Making adjustments

It's amazing but I am not sure what "it" is. A month ago I could barely slog around the town on a long run without Galloway-ing it every mile or two. The summer heat was at full throttle. I took a long run weekend off the week before last.

So this past Sunday I went out and did 13 miles without any fuss and at a respectable pace, just over 10s; without loitering around the water stops waiting for a ride to come along. I was brief in my respites. I was anxious to get back on the road and go.

Yesterday the track was busy and I went over to do 8x400s. I think I set a new PR on my second repeat thanks to two girls who were also doing repeats. They were a little ahead of me and then slowed down to a jog across their finish line (not mine) so when I went past in my third hundred meters I had to look good, right? I kicked it all the way to a 1:35 400. I love hormonal inspiration.

Commerce. I was the kindly recipient of an email offering me to sample some running gear. I agreed and soon received a box with two sets of insoles in my size. I better get the products right here ... Sof Sole's Athlete Performance Insole (MSRP $19.99) and Adapt Performance Footbed (MSRP $29.99).

Being new to the concept of using an off-the-wall-hook insole took some mental model breaking on my part. At first I thought I should just slip them into my shoes. Which I did. How stupid. Of course! I have to take the old insole out. Doh!

I put the Athlete insoles into my oldest pair of still serviceable Asics (Evolutions). I went for an easy four mile jaunt and found that they fit in the shoe well. No problems with too little here and too much there. The cushioning was a dramatic improvement over the original 480 mile-worn insoles. No kidding? I appreciated that. My only concern that I will have to check again is that I had a sense of increased heat or hot-spotting under my feet towards the end. It could have been that they don't breathe quite like standard shoe insoles because they're a petroleum product. The gel heel and forefoot "protection" were comfortable without making my run too loose. Further testing awaits.

The Adapt requires some oven cooking and foot-forming action. I believe I must notify the fire marshall before attempting that but stay tuned.

Travel. My big plans to see Jeanne and Susie in Washington next weekend seem to have fizzled. They apparently have lives that have them somewhere else on the planet. As I told them: I'll just sulk in my room.