Swoosh!

I should have slapped myself. All I ever tell people is "never, ever, buy Nike shoes to run in." In the past, Nike has relied on incredible marketing to sell a sub par product. Don't get me wrong, their clothes are fantastic (colorful, fun & oh so comfy) & their shoes look incredible, but they were crap to run in (bad stitching, cheaply assembled, thin insole, air pockets that burst). I speak from past experience.

But tonight, I walked into the Running Company to get some new shoes, & underwent a mental war with myself. I told Erin, my fav sales girl, how much I LOVE the Brooks Glycerin. They feel like an old friend and fit like a glove for me - heaven to run in. I challenged her to come up with something better than the beautiful, shiny, newly redesigned, PURPLE glycerins I had been obsessing over. I am a creature of habit, so this was pretty big for me.

After running in the awesome glycerins, I also tried a pair of New Balance, which were very cushy & fit the shape of my foot perfectly, but a little heavy. Then she brought out the Nike Air Zoom Vomero+3 & I thought I would humor her by trying it on. It was immediately a front runner for me. It feels like my feet are free of shoes, the cushioning is WOW, the liner is thick and the toe box is nice wide fit while still being dainty. We talked about the shoe itself (the brand new design from their Bowerman collection) & how against Nike I was, which she understood because not many runnners are. I still can't believe I didnt take my own advice. Surprise surprise.

So, while I have turned to the dark side, there is no looking back. My run tonight was super fast and I was high-fiving myself mentally for the good vibes coming from my new shoes. I don't care, I love them.

I talked to Lucy

I think it was a pretty one sided conversation, but I did get to talk to and see my beautiful niece, Lucy, tonight. 5 days old and already she has stole my heart. It was awesome to just watch her. I was in disbelief. I can't believe my sister gave life to her. Its so amazing.

So, needless to say, I was taking screen shots the whole time I talked to her and here are a few of my favorites. I love the above one where she looks like she is winking at me! Kel put her in a pretty little dress and she looked so dainty. She cried a little, but it just made her seem that much more 'real,' which I know sounds weird, but I have only seen her in pics, so real time crying was amazing to me. She has the sweetest cry ever!

She has long legs, fingers and toes which I think means she will be a runner...

My Niece, Lucy Sky Mikolajczyk

My sister, Kelly and husband, John had a beautiful baby girl this afternoon! Little Lucy is soooo precious and we are all anxiously waiting to meet her. My mom is in Florida with them and was there for the delivery. She is thrilled to be a grandma!!! Lucy weighed in at 7 lbs 3 0z and was 20" long. She was born today at 2:53pm. Kel did beautifully, delivering naturally with no drugs and said that she would do it again. I am amazed at her. Its just soooo soooooo amazing. Check out their blog for gorgeous pics and updates. Congratulations!!!

http://johnandkellyinflorida.blogspot.com/

Our newest outdoor family member

Welcome to the family --- Keith's new kayak! He is excited to take it out on the water, practice his paddling and do some fishing. We picked it up tonight and got it hung on the wall in the garage. Our plan is to take the kayak, the mountain bikes, his fishing pole and our trail running shoes for weekend camping trips so we will have plenty of fun things to do. Summer here we come!!

Green

Last week work sent me to the Greenest city on earth - Portland, Oregon! I was there for a GIS conference on addressing and was able to enjoy many different parts of the city. Their public transportation is awesome - they provide free bus, trolly and train rides within the downtown area so you really get a feel for the city at no cost to you. I kept asking myself "Why doesn't Indy implement this?" I have never seen more recycling bins (paper and cans) anywhere and even the toilet in the hotel had a water saver feature - push the handle up for solid waste and down for liquid waste. How simple. I was disgusted with Indy by the time I got home. We are such a lame, non-green city. I have been spending some time researching ways to lessen my energy impact on the environment and doubling my recycling efforts. My one regret - I did not get a chance to call my dear friend Heather in Seattle to meet up with her. I am hoping to find a conference in Seattle one of these days & will make sure they get me a rental car this time!

I was fortunate to meet up with the Nike Run Club while I was there and really enjoyed seeing part of the city I hadn't been to yet. They were also doing shoe trials, so I swapped my worn out trail shoes for a brand spanking new pair of Nikes to do the run in. I only did 3 miles with the 35 or so people who attended, but part of it was up a huge hill, and I was whipped. Afterwards they had fruit, gatorade, water and energy bars free to all the participants. What a great way spend an evening! They also recommended a few local places to eat and a couple of safe running paths for me to try... which I did. I did a 3 mile loop one day that took me over a river by way of bridge, around the riverfront along an urban park and across another bridge. It was beautiful, even though the weather was less than cooperative. They are the most runner and bike friendly city I have visited.