I am pretty sure this week won't be like last

My legs (ankles, thighs, calves) have been sore off and on (mostly on) since last Monday. I guess I overdid it in the physical activity department from Monday to Friday. I was a crazy weekday warrior, if you will.

Friday I stood on my feet for about two hours helping out with a school event. I went home to do laundry, vacuum, and clean the bathtub. When I headed back to school a few hours later, I ran around the outside of the gym for between 10 and 15 minutes, and that run included a handful of trips up and down the steps next to the gym and the steps leading to the main church lot. I am not sure for exactly how long I ran because I had to take a couple-minute break to move my car. I stood again for about 1.5 hours at the park that evening, and that was pretty much it.

I took it easy yesterday with my only exercise resulting from shopping at two stores for brief periods of time. Mostly I sat around. Ah, relief.

Today it is my intent to swim, but buying a new oven and the Steeler game may get in the way.

About the only thing I am certain about is that this coming week won't look too much like last week in terms of exercise. My 40-year-old body will fight me on that.

But despite the soreness, I do feel good. As if my body did great things this week. And, in a way, I guess it kind of did.

Blame it on the shoes

In April of 2010, I bought Asics Gel Enduro 5 shoes, and was fairly impressed from the get-go. But, like all running shoes, eventually they lost their luster (i.e., they felt too worn out), so I went in search of new shoes.

Like the (mostly) eternal optimist I am, I figured I could head back to Kohl's and get those same running shoes.

I figured wrong.

But, again, being positive, I decided that the Gel Enduro 6 was probably just as good if not better, so I tried it on.

Wrong again.

Nevertheless, knowing that Kohl's has a great return policy, I went ahead and bought the shoes, once a again for such a good price (around $35).

Still not sold on the shoes, I left them in the box for a few weeks, figuring not running for a few weeks when I was swimming so much would not hurt. Then, when I really started to miss running, I went to a few sporting goods stores to see if my beloved 5s happened to be there. No dice.

While visiting Steelers training camp this past Monday, I shared my sad shoe story with Grandma. A woman sitting next to me overheard our conversation and suggested I try holabirdsports.com, which I promptly did as soon as I got home. No 5s there either.

I tried an internet search last evening, and the few 5s I found were not in my size and for prices at least twice what I paid for originally anyway. Sigh.

I guess I am going to have to give up my dream of the Enduro 5. Still not sure if I will keep the 6s or continue to shop around for another shoe. But I need to decide soon before my legs forget what running feels like (they certainly know what swimming lap after laps feels like).

The moral of the story? If you find a shoe you like, buy an extra pair. Wish I had.