5 months and 2 days to go...

Obviously, I have no idea what I'm doing. I do know when I need to seek professional advice.

I went to Track Shack in Orlando today to get hooked up with some new shoes.
Saucony... I'll try them out this evening.

I also stopped by Best Buy and picked up an mp3 player. I decided that it would be fun to have a video player for the days when Cardio Theater thinks that I should be enjoying a romantic comedy during my workout. I'm on the hunt for the perfect zombie film to save to a mini SD card. I'm also having the most difficult time thinking of jogging music. My typical music selection doesn't exactly fit with the cadence I assume would be motivating for a  jog.

I had a chat with the CC coach at my school. He suggested more road running for a while. I was a little relieved to hear that, honestly. The other day on the trail was almost demoralizing. I followed it with a little road jogging the following day on account of the scary weather we had. I noticed an immense difference between the two.

The road was reliable and predictable. The trail kicked my butt. It wouldn't have been so terrible, except that I didn't have anything figured out (not that I do now). For example- breathing. It's a little important, as I found out later. I tried experimenting with different breathing methods. I was also very concerned about my footing and almost as concerned about the path and not getting lost. Between breathing poorly and looking up and down and forward and down, I got a little light headed. Everything looked like a snake. Every twig, branch, shadow- I was sure that there were snakes everywhere. The road was just there. I was able to focus on where I was going and less on what might be under foot. It was a much more pleasant experience. It still sucked.

I've talked to a couple of people about this project and everyone thinks that 5 months is plenty of time. I'm not so sure. We'll see how tonight goes. I have music (though I'm not sure it's appropriate), new shoes, new clothes, and a new partner. Sweet Baby Eleanor will be joining me. If I am skipping the trail for a little while to focus on getting this running thing down, there is no reason to go it alone.