Week 9, Day 1

My 3 Day training plan that they send me shows Mondays as a rest day. I couldn't do that. I was fairly sore this morning, and rather stiff. I walked just over 2 miles at the track by work today. I felt much better after! 2 miles is so much less than my usual these days that I think I can just about count this as a rest day anyway!

I forgot to mention yesterday, but I bought a pedometer yesterday. I love it. Makes my life, well, maybe not easier exactly... But it makes me happy to know things.

Week 10, Day 4

Hannah was with her dad today so I had a chance to take Pablo walking with me. He made it about 2 miles and I had to bring the poor pup home. I'm guessing I did about 4-5 miles. I wore my 1lb ankle weights that I got yesterday. It was the longest I'd worn the new shoes and they were great. Love them! I drank 30oz or so from the Camelbak and had half of a Gatorade when I was done.

Week 10, Day 3

I walked today on the road behind my house with Hannah in the jogging stroller. I picked up about 30 beer cans while I walked, plus 1 Big Red can, 1 Diet Pepsi can, and one Monster can. I also noticed that the people who throw out cans on the road behind my house have a preference for cheap beers like Busch, Natural Light, and Icehouse. There was also one I didn't know called a Hurricane. Interesting stuff.

I drank about 20oz of Gatorade while I walked. Hannah had a little Gatorade mixed with water. I got new shoes, New Balance, on Monday and wore them today for the first time. They were great. Really, really great. No blisters! It felt good to finally be walking again.

Week 17, Day 6

I walked with Mom today in her neighborhood. Lots more hills than I usually have. I tried out my new athletic wear. This morning I went to Target and bought a sports bra, an athletic tank (mine is yellow), and some pink shorts. Besides that I had my new (old) CamelBak that Brian gave me, and the new insoles I bought yesterday. It went really well. I stayed very cool in the tank and I really liked the feel of the CamelBak. It helped me keep good posture and felt nice against the small of my back. The sports bra was fabulous. My shoes rubbed a little differently with the new insoles so I'll have to put the moleskin on differently tomorrow, but I don't have any new blisters. And I have no idea how much water I drank since Mom and I shared, but a pretty decent amount. I think our total walk was 3 miles, a nice little stretch.

Week 17, Day 5

Whew! I think we made up for yesterday, at least somewhat. Hannah and I walked ~7 miles today at Town Lake! OK, I did the walking. Hannah rode in the jogging stroller and even napped part of the time. For the most part it was a great walk. We had one little problem with the sidewalk being closed when we crossed at the S 1st bridge and had to trek along Cesar Chavez for a few blocks. But that was our only issue. I drank a little over a liter in the hour and forty five minutes that we walked (Hannah drank one sippy cup) and finished the second liter within an hour of getting done. We had Clif bars on the drive home - Luna for me and Zbar for Hannah. I had a small blister come up on my right little toe, but nothing like the massive blisters last week. The new socks are the best! I also got the new tube for the CamelBak that Brian gave me today from REI, and some insoles for my shoes there as well. And more blister treatments and moleskin. I'm thinking maybe I should have bought that REI membership. I'm using Brian's and I think he's going to owe me!

We had one notable occurrence on our walk. As we got to the end of the trial, after crossing the foot bridge and before we got to Barton Springs (the area I think of as the Smoker's Hangout) we passed an incredibly drunk, shirtless man with a boom box. Yes, boom box - a la 1980's. My guess would be that he was homeless, but I'm not sure of that. As I passed him he stumbled (did I mention drunk?) and I almost hit him with the stroller. I apologized and smiled and went on. While we were walking away he yelled out to me, "God bless you lady, and if anyone bothers you, you let me know. I'll fix 'em!" I had to translate this from the slurred version, but I'm pretty sure that's what he said. It was awfully sweet in a weird sort of way. I hope he does ok.