get a gait analysis and a foam roller, since I've been having a lot of tightness in my right hamstring, and stretching just wasn't cutting it....I walked in, and the employees were soooo nice! The guy that helped me asked if I planned on buying shoes or just having the analysis. I told him that if I was already wearing the correct shoes, that I would not buy more. We went from there....He watched me walk back and forth in the store (I had to take off my obnoxious socks because they were distracting him, hahaha) and said that my feet roll in when I walk. He also said that my left foot is bigger than my right foot (for real, yo, I've never been really normal...) He brought out some shoes and let me jog around the store and the parking lot to decide which ones felt the best. HOLY COW! I had no idea how different each shoe was! And I finally settled on a sweet little pair of shoes that feel like I'm running on a little piece of heaven!
HELLO LOVELIES!

They are so comfortable! So I was looking at the foam roller, and decided that I should probably run in the right shoes and see if that helps with the hammies before buying one. The guys at the store were so cool, they gave me a discount since I drove 2 hours to get there, and said that they would be more than happy to ship anything to me that I wanted to buy later on down the road!!! Overall a very successful mission.
On the way home, I saw a roadside farm stand and ended up buying $20 worth of the most amazing tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and cantaloupe. And drove home grinning like a lunatic....Got home, and found a package had been delivered--the giveaway that I had won from Steph at RUNON!

That's the coolest! Now I get to shop online at Forever21 while eating blended skittles and peach rings! I'm not a chocolate person (give me french fries any day!) so I donated that to a friend "in need" (of a chocolate fix, lol)!!!
So in summary, Thursday was totally freaking awesome!!! I got up Friday and ran 2.25 miles on the local bike path, mostly running with only a little walking, which is better than I have been doing! My legs felt different, and ache in places they haven't ached before (like the fronts of my hips), probably from running correctly and using the right muscles, so I'll be using Julia's stretching advice (she is just fabulous--if you don't already follow her, you so should!!!) and getting on track!!!
I am working today 13 hours, and tomorrow 10 hours (both on-call), then taking this cutie-pie back to the vet Monday morning:

She had a cancerous tumor removed a few weeks ago, and now the incision site is swollen again. So back to the vet we will go! (And then I'll go run, after I know that everything is okay then I can fall apart--I hate when my babies get sick!)

Well, duty calls, I'm off to the jail! For work, not for fun, hahaha! Have a great rest of the weekend!

--Marge