New shoes!!!

This week has been a great week for workouts. I got my new shoes on Tuesday!!! Sadly, I didn't get a chance to try them out right away because I already had a yoga class AND a spinning class booked for Tuesday.

Yoga was awesome - it really helped stretch out my sore muscles from Monday's workout at the gym. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but one of the things I did was a 4-minute tabata calf workout. You do 20 seconds of single-leg calf raises, 10 seconds "rest" in the up position, then switch legs, and repeat the sequence for 4 minutes (8 times total, 4/leg). Come Tuesday, I had a hard time straightening my legs because my calves were so sore. It was a challenge to put my heels on the ground so I ended up wearing high heels to work to help with the soreness. I couldn't believe that 4 minutes could do so much damage. Anyways, yoga was a BIG help but they're still a bit sore even today (Saturday).

I got to try out my new shoes in between my afternoon and evening classes on Wednesday. They're like a dream! They're the exact same model as my old ones, only new (and a prettier colour)! It was just a quick 3 miles but it was fantastic. My last mile came in at 9:23 which is pretty fast for me. Thursday was another easy 5, just out enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having.

Friday's run was pretty cool. I did 4 miles over on the base and I got to see the F-18 demonstration jet practising his routine for this year's airshow circuit. It's pretty impressive and I have to admit, having the jets here does make living in Bagotville a little better. Back in 2009, just after we moved, I was over running on the base while the demo jet was rehearsing his routine before the big airshow here. At the time I was a little unsure about this whole Bagotville posting, but I remember thinking that was pretty awesome.

Friday night we went to the weight room. I got my 8x75lbs on the bench press!! I've been improving on most of my exercises, but I've hit a bit of a plateau with my biceps curls and military press. It's frustrating...

Today I got 12 miles in this afternoon. I met up with a co-worker and for the first time, I actually had a running buddy. He stayed with me for 6.8 miles before we headed back to his house, then I finished the rest of my run alone. It was great having someone to talk to - it made miles pass much faster. At the end of my run, I was faced with a huge hill. I could have finished the 12th mile at the base of the hill if I had wanted to but I decided to tackle it. I figured it was the end of my run, so why not, right? It has a 14% grade over about 0.2 miles and it took about 2 minutes to climb, but I did it!