Opportunity is a weird thing. I was thinking about it while on my run this morning. I guess it stems from the fact that I find running in the morning is so useful - specifically time wise. Its the perfect opportunity to get out and do something that doesn't conflict with other things that usually occur later in the day(your life) and that we're less inclined to want to give up in order to do some running. And once you've done it, you've done it - nothing else comes in the way, its almost like you've got more of your day than ever before because you're doing more with your day than ever before.

Sure, it means you don't sleep in that time - but you get all the the benefits of running in its place - or having more of your day available. 

Its invisible when you're not looking for it, but you'll find it or create it if you want to. 

Simple really but profound too. 

Life gives you, not what you want - but what you deserve. If you're looking for opportunities to improve - you'll find them.

Sometimes its amazing how after I’m sitting here in the office, I think back to what I’ve done in the morning – its almost like I’ve had a whole another life. It seems hard to relate to the way I felt or the stress of the working out and running and breathing and feeling your legs and chest are heavy. I remember to how I felt in the middle of it, while I’m running in the dark, and it feels like a lifetime ago but it wasn’t and boy I was alive. Then I think back now that I’m done with it all, after the whirlwind is over – after I’ve deflated, sunk down into my seat and everything slows down and I wonder – Did I really do that? Yes Sir. I did!

Yes Sir!

Much colder today than usual. Its not that usual that I run with long trousers on but this morning was one of those days.

Was talking to a work colleague who said that her husband would usually train 10 hours per week to compete in triathlons. That's tough. I wonder if I’ll ever do even a marathon. The secret I think is to just perform at your best and have as much fun as you can and prevail. Sounds dumb but really its not. Effort is the one thing that doesn’t change year-on-year, its gets harder maybe, but you can always reach the same levels of effort that you once did, albeit perhaps without the same performance as you once did. This is especially true of aging. For example, I suspect I’ll not be able to repeat the same times and achievements I might have done when I’m much older but I can still put in the same effort – just wont lead to as much, right?

My trainers have gone past the 400Km mark and I’ve retired them. They were good running shoes, more specifically they where the Asics Hyperspeed 6 which aren’t the latest version, now at version 7 but I’ve now replaced them with a “serious” pair. I tend to run with real light shoes, often either being fairly barefoot like or just light with a bit of cushion  but I’m getting heavier and running more than ever so I need the cushioning to deal with the out-and-out reputation of each days running.

I don't think I’ve really had a “serious” pair of running shoes because I’m not a “serious” runner – I’ve never competed for example but I do run a lot.  My weekly average? Around 84km and about 6.5hours a week. I though that was a lot - but it really isn’t. I figured that out when I saw the other profiles on Strava.  At one stage I though that was too much, that perhaps I’d be unable to sustain it. Or even that it was unhealthy. But its not.

So when I decided to buy this new pair of running shoes I decided to get “serious” about it – not because I’m a “serious” runner or anything – I’m not,  but I put some “serious” thought into my next pair:

I suprinate or underpronate. Most people don’t apparently. I run/land on the sides of my outer foot, apparently its because I have high arches. I also have a wierd pinky toe that I tend to bruise quite often because it slips under my other toes when I land and then I land on it. Its kinda annoying but its my unique toe so I’m sticking with it and wearing shoes that have a narrow toe-box as they call it, squash my toes together and the problem becomes more pronounced. Also because of all this, my shoes all wear out the soles near the edges. The shoes that I’d been running with for a long time now(Asics), well they’ve worn out the sole and my poor toes were in contact with the ground! That coupled with my 400Km alert from Strava made me decide that, well its time to retire them. There wasn’t any ceremony. Some people say that old and worn out shoes is dangerous and can cause injuries. I’ve not had an injury thankfully.

I did have a stress fracture which was terrible for about 2 months so I moved away from my barefoot running.

Anyway the shoes I’ve retired now are useful for casual ‘around-the-house’ or ‘waling into town’ shoes.

These are Nike Zoom Air Pegasus 33s.

Totally grown up. Lets see how far they can go without disintegrating. My predation is that they might not disintegrate at all – they’re pretty serious. These new shoes are have more cushioning and are marketed for long, long distance daily running, which is what I do I guess if you add all up. They might be heavier but they’ll outlast the rest I’m told. Got a good tough, strong feeling about these ones.