What I am thinking about this morning?

A chilly start at 49 degrees, with a bit of sun and a light breeze. Bennie seemed energized enough by the cooler weather that he walked to the top of the hill. Which is something he has only done once or twice this summer.

Nothing much going on in the yard. Besides the 3-6 squirrels racing around, a few mourning doves turning over the sunflower seeds under the bird, errr squirrel feeder, 4 turkeys attempting to find something to eat, and a murder of crows cawing away in the trees.

Just a backyard teaming with life and possibilities for the day ahead.

I only need 3.0 miles to get in my weekly goal of thirty miles a week, so I will probably run easy up to the tar on Blake and back. Otherwise, I might surprise myself and simply take the day off, but I enjoy my running too much it seems, to be a bother being good, and will wait until Wednesday to take a rest day.

Looking ahead, I am going to start the new training plan tomorrow, but nothing about it is written in stone. I know that I need to start taking at least one day a week off, just to give the body a rest day from running. Even if I don’t actually rest, at least it will be a day when I am not supposed to run.

The other thing that I want to accomplish over the next week or two, is go through my pile of running shoes. I have to figure out which ones to keep and the ones that need to be gone. There is a certain amount of decision fatigue when it comes to choosing which running shoes to run in, so that after a while, I need to thin out the numbers a little. Plus, it doesn’t look like I have so many, if they aren’t lying around.

Which ones, am I looking at this time?

• Hoka Challenger 4 — The outsole is separating from the midsole, so they are gone
• Hoka Evo Rehi — Don’t fit correctly.
• 361 Meraki v1
• 361 Chaser v2
• Nike React Miler
• New Balance 1080 v10
• New Balance Beacon v2
• New Balance 1400 v6
• Saucony Ride 13
  

I think one or two might get above the cut, but the rest will probably go away. Although, I do have to find a pair of trail shoes at some point this Fall, to get ready for Winter running. Especially, since it doesn’t appear that I will be going back to the gym any time soon.

What Did I do?

It was a good day for a run, in the high ’50s, not much of a breeze and overcast — in other words just about perfect. I did what I planned earlier and ran out to the tar on Blake and back. No, I didn’t do any strides or do an extra mile or two. I ran easy the entire way and stopped when I was supposed to.

What’s wrong with me?

Hehehehe — nothing, but I knew that I needed to do an easy run and despite thoughts of doing more, I did what I needed to do, not what I thought about doing.

For a change.

I did take out the 361 Meraki v1 and within the first mile figured out the reason that I stopped running in them. The toe box is too pointy and causes my right foot to be very unhappy.

By the time I got done the run, I was more than ready to take them off. Even though I love the way they feel underfoot, the narrowness of the toe box, just doesn’t work for me. The answer for the 361 Meraki v1 was a definitive goodbye.

Other Stuff

We are cleaning brush along the roadside up to the neighbor’s house. Getting that upper body workout in, swinging around the weed whacker, using the brush cutters and then hauling the downed stuff into the woods a bit.

The dark time is coming (Winter), and I like to see what is in the woods as we walk along on those early mornings and late afternoon walks with Bennie. There has been too much rustling in the woods just behind the green wall and more than a few nervous dog barks/growls. Probably just squirrels, but I have seen certain predators and the signs that others are around too. Better to be able to see them than just having them watch us as we blithely walk on by.

Plus, this stuff won’t grow up into the power lines either. Yeah, I know the electric company will send people out to cut trees and branches every few years. However, this is one more thing I can do to stay active during this time of not wanting to go too far from the house.