Fitness Friday

Yes, that's right - I'm posting a Fitness Friday the day after Thanksgiving! I hope it doesn't make anyone feel like a slacker! The reason I'm doing a Fitness Friday the day after Thanksgiving is because yesterday was not only Thanksgiving for me, it was my birthday. My 30th birthday, to be exact. Yes, yes, the big 3-0. I survived without too much mourning of my 20s. However, I have reached this birthday with something that has never taken me this long to get rid of - extra pregnancy weight! Yikes! I guess what they say about the motabolism slowing down is actually true!

So, part of my birthday present from my sweet Michael (at my request) was some running supplies. New shoes, and some new supportive undergarments - both of which are extremely important for comfortable and injury-free running. I took pictures of my new shoes but can't find the cord to my camera to upload them, so here's a stock photo:
(I think you know you're a blogger when you find yourself taking pictures of things like new running shoes!)

We went to Fleet Feet, a store that specializes in running shoes and studying your gate, stride, and footfalls to determine which will be the best fit for you. I learned something shockingly interesting there (mom, if you're reading this, don't have a heart attack!) - they said for running, the best socks are ones with NO cotton in them. None at all. What?! I thought cotton was best for allowing your feet to "breathe", right? Well, yes, but it also absorbs all the sweat, and can't wick it away. So it can lead to stinky feet and chafing, and other yuckies like athlete's foot (eeew!). So go with socks made of good wicking material. Now we all know ;-)

I'm moving rather slowly into my running routine. I'm trying to get up early and spend a good half hour on the treadmill every morning. The first week, I only ran for about 10 minutes each day - the rest of the time I walked. This week my goal was to bump that up to 15 minutes of running, which I accomplished on Monday, but since then haven't gotten on the treadmill at all. I plan to, today, however, once people are napping.

To keep myself accountable, I've added this ticker to the bottom of my blog:

Isn't that cute? I put a goal of 100 miles, but I don't really have a goal of when I'd like to reach that 100 miles. My real goal is to just get into better running shape and run consistently every week. Perhaps at the next 5k Michael and the boys do, I can join in!