Pure White Peony

I love this peony in our front yard perennial bed... it is pure white and smells like Ivory Soap :-)

New Running Shoes

For the past few months my wife and I have been reading a lot about what is referred to as "minimalist" running shoes. We become interested when we started seeing information about Five Finger Shoes, but I had my concerns about them (for me) and began looking at other minimalist shoe options.

Then I recently ran across a magazine ad for the new Merrell Road Glove, and became immediately interested.

On Saturday I stopped at Often Running in Uptown Normal to look for knee bands for Laurie. While there I went ahead and asked about the Merrell shoes, talked in depth with the salesman, glanced at and talked about other possibilities (Saucony, Brooks, New Balance, Nike), tried the Road Gloves on, and walked out with my new running shoes...

I wore them for the rest of the afternoon/evening on Saturday and to church this morning/afternoon to start breaking them in. Then this afternoon I headed out on a run (with my lovely wife riding her bike... she had her run early this morning). I wasn't sure how far I was going to run... I was anxious but also excited about trying the new shoes because they are quite different than what I've used before.

In preparation for this move to a minimalist shoe I've worked really hard with my running form... less heel... shortening my stride and landing mid-foot and not on my heel. This isn't an easy thing to learn, especially at 46 and being a very bad "heel lander" when I'm running (and walking).

So my run... was excellent!!! I was amazed with how well I felt. I ended up running 4.39 miles in 40:52, which averages out to a 9:30 pace. I'll probably run in my Nike Free shoes next, then back to the new Merrell shoes... I don't want to rush my change to the new shoes and risk injury.

So a final few words about the new Merrell Road Gloves... Check them out!!! I'm hooked!!!

Stella's New Toy

Our cockatiel Stella found my necklace tonight while sitting on my shoulder... She was very intrigued by it as you can tell by the video below. The barking and growling is not from her, however... That was our jealous dog trying to get me to come play with him and put Stella back in her cage. :-)