Well, It's Wednesday. Time for A List.

1.  The Lee Ann Stash Sale is behind us, and with the exception of a certain buyer that all of my Facebook friends already know about (no, it's most definitely not you Mel! bahaha), it was all good. Very good! And I hope that one little bit of unpleasantness is truly behind us. Remains to be seen, I suppose. Sigh.  

2. But thankfully, in contrast to that, all the other buyers were pure joy, and ESPECIALLY a new blog reader from Burlington (Hi Cecilia!) who bought two lots of the sock yarn. When I noticed that she was from Burlington, I offered to delete the shipping charges and deliver the yarn to her, since I'm down there all the time anyway. Well! I did that, and what a coincidence, what a story and what a connection we have!!! She needs to read captions -- I provide captions! And I explained to her the little-known fact that anyone who needs CART can and should request it -- for classes, speeches, theater -- what have you. It just so happened that I had only just barely come from picking up my new business cards, and she got the first one out of the box. She told me I had opened up a whole new world to her. It was a perfectly wonderful and sweet story to counteract the sour experience from the couple of days previous.

3.  I did my second run in the Couch to 5K program yesterday. It was great, but not super-great. Cardiovascularly I was not truly challenged, but there was pain in my feet, legs and hips, and so I strove to run slowly and pay very close attention to my form. YES I HEAR YOU! I'm going to get some new shoes and get them properly fitted. "Properly fitted" with air quotes. Because I have done that umpteen times before, and "properly fitted" when you have arches as high as mine and feet as tender as mine is perhaps a relative term. This is a problem indeed. But we shall try again and we shall go and spend more money on more running shoes. Why not! It's only money! Sigh again.

4.  The Couch to 5K podcast is simply awesome. I love the music choices for their tempo and pleasantness, and I love the nice British lady saying, "well done!" and ... well, the weather was absolutely gorgeous yesterday and it was such a pleasure to be outside that almost nothing could be wrong, and the time flew by. Except that pain in my... oh, never mind. 

5.  Then I did a more challenging bit of Pilates than I did the other day, and it was not quite as boring as the first one.

6.  I'm really trying not to be a malcontent here. Work with me, will ya?

7.  Mr. Jefferies wishes to express his disdain with the Pilates, too. WTF am I doing on the floor on a mat and standing and doing things like pumping my arms if I'm not intending to play with him? It makes absolutely NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. And so he licked the salt off my toes when I was doing standing stretches and he grabbed my fingers when I was doing those flutter pumpy things with my arms. And he was quite put out when I whispered "no." He went to his mat and glared at me for the duration.

8.  The Pilates definitely took away some of the pain. So I am becoming a believer, and maybe with continued practice -- if I can take the boredom of it all -- it will help to balance out the running pain enough that I can continue. Maybe. 

9. Speaking of British, one of the lecturers in my remote CART job yesterday morning had the most DELIGHTFUL heavy, thick-like-treacle-on-a-cold-day Yorkshire accent. She clearly comes from so deep in Yorkshire that she is probably not from the land at all, but from somewhere out at sea. I was completely charmed, Anglophile that I am, though I had to really work to think, at times, WHAT THE HELL IS SHE SAYING?! 

10. And speaking of even more British, I've been spending some of my leisure time watching the Chuders -- I mean The Tudors.  I'm still in Season 1. Abigail watched the first episode with me. Her observation at the end:  "I don't like him." [referring to Henry VIII.]  I informed her, "You're not supposed to."  But it is definitely good entertainment for me.  

11. Abigail's boyfriend Jeremy took this photo of Mr. Jefferies and had this puzzle made from the photo, then sent the picture to me to include in the blog. Isn't it sweet?

And last, but definitely not least:

11. Mr. Jefferies also wishes to inform everyone that he has REALLY MISSED HIS LONG WALKS. Even though it's Mud Season here, and it can be less than pleasant to walk in the mud and the deep puddles and up and over and around the giant piles of snow down St. Albans's sidewalks that are in various states of disrepair, there is now enough dry land and roadway that we can actually get out and walk if we choose our route carefully. It represents FUN! and FREEDOM! and OMG, all the wonderful smells and the birds and the squirrels and the peeeeeeeeeoplllllllle!

12.  It's sort of acting a little bit like SPRING! REJOICE!

 

Comments

[Seanna Lea]

Victor had a back yard this winter and not many walks beyond that. I know I am a poor dog mommy, because I know he missed his walks (which he is getting now) but I am pretty nervous about slips and falls.

[crgilvr]

I have very high arches and my feet roll OUT. I would recommend the following:
1. Go to a running store where they will actually WATCH you run on a treadmill with a camera on your feet.
2. Unless for some VERY odd reason you pronate, try shoes labelled "neutral plus"
3. Remove the super sucky factory insoles and do not get 'support' insoles. Get super cushy insoles like Spenco gel insoles with full foot support (not just the back half of the foot).

This strategy has gotten me up to a half marathon and I have arches where I can stand flat and someone can stick a couple of fingers under my foot.

[Chris]

Good for you for starting to run. Even though I teach nine spin classes a week, I don't think I could ever bring myself to hit the road.

I am a major fan of Pilates but for pain relief and general "retuning" I love body rolling. I bought the book from Amazon and taught myself - then went to a short workshop to make sure that I was doing things correctly. It's amazing what a few minutes with a ball can do - and it's OK to target specific areas so you don't have to do the whole routine each time. These days I don't travel without a ball in my luggage -great for the kinks caused by long flights and the pain associated with adventure travel.

[Carole]

The idea of running brings back so many awkward childhood memories of my brothers shouting, "you run like a girl!" Of course I run like a girl. I AM a girl, I would think. Nevertheless, it would be hard to overcome all of that and actually run. I'll stick to the bike for now. You are an inspiration, Norma!

[Mary Fran]

I read through all that and my only comment is "Wait! Abigail has a new boyfriend????" Not that it's any of my business, but I do pay attention :)

[gayle]

Surely there's a Pilates regimen that includes throwing a rubber chicken...

[kelli ann]

Norma, can you post a link to the 'Couch to 5K podcast'? I searched and found several ;-)

[DebbieB]

I too stumbled over the new name in A's life...

And "remote CART" - does that mean you don't even have to leave the house? SA-WEEEET!

[Elizabeth D]

Cannot wait to find out what you do about the high arches -- I've had trouble buying shoes all my life, and you should see the heel flap on the socks I knit for myself!

[Martha]

Norma, which podcast are you listening to? I am going to try a slower version the couch25k program and am looking for walk/jog cues with music.

[Allison]

Mr. J looks awesome in the puzzle!

BTW, my podiatrist (I, too, have high arches) has pretty much changed my life with regard to exercise. I don't know if you're at that point yet...

[Robin V]

Bonnie the Beagle & I walked most days this winter, regardless of the weather. The hardest time, really, is at the end, when the snow melts and refreezes, so that there are ice patches scattered everywhere (and often hidden under the latest bit of snow). It is such a relief to be able to walk confidently, knowing I'm not going to end up on my keister (which I did several times this season. ouch).

The couch to 5k podcast is so wonderful. I can't say it enough. I must have found the same one you listen to, from England. It is so much easier to run, without having to manage a flashlight and a watch and keeping track of the time intervals. Thanks for pointing it out!

[Adrienne]

I also have very high arches that no built in arch support will touch, no matter how good the shoes are.... my recommendation is Sole inserts. http://www.yoursole.com/products/footbeds/ They are kinda pricey for an insert but without them I would probably be permanently crippled by plantar fasciitis. I don't run but I've seen lots of recommendations for them from runners. Get the "thin sport" ones and they should fit in any kind of athletic shoes if you can take the existing insole out first. And good luck!

[marianne]

Starting to get quite the wealth of info for us high arched sistas. I still love my asics (?).. mind you, I walk, I no longer run, you should hear my knees, and I think I recall you telling me Abigail had gotten some. back when.
Great puzzle!
hee, "what the hell is she saying?!"

[Joannah]

On this rainy, dreary morning, all I can think is, "Yay Spring! Bring it on already!"

[Hester Sturrock]

I have very high arches also. You might need to have some sort of inserts for your running shoes. There are some decent looking ones over the counter. I have various other ortho problems and I obtain them through an orthopedic clinic. Well worth the money and your health insurance may pay for them.

Love your blog and Mr. Jeffries. I know not all doggies like him has as much personality as Mr. J - but I'm seriously considering getting a Mr. J the second.

[Midj]

I'll add to the new boyfriend commentary. Since we hadn't heard of he who is in the past in a while I assumed we had moved on. Abigail, please welcome Jeremy to the blog for us!

[Cecilia]

Hi Norma! It was so nice to meet you! So much good kharma! Looking forward to future CART opportunities - other than you 'cart'-ing yarn to me! Thanks again, Cecilia

[Marty52]

Love the puzzle and want to say thank you for mentioning "Doc Martin" in a past post. My hubbie and I have been watching it (we're are up to season 4) and just loving it. I can't get enough of England!

[Suzanne]

Love the puzzle! I will add to the boyfriend comments that since the start of law school, I had wondered about the past boyfriend. Not that it is any of my business but I just hope she is is happy.

[elizabeth a airhart]

i have never run a marathon flat feet
since a broken foot and frozen toes
from being pinned isit and watch if a has a new by lets not run him off

[Katherine]

5. I loved pilates back when I had such an excellent teacher that some of the exercises almost made me cry. Now I remember it fondly, but do not have a good DVD or gym anymore. Care to share the name of the DVD you're using, if that is, indeed, what your are using?

11. It's mud season already for you? I can't be far behind.

12. I get to come to VT in April. Shelburne, specifically. Yay!

[claudia]

Good job continuing on. I'm sure you will solve the shoe issue.

Tomorrow I am planning a walk 4 min/run 1 min x 5 day. Excited!

[Lisa R]

I LOVE the photo-turned-jigsaw puzzle! How did Abigail's (new?) boyfriend do that?

[Kristen]

Oof! High arches! Yes, go IMMEDIATELY to an expert store and get fitted properly. I have extremely high arches and, well, as my orthopedic surgeon will tell you, feet with high arches do not want to be runners' feet. This isn't to say it is impossible (well, it is for me after a couple of rounds of surgery due to damage done), but you do have to be very careful to be properly shod. So, have fun, but please BE CAREFUL with those precious feet! If anything Mr. Jeffries would never forgive you if you couldn't take him on those looooong walks.

[Judi]

" I'm going to get some new shoes and get them properly fitted."

I know you already got new shoes, but just wanted to mention that I also have high arches (and very narrow heels) and I found Brooks running shoes to work very well.

I admire your sticktoitiveness.