Hippo, birdie, two ewes...

...to johno!!! Have a great one!!

Cuteness attack!

Paging kshandra and pocketnaomi in particular...

Orphaned hedgehogs adopt cleaning brush as their mother.

( Too cute for words, so... )

(From this post by kayshapero.)

Debugging the walk

(Cross-posted to healthy_fen.)

I think I cut about 10 minutes off my usual three-mile walk; most of that would have been in the first half, where I was pushing the pace. Pumping the arms felt kind of stupid, but presumably added to the exercise. Tried taking faster but shorter strides; that seems to help. Hip rotation seems to help a lot -- it lets me take slightly longer strides without coming down so hard on the heel. So no shin splints, though I think I came close.

And I think I came closer than usual to getting an aerobic workout, but I don't think I actually got there. I'll have to buy one of those gadgets that measures your pulse electronically; I've never been successful at taking my own pulse.

The Spenco gel insoles that I got yesterday seemed to help, too. The store where I got them, though, was a dreary, depressing place. Hopefully I can find someplace a little more inviting over the weekend where I can buy weights, a pulse monitor, and maybe shoes.

The afternoon shopping expedition

My afternoon shopping expedition was, I think, an unqualified success. Got one set each of five and ten pound wrist/ankle weights at Play It Again Sports on Camden Avenue, and a pair of New Balance 1010 running shoes at their store in Santana Row. Also picked up some catalogs in Orvis -- I've always been intrigued by their pages in various airlines' seatback catalogs. In particular, they had a carry-on rod-and-reel case that looks to be about the right size for my travel guitar plus a little bit of other stuff. I'll have to bring it in and check.

My pace seems a little quicker than formerly. We'll see how long that lasts.