I’ve learned a few things these past few weeks.
Some good. Some fun. Some not.
I haven’t decided if I’m going to share all my lessons learned, as I’m still trying to wrap my head around some of them, but THESE lessons have been too awesome not to share!
First, I learned hardwood floors don’t make for very good exercise platforms. And with no carpet left upstairs, I needed a solution.
So I went shopping and found this:
Exercise Mat
While I was shopping, I came across this:
Foam Roller
This purchase leads me to lesson number TWO:
I CAN run at my age and not feel pain.
Honestly! I used to dream of having someone massage the back of my legs after a run because they get so tight and tend to stiffen up and hurt. It would take me a couple of days to recover before I could run again. I thought it was my age, or not stretching properly….
But now, when I get home, I stretch and then use this beauty to “massage” my hamstrings and I am in heaven! If I want to get up and run again the next morning, I can!
I don’t know that this is the sole reason for my legs feeling so much better, but it’s definitely given me some relief, and has allowed me to lay off the begging of my hubby to “pretty please rub my legs…!”
Lesson Number Three: There are different kinds of running shoes for different terrains.
Okay. I guess deep down I always knew this. Maybe what I didn’t know is that I should consider my running routes as “off road” or “trail” running.
You see, I live out in the country. I’m surrounded by cornfields, cow pastures and working farms. Our roads out here are used by tractors, semis, four-wheelers, motorcycles *ahem*, horses… And they are rarely resurfaced or worked on.
Years of this kind of traffic has led to a very uneven road surface. This surface isn’t a great match for my latest pair of comfy New Balance running shoes.
So when flipping through my Fitness magazine, I came across a description of this Asics Trail Running shoe.
Asics Trail Running Shoes
The article said “potholes and uneven road surfaces were no match for these shoes”.
Wait! What? That’s what I run on!
I’ve used Asics before and have liked them, but I’d never considered a trail shoe before. The following week I had myself a pair of Asics Gel Enduro 7 running shoes. So far I’ve had two runs with them, and I couldn’t be more satisfied. They make me feel as if I’m running on a track, not my old beat up road.
These lessons learned have added joy to my life – my “wanting to be fit and healthy” life anyway. Perhaps in the upcoming day I’ll share some of my hard lessons learned…..
unless I choose to push them to the back of my mind….
allowing me to remain carefree and naive and…..
…..Happy. 🙂
shadowrun300 