New Tenni-Runner Day.

I have to admit that I am an avid lover of shoes and find the nearby shoe warehouses difficult to resist when I have some time to kill over lunch. I tell myself that I’ll just casually browse the scary tall heals, the cute flats and the sexy pumps, but the temptation is too high and I rarely walk out of there empty-handed. Yesterday was a different kind of shoe day… new tenni-runner day! With my knee trouble still lurking around, I thought it would be a good idea to trade in the old kicks for some shiny new running shoes. Being partial to Saucoony’s, this was the easiest shoe shopping experience ever. One trip to Gary Gribbles running store and 10 min. later, I was walking out with my new tenni-runners excited to try the 5 mile run later that night. And boy, I tell you what, it was glorious! The shoes are an amazing. I ran all 5 miles with no pain in my knee… my ankle is another story though.

I’ve been trying to avoid running on hard surfaces to help lessen the pounding on my knees, so I’ve been running on the grass whenever possible. This has really helped the last few runs I’ve been on. The deceptive part about the grass is the hidden potholes. While I do run with my head down to watch for the concealed weapons of ankle destruction, my eyes can’t seem to discover all of them before my foot stumbles into them. Plus, with my chin buried in my chest, I’m left vulnerable to any obstruction directly ahead of me. I can only image what the passers-by think when they see me running, head down, about to run into the 50 light poles that are scattered about the small patch of grass between the sidewalk and street, but twisting awkwardly at the last second, narrowly avoiding the tall, white rods of Illumination. I’m sure it’s quite a sight.

The best part of last night’s run was that once I made it though the crater mine field, over the bridge and onto the trail, I was almost pummeled by the incredulously high number of bikers flying down the hills and around the tree-blinding turns. I turned my iPod way down to barely audible so I could hear the flashes before they buzzed passed me. I was so worried about falling into a hole and getting run over, that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. The miles flew by and I didn’t even have time to think about my knee. I don’t know if it was the softer soil, distractions or the new tenni-runners that helped my knee feel better, but new tenni-runner day was a great day!