Summer (Run Streak Days #87-91)

Streak has been going well, although I've fallen off the daily blog. I would like to start that up again, but we'll see. Any day now I'll be going into fall mode and back into a regular posting habit of just occasional stories.

Got out for a five mile hike today, which was not too bad. I've been in love with Rhode Island's North-South Trail for a couple of years now, and had planned to hike the Northwest Corner section this morning with a friend. Unfortunately, we navigated to the wrong trail head and didn't have time to redirect. Ended up hiking the Run With the Beavers course route, which is still a great hike and one of my favorite parts of the NST. We're talking about planning hikes for each section next year -- one a month. Each section is about 20 miles, so it would be a full day of hiking for us, but could be a really good step to my goal of thru-hiking the whole trail. Hell, I'd like to run the trail. One of these days.

My wife and I did a subscription box thing to get some new running gear. I don't advertise stuff on here as it isn't that kind of blog, but I wanted to make a couple of notes about it. One: was this ever helpful in learning some new brands of gear. Two: I really need to buy more gear more often. I tend to run shorts and singlets into the ground -- until they're literally falling apart on my body. No reason for that. I spend an average of seven hours on the road a week, I should be doing it in more comfortable gear. Three: I really should be more confident. They sent me a pair of 2" shorts, which normally I would never think to even try on. No harm, no foul, with a box like this because you can send stuff back. But I put them on and I'm absolutely in love with them, so I'm planning to keep them. Should be really nice on some of the shorter runs, but we'll see. I really never though I'd love a pair of shorts this short.

Toddler is easing back into daycare. Hit the 'terrible twos' really, really hard a couple of days ago. Refusing to listen to directions, whining, to top it off she shoved another kid. We had a big talk with her about all of it, and set out some more consistent expectations. The next day was a lot better, but I'm not foolish -- I know there will be good days and bad. That's part of learning, and part of parenting is rolling with that and supporting them. She's a great kid, and her communication skills are very advanced -- probably why it took her six months to hit this phase. We'll get through it.

Kiddo will also be running her first race (a kids race) held for fun before a local 5k. She's excited, and I'm excited to ring the cowbell for her the way she does for me at my races. Great kid. She says she wants to go running with me when she's bigger, too, so I love that. I didn't anticipate how difficult it would be to get a workout in with a toddler who asks me not to leave, but I also know that it's an important thing for her to have a dad who is in shape, and dedicated to living as long as possible. I mean also with a sense of adventure.

Marathon training is going well -- long runs have been feeling good, and I've been experimenting (with positive results) with my nutrition strategy. I've also been doing a lot more core and strength work (twice a week, one of those times with a trainer.) My weight hasn't changed too much, but I'm more focused on feeling the strength while I'm moving. So that's good. Unfortunately, breaking in my new shoes has been rough so my feet are all chewed up.

I'm planning an interval workout for tonight, too. Which I'm like half dreading and half excited for. It is tough to push super hard, especially after a couple of build weeks that had some tough runs in them.  I just need to be careful to not cut my feet up anymore so they heal up in time for my next long run.