Hot Hot Hot

Tuesday was pretty tough because we were running up and down hills. Not steep or large hills, but hills nonetheless. Thankfully it wasn't as hot as it was supposed to be, and there was a great breeze. Also, my feet have been swelling like crazy, and the sneakers I bought in January are too small. For most people, this wouldn't be a big deal: just size up and keep going. But when you have size 11 feet (and that's narrow size 11), things get a little tricky. Whenever I've tried to get away with 12, if a store even has them, they're huge. My feet are just too narrow. By the end of Tuesday night, however, I was beginning to be afraid that I would lose a toenail, and my arthritic toe was aching like nobody's business, so I set out to the Running Store in Columbus Circle on Wednesday night. I ended up with a pair of men's sneakers that are back-laced to keep my foot from slipping. That in itself doesn't bother me; any woman with large feet knows her size in men's shoes and takes advantage of that knowledge occasionally. However, I'm still slightly unsure about it because I think they may be built a touch too wide and bulky for my dainty (albeit long) feet. Also they're the most expensive shoes I've ever bought, athletic or otherwise.

I'm in Buffalo for a wedding, so I missed my Thursday run.

I intended to get up early this morning to beat the heat, but of course I went to bed way too late. I mapped out a 5.5 mile run but I walked maybe a mile of it. The heat and lack of food intake were making my body feel funny in new ways (though I'm deeply thankful not to have been in the city for this morning's run, where it's going to reach 95 today). I have to say it's kinda lonely and demotivating to run through suburban side streets after training with 100 people and running along crowded paths on my off days. I'm becoming less and less self conscious and appreciating the community aspect of running more and more. It's something you can do by yourself but still feel like you're part of something much larger.

I'm a little concerned about the fact that I moved to a place where I walk 100x more, I'm running 3+ miles 4x per week, and yet I seem to have gained 2 lbs since I left Michigan. I need to get a handle on my daily life and figure out how to eat better. Part of the problem is the proportion of carbs in my diet should be higher for training than what I'm used to eating. I'd cut a lot of that out when I first started losing weight, and I still instinctively avoid them. Now the issue is that occasionally I'm like oooh carb binge! For the running! Balance balance. Have to remember balance. Thankfully my award money just landed in my account, so I have no excuses not to do some decent grocery shopping when I get back to the city. Honestly, it's bewildering. The other night I paid $7.39 for a container of ice cream. I don't know how people do it on a long-term basis.