Pounding the Pavement

Finally got my new shoes.

After the debacle that found me at the closed Run On location in Irving, I headed into Dallas, determined to get this done. I spent about a half hour with a grown salesperson who spent a lot of time analyzing my running/walking stride, measuring my feet, etc.

I went out to run last night and am quite pleased at the results. The knee pain that’s slowed me down lately is not in evidence currently. Descending stairs makes them bark a little, but not even in the same place as before. I think that’s just standard post-workout soreness.

I do have a sore hip that concerns me though. I spent months in physical therapy a couple years ago trying to get this thing to stop bugging me. Bursitis is what they called it. Hey, I gave my body a real pounding last night, so maybe this is no big deal.

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In fact, I thought was running three miles, but according to my pedometer I actually went nearly four. Nice little accident to have. My stamina was good, mechanics weren’t bad, and in the final stretch I went into a genuine sprint for about 100 yards. I was glad to have that much left in the tank.

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I’ve gotta say that I have the interval training Whit suggested to thank for this. It’s getting me used to recovering from difficult stretches while still exerting myself. If I jog up a hill, I can still maintain a decent pace after that while catching my breath from the exertion. It’s an interesting phenomenon, and I’m certain it’s directly attributable to the interval training. My hat’s off to Sifu McClendon.


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Henley ran a marathon in Chicago yesterday, and messaged me to say that, considering how tough it was, he’s glad to have finished at all.

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Fat Possum just sent out a mailer saying Paul “Wine” Jones died of cancer yesterday. I’m not sure, but I believe he’s the guy from the You See Me Laughin’ documentary who basically thought he’d sold his soul to the devil to get a record put out. After that his life went to crap, and he always blamed it on the record.

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Work beckons… hang in there. It won’t be Monday forever.