Saturday, January 28, 2012

A Trip To The Running Store And A Few Days In Pictures

Finally made it to Running Fit to spend the Christmas gift card. 


Attacked the clearance rack, of course, grabbed some half-off merchandise, some cold weather running gear, and chatted with sales folks about upcoming races including the Maritan Marathon.



I recently bought a pair of Nike Pegasus 28 and am in Love.  I never thought I'd run in Nike, didn't seem right for some reason. Nike is the brand of commercialism, not for semi-serious runners.  But the salesman, who had fast times in his aura says "I run in Nike," and then nodded to his friend saying "and so does he", (and maybe his little dog Toto too.)  So, I bought the neon green and black at first..


But then yesterday all they had was these:


So I ordered the black pair. Always bet on black.


My thoughts on running shoes are -  it shouldn't just feel good when you try them on, there should be some kind of spark, some flames that burst in your heart when you take those first steps with them on your feet... "Yeah, yeah! this is it, this is it!"  There should be a near love at first feel.  I had that with these Nikes

I was delighted  to finally find some calf sleeves in my size! My calfs (cankles) measure 11 inches circumference, so had to get a lady's size. (no shame in my game). And I checked out the book rack, of course, and saw three copies of The Jade Rabbit nestled nicely on the shelf, just begging to be taken home.







In other news, I had to decide this week if I was going to run New York as planned or go west 4 hours to Chicago.  Chicago registration begins February 1st, and I'd bet a year of paychecks they sell out in record time with marathon popularity continuing to grow and big city marathons like Boston harder to qualify for.  Chicago is a much easier logistically, would save me some bucks, but I have never done New York, you dont' take nothing with you but your soul, and it certainly seems more majestic.

So, I had a serious talk with my sponsoring team, who fully supported me doing New York.  (I am sponsored by team "Dear Wife and Two Daughters")

I will be running for  Covenant House of Michigan (My dad is the Detroit area Board Chair-person) In fact, if you know the plot of The Jade Rabbit, Covenant House is the type of program the main character Janice keeps urging Sharleen to get involved in rather than be homeless.  The actual shelter that Janice works at, for younger youth, is based on  Counterpoint Runaway Shelter in Inkster, Michigan.

Still, if I get a lottery entry, the fund raising expectations are much more relaxed, so I let it ride and applied for the lottery.






And finally, when I'm down, and I'm lonely, and I need a helping hand, and nothing is going right, I got a friend.... (love this guy! Weeeee... weee.... weeeeeeeee! Pure Adrenaline)





2 comments:

SupermomE13 said...

Josh and I will be running NY and it would be wonderful to meet you! :)

Mark Matthews said...

Yes, I would certainly like that as well. Thanks. Will be in touch. I would say that I'll see ya at the finish, but you may have to wait for me for who knows how long (3:25-ish expected). Any hotel recomendations? Charity runners stay in New Yorker. I'm hoping to book early.

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