You Get What You Pay For

I was so proud and excited about my new $20 running shoes. At Scheel's, the cheapest running shoes they sold were $100. I was laughing in Scheel's face as I put on my new shoes, stepped out the door, and headed out for a run.

I started off on my usual one-mile loop. Man, these shoes feel great! I was really patting myself on the back for this great find. Then I hit mile two. And the discomfort started to set in. I told myself to push through, it was just temporary. My feet weren't used to them yet. But as I rounded the corner of the second mile, I decided I had better just quit before I really hurt my feet.

I had developed big blisters on both of my arches. After giving the shoes one more chance, and experiencing the same result during my first mile, I headed back to the mall and got myself some real, high-performance running shoes.

So far, so good with the new kicks, and I still only spent $50. I'm less than six weeks from the race now, and hit a wall at eight miles, so I really need to pick up the pace, literally!

Where In The World....

....have I been? Let's see with a quick recap:

August 1-7: Vacation with my family to the Ozarks. Seven days of fun in the sun, on the boat, or in the water. We had excellent weather, Brady didn't burn, and there were no major fights or injuries!

Post-Vacation: I have been busy running, coordinating music for Meals From The Heartland, and enjoying my summer with Brady. Things have been incredibly busy with planning MFTH, but things are coming together nicely now for the event at HyVee Hall this Labor Day weekend.

Running: I bought shoes last night! The best part: with clearance prices and a coupon, they were $20!! I haven't run in them yet, but I love the arch support already! I hope the shoes light a fire under me because my running has plateaued....

Garden: It survived vacation thanks to my neighbor. After several zucchinis that were literally bigger than my thigh, I made mounds of bread with them, and think I'm done with squash this year. There could be a surprise summer squash in the mix, but it looks like the plants are winding down. My tomatoes, though, are FINALLY growing and will be getting ready any day now to pick! My corn....well, let's just say we picked some ears, they were tiny, and they tasted awful. Next year, the corn will go OUTSIDE the garden :)

Sickness: Last Monday and Tuesday, Brady got sick. Having never thrown up, he was scared and very tired after getting ill more than 20 times the first night! He was fine for more than a week and then this morning woke up sick again. Prayers that he will recover quickly and that it was simply a virus and nothing more are appreciated! We took him to the doctor last week and everything checked out then. I am praying hard that it's not the migraines I grew up with....

That's pretty much been our month around here. Oh, I guess we also remodeled our second bathroom - SO CUTE! Bye bye palm trees, and hello sleek, sophisticated purple :)