What I did on my day off

Have you noticed that days off just fly by? I woke up this morning at 5 o'clock, decided that was a ridiculous hour to be up, and went back to sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't wake up again until 7:15. I was to pick up my friend Jane at 9 am. I had to go to Victoria to pick up my new passport and do a couple of other errands, and Jane was kindly coming along to keep me company. We wanted to have time to do all the Victoria stuff and get out of there before rush hour.

Accordingly, I dressed in my gym clothes, grabbed half a banana for breakfast, and drove to the gym. I only had time to do 55 minutes again (I didn't actually have time for that, but I did it anyway.), a little over the 3.25 km this time - then a perfunctory stretch, and home for a shower. I arrived at Jane's, puffing, at 9:15. Tsk.

Jane and I had a great time in the big city. After we picked up my passport, we had lunch at Pagliacci's, a Victoria landmark. Happily fed, we drove over to James Bay and checked out the routes for the 8k and half-marathon. Then we hit Silk Road for a supply of Rooibos tea, Home Depot for Jane's paint, and back to Nanaimo.

My right leg started bothering me last night, possibly because I'd been trying out all those wonderful stretches I found at www.racewalk.com and got carried away - but I had a good look at the New Balance shoes I'd been wearing (for everything), decided they were really Old Balance, even Off Balance, and had been for a very long time. After I left Jane at her house, I made my way to the Running Room, where Mike guided me through the painfully expensive experience of buying a new pair of shoes for training. I ended up with Mizuno Wave Riders. They feel very structured after the loose comfort of the NBs. I'm wearing them around the house tonight, and I'll go to the treadmill tomorrow morning to give them their official tryout. If they're okay after that, I'll risk going out on a track and making them unreturnable. I shall be good and wear them only for training.

So. I was walking back and forth in the shop while Mike stared at my ankles and knees (the rogue - checking for excess movement, he said) and I noticed a sign on the window referring to two other races coming up in this area. The first one will be happening while I'm on holiday in England, so that's out, but the second one, the CIBC Run for the Cure, is slated for October 1, will take place here in Nanaimo - and it's just a 5k. Hey! I could do that as warmup for the October 8 8k run - and walk off my jet lag as a bonus.

Charlie, you've created a monster.