Welcome Back, Astro!

            So we’ve been living in our new home in Overland Park, Kansas for two weeks now. Our friend Astro the treadmill got reassembled last week after having a tough go of it during the move, and I took him for his first spin as a Kansan last Sunday. Feels good to be getting back after it and to have my days approaching normal again, although there are still a lot of boxes to unpack and lots of work for me to do.

            I ran outside a few times in my Hoka Mach pillows/shoes while we were shacking it at the Residence Inn, but I haven’t run outside since we moved into the house. I should, since there are a few challenging hills near us. In Athens I would make it a goal to run outside at least once a week, so I think that’s what I’ll aim for. What’s the point of having rain jackets, tights, and arm warmers if you’re not stepping into the great outdoors?

HELP! JANE! STOP THIS CRAZY THING!

            One realization I’ve made… A reason made a concerted effort to run outside was to keep my fitness level (such as it was) up by hitting the ups and downs of our old neighborhood. Running on the treadmill meant my legs didn’t have that energized feeling that you get by running outside. But I’ve learned that by setting the incline to 1.5% (up from the 1.0% I used to set it at) I get a decent workout in and my legs feel like they ran that day. It’s not as bad as it seems, especially since I have a cord that connects my iphone to the treadmill. Podcasts for everyone!

            As you can see Astro sits alone in our nice, cool basement. It’s easy enough to get a good sweat in down there and not overheat. And he’s not underfoot like he was in our old place where he took up virtually half the room. Here he’s got plenty of space and I’ve got a nice place to get back on schedule and go for my run regardless of the Kansas City weather.

            I’m sitting on 10 miles this week after this three-mile jaunt yesterday. Highest mileage week in a month or so.

            And the Athens Half Marathon is this weekend, with cool temperatures expected. A lot of my Athens friends are running that race.