New running shoes for walking, and...

...I bought them on the web! On the whole, I really don't like shopping in stores - with the main exceptions being books, cycling stuff, and outdoor equipment. Before the web I got into the habit of purchasing most of my clothes through mailorder catalogs; that's been switched to online purchases for a long time now. But one thing that I usually bought (note the past tense here!) in person was shoes. I give up - I can buy shoes over the web too!

This all started with my attempt over the weekend to buy a new pair of running (walking) shoes at a local athletic store. I've been walking in my Chaco sandals since June but there's starting to be a chill in the air, and I thought it would be a nice idea to leave a pair of shoes for walking at the office. That way whenever I felt I needed a mid-day walk I'd be all set to go. I was looking for shoes made by Mizuno since I was happy with my current pair. I walked into the store, headed to the shoe section, and asked to see Mizuno shoes in a size 6 that were good for someone with a high arch. The sales guy recommended 2 pairs then went to get them for me to try on. The first negative was when he came back out saying they were out of size 6 and did I want a 6 1/2. Hmmm, what made him think a half size bigger would work? I wrote down the names of the shoes he had recommended, then checked them out on the Mizuno web site thinking I'd find a store that carried them. Negative point number 2 was that in spite of my asking for shoes that were good for a high arch, the two pairs the guy recommended turned out to be for someone with a low arch!

I didn't want to go wandering around to other stores to find the shoes, so I decided to order the shoes online and just hope I made the right choice. Amazingly enough, not only did I order the right shoes, I found a great site for buying shoes. I ordered my new Mizuno's from Zappos.com on Saturday, and they were waiting for me when I got home from work on Monday. That was great service, and there was no shipping fee. And as it turns out, if I needed to return them Zappos.com would cover the return shipping fee too. I guess I've broken through the not buying shoes online habit. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

A dropping sun, a painted sky...

It was time for my evening walk, the walk that just a short time ago was in full daylight. For the last couple of weeks, I've ended my walk after dark. Tonight as I passed from a wooded lane to a place where the sky opened up I saw a fabulous sight. It almost looked like the sky was painted, a deep blue above and a deep but bright pink on the horizon. Beautiful...

Energy food for cycling

Yesterday I had a pre-ride snack of an English muffin with cheese, along with a yogurt smoothie. Today my pre-ride snack was an English muffin with peanut butter and a yogurt smoothie. And guess what - the peanut butter was vastly better than the cheese from an energy standpoint.

You're right - I've known that peanut butter is a wonderful energy food for a long time, but the direct comparison was definitely interesting. I only buy fresh-ground peanut butter, so there's nothing else there but peanuts. And peanut butter rocks!

And the dumb driver award goes to...

...the woman I passed on the way home this afternoon. I was driving north on route 3A in the section where the road is driven as a tight 4 lanes. I really think the intent was for this section of road to be a wide 2 lanes, but because of the traffic volume there are usually 2 lanes heading north and 2 south. I looked over at the car next to me, and the driver was holding her an iced coffee in one hand and her cell phone in the other. I have no idea how she was steering the car!

Cool and windy...

A nice blue sky greeted me this morning, but one filled with lots of wind and cool temperatures. I was very glad that I had wandered down to REI in that rain yesterday to replace the knee warmers that I lost in my crash back on May 20th. Funny, but knee warmers and leg warmers aren't on the shelves in most bike shops through the summer. I needed and wore my new knee warmers today since it was in the low 50s when my bike and I headed out today. Luckily I didn't need the arm warmers too since I ordered those over the web. REI had the standard black arm warmers, but I was drawn in by the Sheila Moon arm warmers on the Team Estrogen web site - I ordered a pair of those in purple, definitely an improvement over the normal black!

It was a beautiful day, but definitely one with a chill in the air. I guess I'd better get used to it as the fall temperatures become more usual occurrences. It looks like it will warm up again during the week, but last night the temperatures went down into the 40s, and it's supposed to be chilly again tonight. Good sleeping weather...

It's definitely turning into fall

I have to admit, I'm really not ready for the summer to end. I love the mid-60 to 70 degree temperatures we're having, but cold, rain, and snow? No, I'm not ready.

Today? The remnants of Ivan (hurricane, then tropical depression, now just a storm) have arrived, and it's been raining for many hours. Today's morning walk will need an unbrella, and I'll be pleasantly surprised if it stops and drys out enough for an afternoon bike ride. I guess it's a built-in rest day.

This week I've noticed the trees changing. It still seems early to me, but then again there isn't a lot of change. There are a few scattered trees with brilliant yellow or orange leaves. There are a few trees with a mix of green and brilliant color. And then there are those trees who have missed the point completely and just turned brown. I love the colors, I hate the brown. And as each year passes, the winters become harder to accept. I'd love to be able to drive to cold and snow rather than living in the middle of it. Ah well, for now I'm here in the Northeast...

An almost soaking walk...

As I headed out of the house for my morning walk, the sky still showed some blue patches, although there were clouds too. Just a couple of minutes after I returned home, the sky opened up with a strong downpour. My walk was timed perfectly - if I'd arrived home just a little bit later I would have needed a fresh and dry set of clothes before I left for work. Excellent timing...

Trees that water themselves!

OK, not really...

I was off on my morning walk wandering through the Merrimack College campus - which is conveniently located right next to my townhouse - when I noticed someone caring for some newly planted trees. The college went on a moving spree this past summer, moving parking lots and roads, and putting in walking paths and grass where there were roads in the past. As they planted new trees, I noticed the bags that were placed around the bottoms of the trees. Well, this morning I saw the bags in action. Or maybe I should say I saw the gardening staff in action. They were filling the bags with water, then moving on to the next tree. As it turns out, the bags are called Treegators, and they are an irrigation tool. Fill the bags with water, and let the trees drink it in! Fascinating...

You say that's the wind?

All I can say is wow! The sun is shining, and it tempted me outside for a quick walk. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad I was walking and not riding my bike because the wind is absolutely howling. The weather service web site says the wind speed is 22 miles per hour with gusts to 29. It was actually hard to walk, and to top that off I had to hold on to my skirt!

A nice walk though, sunshine, puffy white clouds, and a lovely temperature...

Rain, rain, rain... sun & rainbows... oh, it's getting dark!

What a crazy weather day! Today what was left of Hurricane Frances - definitely no longer a hurricane - wandered through the Boston area. The morning dawned with an amazing downpour, and I thought it would stay very gray all day. Around lunchtime I looked outside and saw blue sky with some scattered small white clouds, so I went for my mid-day walk. I was back at my desk for maybe a half of an hour when I turned around and saw a dark sky again, with lots of water pouring down. Wow, that was close. If I'd still been out walking I probably would have needed to go home to get dry clothes!

It cleared again, and I saw a beautiful rainbow as I drove home - so beautiful that I was very sorry that I didn't have my camera with me.

As I headed out for an after dinner walk, I saw some of my neighbors returning. We laughed as they told me I was probably going to get wet; the sky was a deep gray again, and not just an end of the day gray. I was lucky and managed not to take an outdoor shower. And as I returned home I could actually see shades of blue emerging from under the dark clouds that were rapidly blowing away.

I wonder what tonight will bring...

Hey squirrel - what are you doing with that plastic bag?

This morning's walk definitely gave me something to laugh about. I was approaching a bridge across a fountain on the Merrimack College campus when I spotted a squirrel tucked in to a hole beside the bridge. Of course I was passing a little to close to the little animal, so it jumped onto a nearby tree trunk. That would have been normal behavior except for the empty plastic bag it had in its mouth. True to my normal habit of talking to creatures who can't talk back, I asked the squirrel what it thought it was doing with the plastic bag. The squirrel's response? In the next moment I saw a plastic bag dropping out of the tree!

What do you mean it's September?

...and what happened to my summer? It's definitely been an unusual summer for me. In fact, I almost feel like I didn't have a summer. All things considered, I guess I really shouldn't complain. It hasn't been a normal time for me, but I know that I'm very lucky I was wearing a helmet on the day of my fateful bicycle crash. (And yes, I always wear a helmet while I'm wandering on my bike.)

While at this time of year I'm normally easily doing 50 to 75 mile rides, at this stage of my recovery I'm only managing slow rides of under 30 miles. And although I don't like it, I think I'm finally accepting that my riding won't return to normal until a few more months have gone by. It will definitely be next season...

In the meantime, I've switched my late October trip to Hawaii to a non-biking but still active vacation. I'll be tracking that in another blog.